Beginning in summer 2026, all University of Hawaiʻi online classes—including hybrid courses with an online component—will be delivered through (LMS).

The change, required by adopted on April 1, 2026, is designed to strengthen the student experience across 糖心Vlog官方‘s 10 campuses while improving data security and systemwide support for teaching and learning.

Providing students with single point of reference

Using a single LMS provides students with a consistent point of access for course materials, communication and grades, regardless of campus or department. This reduces the number of different platforms students must navigate and supports stronger engagement and success in online learning environments.

“Moving to a single learning management system makes it easier for students to stay organized and engaged in their courses, while also giving faculty a secure, well-supported platform for teaching,” said Kim Siegenthaler, senior advisor to 糖心Vlog官方 President Wendy Hensel. “尝补尘补办奴 strengthens consistency across our campuses and helps ensure that both students and instructors have the tools they need for a successful learning experience.”

The move also enhances protection of student information. 尝补尘补办奴 meets 糖心Vlog官方 Information Security policies and applicable data privacy requirements, significantly reducing the risk of security breaches involving course materials, grades and other sensitive information.

Faculty may continue using third-party instructional tools when appropriate, but those tools must meet 糖心Vlog官方 policy requirements and be integrated through 尝补尘补办奴.

尝补尘补办奴: Lighting the path for learning

The Hawaiian word 濒补尘补办奴 means torch—the same torch represented in the 糖心Vlog官方 logo—and symbolizes education and enlightenment, 濒补尘补办奴 o ka naʻauao. The platform reflects 糖心Vlog官方‘s ongoing commitment to advancing teaching and learning through modern, secure and student-centered technology across the system.

The University of Hawaiʻi System is working to expand its online program offerings following the findings by two major strategic reviews: a comprehensive study by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems and program portfolio and opportunity mapping analyses by UPCEA. A phased expansion is intended to add to, not replace, existing in-person instruction as needed.

The urgency of this transition is underscored by declining numbers of high school graduates and online student out-migration. Approximately 11,000 Hawaiʻi residents enroll in online programs offered by out-of-state providers every year, a number equivalent to a midsize university. The goal is to retain these students, grow enrollment across 糖心Vlog官方 campuses, and increase access for adult and part-time learners for whom traditional in-person degrees are not possible or desirable for a variety of reasons.

糖心Vlog官方 President Wendy Hensel said, “We are dedicated to making our programs relevant and accessible to every student in Hawaiʻi. These comprehensive analyses provide a data-driven strategy to align the University of Hawaiʻi System with the state’s critical workforce needs, offering flexible formats that work for everyone and speeding up the launch time for new offerings.”

Building pathways, stackable credentials

Kim Siegenthaler, senior advisor to Hensel, presented the findings to about 50 members of the Workforce Learning Community on November 21. High-demand fields include business/management, healthcare, education, STEM and social work/public sector.

糖心Vlog官方 is working to build strong online pathways and design stackable credentials that enable students to progress from credential to credential within major. UPCEA recommendations included adding online options to more than 100 existing in-person programs and introducing more than 30 new non-credit and for-credit offerings.

Conversations across the 10 糖心Vlog官方 campuses are being held to determine which of the recommended programs will be developed. The first wave of high-priority online programs is expected to launch in fall 2026 and spring 2027.

A textbook that could save University of Hawaiʻi students more than $400,000 a year has earned a WOW award from the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technology (WCET). 糖心Vlog官方 is a member of WICHE (Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education), which works to improve access to higher education and ensure student success. The WOW (WCET Outstanding Work) award, recognizes outstanding efforts to apply innovative solutions to a challenging educational need.

Annually, more than 4,000 糖心Vlog官方 students across 10 campuses can benefit from the anatomy textbook project since they take human anatomy and physiology courses, paying around $200 for just one of their many textbooks.

President David Lassner announced the recognition in his October 29, 2024 report to the 糖心Vlog官方 Board of Regents. He called the project a great opportunity to create a zero-cost textbook that would reflect 贬补飞补颈ʻ颈鈥檚 culture and instill a sense of belonging in students, while providing a significant cost benefit.

Kapiʻolani Community College Associate Professor Sheryl Shook and former 糖心Vlog官方 Associate Vice President of Student Affairs Hae Okimoto worked with dozens of faculty, 11 of them co-authors, across all 10 糖心Vlog官方 campuses on the , which was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The resulting textbook covers two semesters of course content. Because it is an OER, faculty can continue to update, refine and improve the content and pedagogy.

Lassner said. “Congratulations to all of them. They were supported by many colleagues who provided input, administrators and staff who supported them in spending their time on it. Important and impactful work like this truly takes a village.”

