With 2,357 people registered as full time students, enrollment for Spring Semester has surpassed expectations, according to James Faustino, Director of Admissions and Financial Aid. “The goal was 1,800. Last year, we only saw about 1,680 students (in Spring Term). So we anticipated 1,800 students and that would be great,” said Faustino. “But I think we really set some new standards, encouraging more students to stay.” “It’s an exciting time for BYU-Hawaii. We’re in growth mode,” continued Faustino. “This Spring Semester, we have had our highest enrollment in BYU-Hawaii history for this time in the calendar year.” In addition to the influx of Spring students, the school is experiencing a higher percentage of students from its target areas. According to the Admissions website, BYUH’s target areas include “the Pacific Basin, Hawaii, Asian Rim countries and South Pacific Islands and nations.” This Spring Semester, 58 percent of attending students are from the target area, with 47 percent coming from the Pacific and Asia and 11 percent coming from Hawaii. “That’s why I’m so excited about the Spring Semester,” said Faustino. “It represents a positive shift towards the mission of the university and ... that is moving in the direction in which President Tanner talked about when he was inaugurated.” Faustino, who grew up in Hauula, Hawaii, is excited to be part of the growth and vision of the university. “It’s a real blessing to be in this position. I was born and raised here. As long as I can remember, it’s been the same dormitories cycling students year in and year out. Seeing new facilities and new plans for growth is monumental. It’s exciting to be in this position to help traffic that.” Regarding the 42 percent of students from mainland United States, Faustino is optimistic about the role they have to play. “We still need our domestic mainland students, and our native [English] speakers, to give enrichment and to give them the opportunity to attend this school as well,” he said. “A lot of them also have served missions within our target area or have cultural ties to our target area. It makes it an interesting semester by way of composition.” Faustino said he and his team in the Admissions Office work closely with other departments on campus to prepare for the fluctuating tides of students admitted to the school. “Housing is the number one limiter we have by way of admissions. We work closely with the Housing Department to make sure that we’re not overcrowding the community with our on-campus and off-campus housing accommodations and so forth.” It’s a subtle science to accurately estimate the number of students who will attend upcoming semesters, said Faustino. “As we try to predict the number of students we should admit and the number of students who actually show up, that’s an art. We project and do a ton of analysis on that. We try to get that number pretty straight,” said Faustino. He cited the RSVP initiative as being extremely helpful in that endeavor. Faustino said he is also excited about the new waves of returning missionaries from international countries admitted to the upcoming Fall 2016 Semester. “We have more returned missionaries, especially with the missionary-age announcement. Pretty much 98 percent of students admitted to the I-Work Program for the upcoming Fall 2016 Semester are returned missionaries. We’re starting to see more mature students, not only by age, but also by personality and experience as well.”Uploaded April 8, 2016
Writer: Daxon Levine
