Chaminade University of Honolulu

Press Release

Dr. Scott Schroeder Elected to Board of Commissioners of the IACBE

Lenexa, Kansas, USA (April 2018) – At its Annual Conference and Assembly Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA on April 17-20, 2018, the International Accreditation Council for Business Education (IACBE) elected new members to its Board of Commissioners.

Scott Schroeder
Dr. Scott Shroeder

The IACBE is pleased to announce that Dr. Scott Schroeder, Dean, School of Business and Communication at Chaminade University in Hawaii, was elected as a member of the Board of Commissioners of the IACBE.

The Board of Commissioners of the IACBE is the independent accreditation decision-making body of the Council and is responsible for advancing the accreditation mission of the Council.

About the IACBE – The International Accreditation Council for Business Education (IACBE) was founded in 1997 and is nationally-recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). The IACBE is the leader in mission-driven and outcomes-based programmatic accreditation in business and management education for student-centered colleges, universities, and other higher education institutions throughout the world.

The IACBE’s mission is to promote and recognize excellence in business education in institutions of higher education worldwide, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, through specialized accreditation of business programs. The IACBE has hundreds of member institutions and campuses worldwide and has accredited over 1,500 business and business-related programs in the United States, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Central America, and South America.

The IACBE’s World Headquarters are located at 11374 Strang Line Road in Lenexa, Kansas, 66215, USA.

For more information, please visit the IACBE’s website at iacbe.org.

Dr. Mary Hattori Named Director of Campus Center for Teaching and Learning

Mary Hattori is the new director of Chaminade University’s Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). The center develops and implements programs supporting faculty development opportunities and enriched learning environments for students.

“Hiring Dr. Hattori is the latest example of Chaminade’s commitment to innovation across all divisions and schools,” Provost Helen Whippy said. “She has a wealth of academic and technological experience and therefore makes an excellent addition to our campus `ohana.”

As CTL Director, Hattori is responsible for the center’s day-to-day operations. She promotes best practices in pedagogy and instructional technology, all designed to meet the needs of students and faculty alike.

Hattori previously served as Outreach Director at the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Center for Pacific Island Studies and School of Pacific and Asian Studies. Prior to that, she was an Associate Professor of Information Technology at Kapiolani Community College. She also coordinated the college’s Center for Excellence in Learning, Teaching and Technology.

Hattori earned an Ed.D. in  Professional Educational Practice at UH Manoa, along with a master’s in Educational Technology and a bachelor’s in Secondary Social Studies Education.

Chaminade Partners with iteach to Help Educators Earn Master’s in Instructional Leadership

Chaminade University is pleased to announce an exciting new agreement with iteach . As part of this partnership, the Division of Education will waive up to 12 elective credits in recognition of coursework and fieldwork completed by iteach program participants on their way to becoming licensed K-12 teachers.

This opportunity benefits iteach completers who wish to continue their academic training by pursuing a Master of Education in Instructional Leadership degree at Chaminade. The program is modeled on an existing Division of Education program that enables students to waive up to 12 university graduate credits for teachers credentialed in the Montessori method of education.

The iteach organization provides alternative teacher certification programs in Hawaii, Nevada, Texas, and Louisiana. These programs are approved by the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board and accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). The three components of iteach programs are certification exams, coursework, and field experience. To date, iteach has helped more than 9,000 people obtain rewarding jobs as educators.


The Master of Education in Instructional Leadership program is designed for teachers and other academic practitioners seeking advanced knowledge of leadership and classroom practice. The university also offers master’s degrees in Educational Leadership, Teacher Leader, Child Development and Montessori Emphasis.

O’Rourke Named VP for Enrollment Management

Chaminade University President Dr. Lynn Babington has strengthened her leadership team by appointing Cathy O’Rourke as Vice President for Enrollment Management.

A former New York resident, O’Rourke has extensive experience in higher education administration. This includes senior leadership roles in undergraduate and graduate admissions, strategic marketing, student access, financial aid, staff development , and budget management.

During her tenure as Vice President for Enrollment Management at Champlain College in Vermont, O’Rourke increased first-year applications to historic levels for two consecutive years, enhanced net tuition revenue, and improved the academic quality of, based on standardized test scores and grade point averages.

As Director of Enrollment Services for New York University, O’Rourke provided strategic direction for the campus recruitment and marketing program. This resulted in the enrollment of highly competitive and diverse first-year and transfer students at ten undergraduate colleges and schools.

O’Rourke also served as Director of Admissions at The Wood School and at Marymount Manhattan College in New York, and as an enrollment management consultant for State University of New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology.

