Generally, what do you think of the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s quality, compared with mainland colleges?
-
B. Just average (635 Votes)
-
C. Below average; poor (323 Votes)
-
A. Great; above average (265 Votes)
This is not a scientific poll — results reflect only the opinions of those voting.
19 responses to “Generally, what do you think of the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s quality, compared with mainland colleges?”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
who’d know except those that attend or having something to do at The University of Hawaii? Soo I couldn’t vote.
I know about this from personal experience:
University of Hawai’i and Hawaiian Sovereignty — A Case Study in Political Correctness Run Amok
http://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/uhacafreeintro.html
Pocho – that is about exactly what I was going to write. I bet more than 80% of the posts are from those who never even stepped foot on campus much less enrolled. Probably higher…..
UH Manoa debacles:
– Wonder Blunder
– Excessive payoffs for people who UH gave sweetheart contracts to then realized they were mistakes
– $500 million plus/minus maintenance backlog
– UH bureaucrats recently given massive pay raises for doing absolutely nothing to deserve them – UH Standard.
Just a snapshot of the endless management debacles going on at UH.
You are absolutely correct that your list is “just a snapshot”; its really only the “tip of the iceberg” to use another trite phrase, but the lack of leadership at the top is the real problem. Yes, much of the snafu is happening at the mid-level bureaucrats but it all starts at the top, including the President who is a very nice guy but without the big vision and lack of capacity to manage and administer an institution of Higher Ed. Eventually, the Legislature is to blame as well. In their zeal to save money because of budgetary shortfall in the state’s coffers, they are starting to micromanage the university’s mission. One example is the decision to put less emphasis on research and focus most of the funding toward education. what they do not realize is that the research enterprise is a critical component of curriculum and is what makes a great university. Institutions such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton, etc. etc., are known for their research accomplishments which are integrated into the education curriculum. If the Legislature is successful in diminishing the research effort at UH, it WILL become just an average institution and will continue to lose the best and brightest of the research faculty. Hawaii has the opportunity to be the best in so many fields of science because of its unique natural resources, from the mountain to the sea, and if it can take a more systems approach in addressing real life issues, it can serve as a model that can be applied elsewhere in the world.
As someone who has earned degrees here and on the mainland, I can say that the student experience at UH is similar to my experience on the mainland. There are good professors and weak professors, and how a student does depends on the student’s ability to find the good one and make the most of the experience.
Yes!
Exactly. I have degrees from Berkeley as well as from UHM and consider myself fortunate to have had some excellent educational experiences at both institutions as well as programs at Stanford and Boston U. There’s good stuff available. (It is however, cool to have had classes from Nobel Laureates. Glenn Seaborg was one of the most exciting teachers I ever had. Melvin Calvin for example was kind of cranky but had a lot to say. Richard Feynman’s guest lectures were fantastic.) But I digress. UH has had some fine scholars. People like the late Jerry Bentley stand out in my mind.
Going to schools like Berkeley is an experience more than instruction. You learn more from the associations with classmates that you develop friendships with and the keen competition to force you to do your best. Cal grades mostly on the curve but most of the applicants are A students from high schools so it takes a lot of effort. Freshmen flunk rate is 15% sophomore rate 10%. This leaves room for the junior college students that transfer in.
Your references to instructors shows a propensity toward chemistry. Ever take a class from Edward Teller who spoke English like Kessinger and was hard to understand. Classes were huge. Introductory Chem classes had over five hundred students. No personal contact only through teaching assistants.
UH “quality” … from what perspective\? … the campus buildings/infrastructure, the readiness of students going in or coming out, the national ranking in various colleges associated with the campus??? The real deal is about the individual student … it is about learning not teaching. It is the old bell-curve all over again … again.
“Mainland colleges,” pits UH up against a vast spectrum of higher ed offerings. The question in itself is unfair. Here’s the real deal — Colleges are BIG BUSINESSES. And the cost to to one of these “mainland colleges” will challenge the finances of even the most stable, middle class Hawaii families. I’m talking UH Manoa PEERS. You can’t compare UH to ALL colleges. Compare it to comparable schools and you will see that Manoa is not only a good deal, but a good education too. Most people responding negatively probably took ONE class and had a bad experience, or had a friend of a friend of a cousin’s kid who went to UH had had a bad professor. It’s like comparing UH football to Alabama or Florida State. Not a fair comparison.
Good point. Only the HSA who has made a living justifying sending their kids to schools on the mainland would come up with such a stupid question.
Another dumb question.
It depends on the student; some people land good paying jobs with only an Associate’s degree (me).
Question cannot be simply answered with a yes or no. Overall, it may have been best to ask two separate questions. One question would be based on quality of academics. Second question would be based on the experience of exposure of “living abroad” and the responsibilities of same vs “commuter” students (i.e. Hawaii; live at home). It is enlightening to visit a variety of mainland campuses and conduct a rather careful review before you can make a lucid comparison.
Facilities is third class rated. Some of the buildings is ridiculously embarrassing. No college town. Dorms is a total joke. I wouldn’t send my kids or grandkids to UH Manoa.
This has been an issue for a long time. I believe Facilities Management is suppose to take lead on for upkeep.
Who writes these stupid polls? More times than not, they are vague or push you towards a particular response. Better or worse than mainland universities? You mean the hundreds of universities with incredibly vast levels of quality? I have degrees from UHM and a private mainland university. The quality of instruction was similar. It depended on the instructor/professor. The only difference I noticed was that the mainland school got me through quicker.
People from Hawaii may think that UH is a quality university but serious students from the mainland don’t even think about attending UH. There is no reason to pay out-of-state UH tuition when there are better schools in their own states and the tuition is much cheaper.