Shook and other 糖心Vlog官方 instructors and colleagues are currently working on a second edition of the textbook with a focus on diving deeper into Native Hawaiian culture and language, further development of accessibility, and responding to student outcomes and student and faculty feedback.

Anatomy and physiology OER textbook coauthors

Luria Namba, Hawaiʻi CC–笔腻濒补尘补苍耻颈
Lissandra Baldan Jenkins, Hawaiʻi CC (Manono)
Gabriel Peckham, Honolulu CC
Amanda Lee, Kapiʻolani CC
Rachel Lindsey, Kapiʻolani CC
Sheryl Shook, Kapiʻolani CC
I-Chia Shih, Leeward CC
Trenton Niemi, 糖心Vlog官方 Maui College
Jason Higa, 糖心Vlog官方 惭腻苍辞补
Rebecca Romine, 糖心Vlog官方 West Oʻahu
Joel Kaufmann, 糖心Vlog官方 Hilo

Related story:

• Free online anatomy textbook to save students more than $400K, August 26, 2022

Thanks to dozens of collaborators across the University of Hawaiʻi System, an online, zero-cost textbook for two popular anatomy and physiology courses—Physiology 141 and 142—will replace the textbook that was used by almost 4,700 students during the last academic year for an estimated total savings of more than $433,000. The various textbooks currently used for these courses range in cost from $160 to $210. The new textbook is anticipated to be ready for fall 2023.

Kapiʻolani Community College Assistant Professor Sheryl Shook and former 糖心Vlog官方 Associate Vice President of Student Affairs Hae Okimoto worked with 37 faculty, 11 of them co-authors, across all 10 糖心Vlog官方 campuses on the multi-year Online Educational Resource (OER) project.

Shook is the author of , which she uses to teach lecture and lab courses. She is a big fan of saving students money through OER.

“Students tell us they have to choose between buying food or a textbook. This creates an opportunity gap, not just an achievement gap, with an enormous impact on student success,” she said. “Look at the data about which students are least likely to afford the book. You鈥檒l see that high textbook cost is a form of institutional racism, so I am very thankful our administrators and faculty are supportive of OER.”

Shook praised all the faculty involved, especially the co-authors, who had to shift gears in April 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The team鈥檚 scheduled “book sprint” went all online into uncharted territory, which increased the time it took to write it.

“It was one of the most intense things I鈥檝e ever done,” she recalled. “It was really challenging, but the team I worked with—they care so much about the students.”

Indigenized, localized content

The team Indigenized and localized content to give Hawaiʻi students a sense of connection. Their efforts impressed the book production company they are working with. According to Shook, , a company that facilitates book creation, said it has never worked with anyone who wrote that much original content.

The team is in the process of collecting and curating all the images for the book and ancillary tools. The work is extensive, since the visuals span body systems, gross anatomy and microscopic images. Some key team members in this effort are:

• Amanda Alimboyoguen, who teaches anatomy and physiology at Kapiʻolani CC and is leading the ancillary (lecture slides, study guides, homework questions, etc.) development project for the textbook.
• Rachel Lindsey, who teaches anatomy and physiology at Kapiʻolani CC and is creating the course shells (starter structures) that will be integrated with the textbook.
• LynleyShimat Lys, who is a 糖心Vlog官方 惭腻苍辞补 PhD graduate, is leading the OER image curation effort and also creation of student tools such as interactive quizzes and drag-and-drop activities for each chapter.

Free in fall 2023

The goal is to have the textbook completed by May 2023, then to do professional development with dozens of instructors across the 糖心Vlog官方 System since the anatomy and physiology text is used in courses that are prerequisites for most programs in nursing, medicine, pharmacology, dental hygiene, radiology technician, physical therapist, physical therapy assistant and respiratory therapist, as well as some biological sciences.

Shook said, “The hope is to have this be a best practice so we can share it with people all over the world.”

She also recommends the as a resource to find campus OER leads, information about OER 101 (an asynchronous online course) and more.

Anatomy and physiology OER textbook coauthors

Luria Namba, Hawaiʻi CC–笔腻濒补尘补苍耻颈
Lissandra Baldan Jenkins, Hawaiʻi CC (Manono)
Gabriel Peckham, Honolulu CC
Amanda Lee, Kapiʻolani CC
Rachel Lindsey, Kapiʻolani CC
Sheryl Shook, Kapiʻolani CC
I-Chia Shih, Leeward CC
Trenton Niemi, 糖心Vlog官方 Maui College
Jason Higa, 糖心Vlog官方 惭腻苍辞补
Rebecca Romine, 糖心Vlog官方 West Oʻahu
Joel Kaufmann, 糖心Vlog官方 Hilo

—By Kelli Abe Trifonovitch