Chaminade Partnering with Texas Advanced Computing Center to offer new Data Science Training for Hawaii Students

$300,000 National Science Foundation Grant Funds 2-Year Pilot Program

Chaminade University is partnering with universities in Texas and Georgia on a two-year pilot program that trains Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) students for careers in data science, analytics and visualization.

The SPICE (Supporting Pacific Indigenous Computing Excellence) project is funded by a $300,000 award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through its INCLUDES (Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science) initiative. INCLUDES is part of the NSF’s “10 Big Ideas” program.

Dr. Helen Turner

“The vision of SPICE is training a cadre of students who will lead data science, visualization and analytics efforts that support health, sustainability and social justice in Hawaii and elsewhere in the Pacific,” said Dr. Helen Turner, the project’s co-principal investigator and Chaminade’s dean of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and Vice President for Innovation.

“Solutions to many critical regional problems lie in ‘big data,’” Dr. Turner said. “It’s key that Hawaii’s future science, technology and business leaders are prepared to use data science in their careers and advocacy.

“Analyzing and applying big data has the potential to change lives in Hawaii for the better,” Dr. Turner added, “and we want our students to be part of that better future.”

Partnering with Chaminade on SPICE are the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at The University of Texas at Austin and the Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics & Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology. SPICE principal investigator is Kelly Gaither, TACC Director of Visualization.

Gaither explained that SPICE students will work with large data sets offering possible solutions to current and emerging problems in the Pacific, including health inequities, natural resource management and economic development. Moreover, preparing these students for data science and computational careers will support Hawaii’s transition to an innovation economy.

“The long-term goal is developing the SPICE partnership into a backbone organization that can frame the current and future efforts as an NSF INCLUDES Alliance,” according to Gaither, “starting with a one-month summer immersion program in 2018 and building to a data science curriculum at Chaminade.

Chaminade President Lynn Babington said one of the “most compelling” aspects of this data science, visualization and analytics initiative is its broad applicability.

“These skills are needed by Hawaii’s future workforce across diverse sectors,” Dr. Babington said, “including business, science, health care and environmental protection. This is the gap Chaminade will address.”

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ABOUT THE TEXAS ADVANCED COMPUTING CENTER
The Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at The University of Texas at Austin is one of the leading supercomputing centers in the world. Every day, thousands of researchers rely on the center’s advanced computing resources and expertise which support more than 3,000 projects from more than 400 institutions across the country. TACC’s mission is to enable discoveries that advance science and society through the application of advanced computing technologies. The infrastructure includes web portals and services, high-performance computing systems, advanced scientific visualization systems, data servers and storage/archival systems, cloud computing servers, IT systems, high-bandwidth networks, and a comprehensive software environment comprising applications, tools, libraries, databases, and grid software.

Dr. Helen Turner Named as Chaminade’s Inaugural Vice President for Innovation

Dr. Helen TurnerChaminade University President Dr. Lynn Babington has named Dr. Helen Turner, an internationally-regarded cellular immunology researcher, as the institution’s first Vice President for Innovation. The appointment is in addition to Dr. Turner’s responsibilities as Dean of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

“Creating this new leadership role reflects Chaminade’s growth trajectory and commitment to providing cutting-edge academic and research programs that benefit our students, faculty and all the populations we serve,” Dr. Babington said. “Moreover, this appointment supports Hawaii’s critical transition to an innovation economy.”

Chaminade Board of Regents Chair Vaughn Vasconcellos describes Dr. Turner as a respected leader in the scientific and higher education communities with a “proven track record of innovation,” thus making her well qualified for the new position.

“Along with representing the campus on numerous scientific advisory boards, Dean Turner attracted grants and developed programs that placed Chaminade on the map for STEM education,” Vasconcellos pointed out. “She also helps students gain admission to prestigious graduate and health professional programs nationwide.”

In her new role, Dr. Turner said she’ll focus on “student readiness for the workplace, for leadership and for making contributions to their communities.”

“Our innovative programs and cutting-edge approaches draw on our deep faculty expertise,” Dr. Turner emphasized, “and will position our students to lead in Hawaii’s economic development.”

A biology professor, Dr. Turner conducts immunology research on pathologies such as asthma and eczema. She receives funding from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and U.S. Department of Defense, as well as private foundations.

Dr. Turner recently obtained a $1 million STEM education grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She also developed the $9.6 million Ho`oulu STEM Scholarship program with Kamehameha Schools.

Prior to joining Chaminade in 2007, Dr. Turner was an associate director at The Queen’s Center for Biomedical Research in Honolulu. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of London and performed post-doctoral work at Beth Israel Medical Center and Harvard Medical School.