Report Title:

University Of Hawaii – Maui Community College

Description:

Appropriates funds to the University of Hawaii Maui Community College for a workforce development program.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

3181

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2006

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII's MAUI COMMUNITY COLLEGE.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Maui community college (MCC) is a learning-centered institution that provides affordable high-quality credit and non-credit educational opportunities to a diverse community of life-long learners. MCC offers associate in arts and associate in science degrees as well as various certificates. It is the only community college in the University of Hawaii (UH) system that specifically serves the population of more than one island, as it serves both Molokai and Lanai. It is also the sole access point to public higher education on Lanai, Molokai, and Maui.

MCC enrollment has increased 21.9 per cent from two thousand three hundred thirty-seven in 1990, to two thousand nine hundred ninety-six in 2004. MCC’s strategic plan, congruent with the UH system direction, specifically emphasizes workforce development.

Community members at Maui's second annual community forum and campus staff and faculty at MCC's fall 2006 convocation listed workforce development as one of the top priorities. MCC has identified several areas within the community, which demand a homegrown workforce. These areas are oral health care, early childhood education, and biotechnology.

Dental/oral health is a priority of the U.S Surgeon General and the Hawaii health department. Hawaii is below the national average in oral health care. Loren Pang, M.D., Maui health officer affirms that a third of Maui county residents do not have adequate access to dental health care. Recent department of labor projections indicate a 3.3 per cent annual growth rate for dental assistants for a total of eighty projected job openings by 2010.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau there is a 9.3 per cent (between 1999 and 2000) increase in the number of children under five years of age in Maui county. According to the Employment Outlook for Industries and Occupation 2000-2010, Maui County projects a 33.3 per cent growth in jobs for pre-school and kindergarten teachers.

Biotechnology in Hawaii is still in its infancy, however, with the advent of new molecular biology techniques like gene sequencing coupled with the latest computer technology, there are expanding opportunities for applications and additional applied research. The field of biotechnology is wide-ranging. Careers include working with seed companies that require biotech technicians. One of the operations identified training requirement for more than one hundred of its employees. Companies actively engaged in biotech in Maui county include Dupont, Dow, Monsanto, Syngenta, Garst, Novartis, and Pioneer. The purpose of this Act is to appropriate funds to establish and support a workforce development program at MCC.

SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $402,642 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2006-2007 for the following expenses relating to the University of Hawaii's Maui community college:

A. Workforce development program

1. Three permanent faculty positions $142,596

2. Lecturers $34,450

3. Educational supplies $7,720

Total funding $184,766

B. New facility support

1. One permanent janitor II $24,564

2. One permanent janitor III $26,028

3. One permanent general laborer II $25,284

4. Operating supplies $20,000

5. Hood / duct annual cleaning $37,000

6. Machinery and equipment repair and maintenance $85,000

Total funding $217,876

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the Maui community college for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2006.

INTRODUCED BY:

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