Karen Lee appointed head of Hawaiʻi P-20 Partnerships for Education

University of Hawaiʻi
Contact:
Kristen Bonilla, (808) 956-5039
Public Information Officer, External Affairs and University Relations
Kymber-Lee Char, (808) 956-9437
Public Information Officer, External Affairs and University Relations
Posted: Apr 29, 2011

Karen C. Lee
Karen C. Lee
HONOLULU — Karen C. Lee has been named associate vice president and executive director of the Hawaiʻi P-20 Partnerships for Education, a collaboration of the Early Learning Council, the Hawai‘i State Department of Education, and the University of Hawai‘i System that is working to strengthen the education pipeline from early childhood through higher education so that all students achieve career and college success.
 
Since 2006, Lee has served as associate vice president for student affairs for the University of Hawai‘i System, responsible for systemwide student affairs policies and student-related initiatives, such as financial aid policies, the Regents and Presidential Scholarship program, systemwide scholarships, student residency status related to tuition, and registration policies.
 
“Karen has built strong relationships across the university working with student affairs officers and chancellors on every campus. She is widely praised for her interpersonal skills and her ability to work with diverse groups toward consensus,” said Linda Johnsrud, UH executive vice president for academic affairs/provost. “She is a natural leader who focuses on ‘getting the job done,' and I believe she has the experience, skills and temperament to lead P-20 toward continued success.”
 
As executive director for Hawai‘i P-20, Lee is a senior member of a team charged with planning, developing, organizing and coordinating the program’s work on behalf of the partnership for education. She is responsible for supporting the Hawai‘i P-20 Council and overseeing Hawai‘i P-20 programs, including the W.K. Kellogg Foundation-funded Hawai‘i P-3 Initiative, which promotes partnerships within the early learning community to strengthen the continuum of early learning experiences for children, and the Step Up Campaign and GEAR UP Hawai‘i, designed to increase student readiness for post-high school success. She also guides the inter-agency team responsible for the design of a state¬wide longitudinal data system to inform policy- and decision-making for the improvement of educational outcomes in Hawai‘i.
 
Lee has previously served as executive assistant to the UH president and as undergraduate coordinator of student academic services at the UH Mānoa Shidler College of Business. She has also been assistant dean of students and senior assistant director of admission at Columbia University and assistant dean of admission at Colgate University. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Columbia University and a doctorate from the University of Southern California.
 
Lee fills the position formerly held by Tammi Chun who left to serve in the Governor’s Office as education policy advisor.
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Hawai‘i P-20 Partnerships for Education, a statewide partnership led by the Early Learning Council, the Hawai‘i State Department of Education and the University of Hawai‘i System works to strengthen the education pipeline from early childhood through higher education so that all students achieve college and career success. Hawai‘i P-20’s partners share a sense of urgency about the need to improve Hawai‘i’s educational outcomes in an increasingly global economy, and have established a goal of 55 percent of Hawai‘i’s working age adults having a two- or four-year college degree by 2025. For more information, visit www.p20hawaii.org.