MEDIA RELEASE

Dr. Kenneth “Marty” Fletcher

Hawai‘i Community College (Hawai‘i CC) is pleased to announce that Dr. Kenneth “Marty” Fletcher has been hired as the new Director of the University of Hawai‘i Center, West Hawai‘i (UHCWH).

The University of Hawai‘i Board of Regents approved the hiring of Dr. Fletcher in February, and Hawai‘i CC hosted a Kīpaepae Hoʻokamaʻāina for Dr. Fletcher on Friday, March 14 at the UHCWH location in Kealakekua.

“With the construction of Hawai‘i Community College — Pālamanui underway, Dr. Fletcher joins us at an exciting time for higher education in West Hawai‘i,” said Hawai‘i CC Chancellor Noreen Yamane. “Dr. Fletcher’s talent and experience as an administrator will serve the college well as we continue to grow and provide opportunities for the people of Hawai‘i Island.”

Dr. Fletcher spent much of his youth on O‘ahu and still has family there. Prior to joining UHCWH, he was the Senior Lecturer (Online Education) and Program Director for Open Universities Australia at Griffith Business School, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia.

“I feel truly blessed to be joining the West Hawai‘i ‘ohana of Hawai‘i Community College and the University of Hawai‘i system,” said Dr. Fletcher. “I’m excited to work with the college and the community to make sure we are delivering the excellent higher education opportunities West Hawai‘i deserves. If I had dreamed of a scenario for my return to Hawai‘i Nei when my wife and I first started contemplating returning home, it couldn’t have been any better.”

Dr. Fletcher’s Background

Dr. Fletcher received his Ph.D. in Education, specializing in Learning Management and Educational Technology from Walden University, Minneapolis, MN, and his Masters in International Management from Northern Territory University (now Charles Darwin University), Darwin, NT Australia, from which he also acquired a credential in Adult/Vocational Education. Dr. Fletcher has family roots on O‘ahu but so far spent his professional career mostly in Australia.

Dr. Fletcher was most recently the Senior Lecturer (Online Education) and Program Director for Open Universities Australia at Griffith Business School, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia. His responsibilities included developing and delivering global online degrees, with approximately 10,000 course enrollments per year, while also leading a small campus-based Bachelor’s Degree program of approximately 80 students (low SES, Indigenous and Pacific Island, first-generation college) in the Logan community.

Contracted after college from Hawaiʻi to play professional basketball in Melbourne, Australia, he worked as a manager in operations and marketing in several industries and public enterprise. His supervisory/managerial experience spans responsibilities over facilities and equipment, staff occupational health and safety, production, accounting, marketing/promotions, and strategic planning.

Subsequent to his athletic career, Dr. Fletcher obtained his postgraduate credentials and worked in vocational and academic tiers of higher education in both the United States and Australia as a manager, teacher, academic staff developer, and scholar. His research publications report on his practical experiences working with educators to apply combined management and technology theories with educational and human behavioral sciences.