A traditional Hawaiian ceremony was the celebratory centerpiece as University of Maryland Global Campus dedicated in late October its first civilian classroom site in Hawaii, UMGC @ Pearl City, located near the entrance to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu County.
UMGC @ Pearl City, which houses a modern 20-capacity classroom, is the university’s second classroom site in Hawaii. It also offers classes at Coast Guard Base Honolulu. And the new location offers service members returning to Hawaii from overseas and deployments, veterans, and military family members additional opportunities to achieve their higher-education goals through expanded access to online and on-site instruction and advising.
Gen. Lloyd “Milo” Miles (U.S. Army, Ret.), senior vice president for Global Military Operations at UMGC, headed the university’s delegation in attendance at the dedication. UMGC faculty and students, community stakeholders, leadership from USO Hawaii and Oahu military education center personnel also attended. The ceremony included a traditional Aloha chant in Hawaiian to breathe positive energy into the new space and stimulate productive energy for the greater good of all who enter there.
“There is a large and thriving veteran and active-duty military community that we look forward to serving for many years to come,” said Kelly Wilmeth, vice president of stateside military operations at UMGC. “We identified this convenient location, which fulfills a key piece of the university’s plan to expand civilian locations in areas with large veteran and active-duty populations throughout the country.”
Several days prior to the dedication, UMGC launched its first two undergraduate hybrid classes at the new location—Management and Organization Theory (BMGT 364) and Advanced Business Writing (WRTG 394)—and is slated to launch a master’s in transformational leadership program in April 2020. In addition, UMGC @ Pearl City carries on the university’s mission to provide student support with a goal toward degree completion through walk-in and by-appointment academic advising services for current and prospective students every Monday-Friday from 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Since 2005, UMGC has been serving the military and veteran community across the state through the university’s Hawaii-based military education coordinators who meet with students on the many military installations on Oahu to provide academic advising services. The assistance offered through UMGC @ Pearl City complements this ongoing work.
And recently, as well, UMGC has partnered with the USO in Hawaii to help that organization continue to provide free services to Hawaii-based service members and their families. Through this effort, UMGC hopes to increase awareness of the many educational opportunities the university provides to service members, veterans and family members in Hawaii.
For more information visit the UMGC @ Pearl City webpage.
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