UH Board of Regents approves chancellor appointments for Leeward, Kauai and Honolulu

Hawaiʻi Community College
Contact:
Carolyn Tanaka, (808) 956-8109
External Affairs & University Relations
Posted: May 22, 2008

KAPOLEI, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi — The University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents (BOR) approved chancellor appointments for Leeward, Kauaʻi and Honolulu Community Colleges at its monthly meeting held this week in Kapolei.

Manuel Cabral, who has been serving as interim chancellor at Leeward Community College since March 2007, received a permanent appointment. Helen Cox was named chancellor for Kauaʻi Community College and Michael Rota was named interim chancellor at Honolulu Community College, both replacing current chancellors Peggy Cha and Ramsey Pedersen who announced their retirements earlier this year.

Cabral‘s appointment is for three years, effective June 1, 2008, at an annual salary of $155,016. He has worked at Leeward Community College for 28 years in various capacities including faculty senate vice chair, chair of the Leeward Community College Campus Council, and for 19 years as the mathematics and science division chair. Cabral earned a bachelor‘s degree in mathematics and French from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore., and a master‘s degree in mathematics from Indiana University. He has been recognized for his excellence in teaching and leadership with the University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents‘ Excellence in Teaching Award and the Outstanding Leadership Award of the National Community College Division Chair Academy. Cox‘s appointment as chancellor of Kauaʻi Community College is for three years, effective August 12, 2008, at an annual salary of $150,000. She is currently Associate Vice President of Instruction at Salt Lake Community College, a position she has held since 2003. Cox received her doctoral degree in English-American Studies from the University of Utah, where she also did her master's degree work in English-American Literature. She obtained her bachelor's in English Literature at Harvard University. Cox has served in higher education for more than 25 years, primarily at Salt Lake Community College starting as a faculty member then progressing on to Division Chair, Executive Assistant to the President, and her current position as Associate Vice President of Instruction.

Kauaʻi Community College Chancellor Peggy Cha announced her retirement earlier this year after serving as chancellor of the Kauaʻi campus for 10 years, and in various positions within the UH System for more than 30 years throughout her career.

Rota‘s appointment as interim chancellor at Honolulu Community College is for one year, effective July 1, 2008, at an annual salary of $168,216. Since December 2002, Rota has been the associate vice president for academic affairs for the University of Hawaiʻi Community Colleges, where he is responsible for academic program planning, evaluation and assessment; course and program articulation; regional accreditation; federal higher education and workforce development issues, and collaboration with external agencies.

Honolulu Community College Chancellor Ramsey Pedersen announced his retirement earlier this year, after serving as the chief executive officer for the Honolulu campus since 2001. Pedersen first joined the college in 1973.