University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa


The University of Hawaii at Mānoa is a public research university in Mānoa, a neighborhood in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Hawai'i system, occupying the eastern half of the mouth of Mānoa Valley. Mānoa's John A. Burns School of Medicine is located in Kakaʻako, adjacent to the Kakaʻako Waterfront Park.
The university offers over 200 degree programs across 17 schools. It is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and governed by the Hawaii State Legislature and a semi-autonomous board of regents. This university campus also houses the main offices of the entire University of Hawaiʻi system.
Mānoa is categorized as an R1 university, indicating the highest levels of research activities. It is one of only four U.S. academic institutions—along with Cornell University, Oregon State University and Pennsylvania State University—to be a member of four federal research programs: Land Grant, Sea Grant, Space Grant, and Sun Grant.
Notable U.H. alumni includes Robert Ballard, Richard Parsons, and the parents of Barack Obama, Barack Obama Sr. and Stanley Ann Dunham. Forty-four percent of Hawaii's state senators and 51 percent of its state representatives are U.H. graduates.

History

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa was founded in 1907 as a land-grant college of agriculture and mechanical arts. A bill by Maui Representative William Coelho introduced into the Territorial Legislature March 1, 1907, and signed into law March 23 by the Governor enabled construction to begin. In 1912 it was renamed the College of Hawaii and moved to its present location. William Kwai Fong Yap petitioned the Hawaii Territorial Legislature six years later for university status which led to another renaming finally to the University of Hawaii in 1920. This is also the founding year of the College of Arts and Sciences. In 1931 the Territorial Normal and Training School was absorbed into the University, becoming the U.H. College of Education.

Academics

UH Mānoa has 17 schools and colleges, including the School of Architecture, School of Earth Science and Technology, the College of Arts and Humanities, the Shidler College of Business, the College of Education and the College of Engineering. The College of Business Administration was renamed the Shidler College of Business on September 6, 2006, after real estate executive Jay Shidler, an alumnus of the college, who donated $25 million to the college.
Together, the colleges of the university offer bachelor's degrees in 93 fields of study, master's degrees in 84 fields, doctoral degrees in 51 fields, first professional degrees in 5 fields, post-baccalaureate degrees in three fields, 28 undergraduate certification programs and 29 graduate certification programs. Total enrollment in 2012 was 20,429 students, 14,402 of which are undergraduates. There are approximately sixteen students per instructor.

Honors Program

The UH Mānoa offers an Honors Program to provide additional resources for students preparing to apply to professional school programs. Students complete core curriculum courses for their degrees in the Honors Program, maintain at least a cumulative 3.2 grade-point average in all courses, and complete a senior thesis project.

Library

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Library, which provides access to 3.4 million volumes, 50,000 journals, and thousands of digitized documents, is one of the largest academic research libraries in the United States, ranking 86th in parent institution investment among 113 North American members of the Association of Research Libraries.

Rankings

The National Science Foundation ranked UH Mānoa 45th among 395 public universities for Research and Development expenditures in fiscal year 2014.
According to U.S. News & World Report, as of 2020, UH Mānoa was tied 166th overall and 177th for "Best Value" among national universities; tied 79th among public universities; and tied 134th in its undergraduate engineering program among school's that confer doctorates. Its international business undergraduate programs ranked 18th in the country, while its medical school is among the top 20 for primary care.

Distance learning

The university offers over 50 distance learning courses, using technology to replace either all or a portion of class instruction. Students interact with their instructors and peers from different locations to further develop their education.

Research

With extramural grants and contracts of $436 million in 2012, research at UH Mānoa relates to Hawaii's physical landscape, its people and their heritage. The geography facilitates advances in marine biology, oceanography, underwater robotic technology, astronomy, geology and geophysics, agriculture, aquaculture and tropical medicine. Its heritage, the people and its close ties to the Asian and Pacific region create a favorable environment for study and research in the arts, genetics, intercultural relations, linguistics, religion and philosophy.
According to the National Science Foundation, UH Mānoa spent $276 million on research and development in 2018, ranking it 84th in the nation. Extramural funding increased from $368 million in FY 2008 to nearly $436 million in FY 2012. Research grants increased from $278 million in FY 2008 to $317 million in FY 2012. Nonresearch awards totaled $119 million in FY 2012. Overall, extramural funding increased by 18%.
For the period of July 1, 2012 to June 20, 2013, the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology received the largest amount of extramural funding among the Mānoa units at $92 million. SOEST was followed by the medical school at $57 million, the College of Natural Sciences and the University of Hawai‘i Cancer Center at $24 million, the Institute for Astronomy at $22 million, CTARH at $18 million, and the College of Social Sciences and the College of Education at $16 million.
Across the UH system, the majority of research funding comes from the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Defense, the Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Commerce, and the National Aeronautics Space Administration. Local funding comes from Hawaii government agencies, non-profit organizations, health organizations and business and other interests.
The $150-million medical complex in Kaka‘ako opened in the spring of 2005. The facility houses a biomedical research and education center that attracts significant federal funding and private sector investment in biotechnology and cancer research and development.
Research is expected of every faculty member at UH Mānoa. Also, according to the Carnegie Foundation, UH Mānoa is an RU/VH level research university.
In 2013, UH Mānoa was elected to membership in the Association of Pacific Rim Universities, the leading consortium of research universities for the region. APRU represents 45 premier research universities—with a collective 2 million students and 120,000 faculty members—from 16 economies.

Demographics

U.H. is the fourth most diverse university in the U.S. According to the 2010 report of the Institutional Research Office, a plurality of students at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa are Caucasian, making up a quarter of the student body. The next largest groups were Japanese Americans, native or part native Hawaiians, Filipino Americans, Chinese Americans and mixed race. Pacific Islanders and other ethnic groups make up the balance.

Facilities

All UH Mānoa residence halls are coeducational. These include the Hale Aloha Complex, Johnson Hall, Hale Laulima, and Hale Kahawai. Suite-style residence halls include Frear Hall and Gateway House. First year undergraduates who choose to live on campus live in the traditional residence halls.
Two apartment-style complexes are Hale Noelani and Hale Wainani. Hale Noelani consists of five three-story buildings and Hale Wainani has two high rise buildings and two low-rise buildings. Second-year undergraduates and above are permitted to live in Hale Noelani and Hale Wainani.
The university reserves some low-rise units for graduate students and families.

Student life

Student organizations

Off-campus

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa competes in NCAA Division I, the only Hawaii school to do so. It competes in the Mountain West Conference for football only and the Big West Conference for most other sports. UH competes in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in men's and women's swimming and diving, and indoor track and field while the coed and women's sailing teams are members of the Pacific Coast Collegiate Sailing Conference.
Men's teams are known as Rainbow Warriors, and women's teams are called Rainbow Wahine. "Wahine" means "woman" in Hawaiian. They are most notable for men's and women's basketball, volleyball, baseball and football programs. The University won the 2004 Intercollegiate Sailing Association National Championships. The women's volleyball program won NCAA championships in 1982, 1983 and 1987. The men's volleyball won an NCAA championship in 2002, but it was later vacated due to violations.
The principal sports venues are Aloha Stadium, Stan Sheriff Center, Les Murakami Stadium, Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium, and the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.
The university's athletic budget in FY 2008–2009 is $29.6 million.

Chancellors

From 1986 to 2001, the President of the University of Hawaiʻi System also served as the Mānoa campus's chancellor. In 2001, the position of Chancellor was recreated by then-UH president Evan Dobelle over conflict of interest concerns, only to be abolished in April 2019.
Notable alumni of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa include:
Campus art includes:
These artworks are off the main campus: