This commentary is part of a series of articles prepared by Voices of Educators, a non-profit coalition designed to foster debate and public policy change within Hawai'i's public education system, in partnership with The Advertiser. It appears in Focus on the first Sunday of the month.

A few months ago in this column, I discussed the influences that impact on how higher education institutions operate and described what I called the "A" world of the future that we now face. This world includes calls for access to programs, alternative models of delivery, articulation, alignment, affordability, accountability, assessment and the ability to be agile and adaptable. I noted that typically public higher education has not been particularly good at many of these and change does not come quickly.

However, at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa's College of Education, we are making progress. Despite the less than ideal economic circumstances and the fact that additional funding targeted to new ideas is not likely to be available, there are ways to do things differently in order to address the demands and challenges we face. This month we describe some new ways of doing business and provide a sneak preview of other ideas in the planning stages. Our focus is on access and alternative models of higher education.

Evening options: Not everyone is able to attend daytime classes on campus.

In Fall 2008, the college began providing a new option for those pursuing a bachelor's degree in elementary education — a teacher preparation program with all courses offered in the evenings. Designed for those who work during the day but want to pursue their degree and a teaching license, the program has a slower pace, understanding the time demands these students face.

When completed, students are recommended for a teaching license in both elementary and special education. The faculty is currently reviewing plans to provide a bachelor's level evening option for those who wish to focus on early childhood education and may be working in childcare settings.

Online and distance opportunities: Increasingly, the College of Education is using technology to provide program access to all islands of the state and beyond. Many programs are available either entirely online or in a "hybrid" model that requires some limited face-to-face time in combination with online or other distance delivered instruction.

This month we begin our first entirely online option for secondary mathematics and science teaching through a post-bachelor's teacher preparation program. Fully online programs are already available at the master's level for program evaluation and for educational technology while master's programs in middle-level education and rehabilitation counseling will be fully online starting next year.

Statewide options also exist for bachelor's level elementary, post-bachelor's level secondary, and post-bachelor's and master's level special education teacher preparation programs. In addition, a group of faculty is exploring the possibility of delivering courses in virtual world settings such as Second Life.

Summers only: Another way to provide access to higher education is by making programs available in summer intensive sessions with online follow-up throughout the year. Our master's in early childhood program as well as our master's options in private school leadership and in educational leadership in the Asia/Pacific region have shown great success in using this model. ther faculty are considering how such a design might work for their programs.

Collaborating with others: One core belief I hold is that more can be accomplished through collaboration in education than through competition.

We are actively looking at how we can expand collaboration in order to serve the state. Last year, we signed an historic agreement with Leeward Community College to accept their Associate of Arts in Teaching students into our elementary programs on equal status with students who took their first two years at UH-Manoa. We are working on ways to expand such agreements to other community colleges and other undergraduate degrees. Collaboration with schools and communities is also important as demonstrated in our Master of Education in Teaching program. This program is offered in the public schools with our faculty working side by side with school personnel and community members to design and deliver the program. We also collaborate with Teach for America to provide alternative pathways to teaching.

Thinking outside the box: We are asking our faculty and staff to think outside the box about how to solve problems and provide access to our programs. Here are two examples: