In mid-June, HPU President Chatt G. Wright announced a change in the leadership of the College of Business Administration. Dr. Rod Romig, for 10 years dean of the college, was named director of the new HPU Center for Business and the Community, and effective July 1 Dr. John Kearns became interim dean of the College of Business Administration.

This will “provide an opening for the College of Business Administration to redefine itself and its purposes. . . to address the challenge of falling enrollments, and to engage more actively in faculty governance and educational effectiveness planning,” Wright said.

Kearns will serve for two years as interim dean in addition to carrying out other administrative duties, including ongoing leadership for general education. His position is understood to be an interim one, since he is not in a business-related discipline.

“We call him to this task,” Wright said, “because of his reputation among the faculty as well as his experience in administration, governance, and planning....He has handled many projects in a fair and balanced way. He is a goal-oriented person who works well with people and is deeply committed to the University’s mission and ethos,” the president added.

Wright also praised Romig’s administrative work, and explained that the Center for Business and the Community is a new initiative to further the position of the University in Hawai‘i’s business community.