The University of Hawaii at West Oahu is one of the linchpins in the development of Kapolei as the truly dynamic "second city" that was envisioned for the region.

So the good news that it has received a seven-year renewal of its accreditation removes a worrisome obstacle to that progress — as long as its administration keeps it on that corrected course.

The new campus received word of its reaccreditation in a letter last week from the Western Association of Schools & Colleges (WASC), based on a team visit conducted Nov. 19-21.

The school officials are credited with overcoming some significant deficits that had led WASC to issue a notice of concern in 2012, problems that included "transitory senior academic leadership," a lack of focus on strategic planning and the need for a "student-centered environment" at the campus.

The university has made a good start at reversing this, according to the report, with recruitment of senior leaders, starting with the chancellor, as permanent, not interim, team members.

Strategic planning is critical to secure resources where they’re needed most in an era of tight budgetary constraint.

"One key tension is having sufficient faculty," the WASC team noted in the report. "There will be a need to have additional tenure-track faculty lines from the state to support the student success expectations for the campus, as approximately 70 percent of the program is still delivered by part-time lecturers."

Fulfilling the university’s campus-based and distance-learning missions will require a careful balancing act. The accreditors correctly emphasize the need for more tenure-track faculty hires to increase capacity and develop programs more fully.

But in its new five-year strategic plan, the university places a needed emphasis on offering programs accessible through modes of delivery that meet workforce needs. Flexibility to move between online and other distance-learning courses and conventional classroom learning will be essential in a young, growing community where students often need to balance work and study loads. About 22 percent of the enrollees, according to the report, are enrolled in distance learning.

WASC rightly recommends "that the central issue for examination is the quality of student learning for distance education program through direct assessment methods and in comparison to on-ground programs." The university must fulfill its pledge to accreditors to collect student satisfaction data from all course modes.

Creating A supportive environment for students does require the human touch, so it’s encouraging to see the steps taken to put new freshmen on the right path to success. There has been further development of the university’s "First-Year Experience" program geared for early intervention and mentorships where students are struggling.

The accreditors also commended the campus for its small class sizes, expansion of student organizations and on-campus employment. Such efforts aimed at creating a welcoming setting for student engagement and academic success — and for improving the UHWO student-retention and graduation rate — must continue.

The renewal of accreditation is surely being celebrated on the East Kapolei campus, as it should. This allows the administration to turn its focus to sustaining the progress achieved so far and building on it. But there’s more work to be done, because in the fall of 2018, WASC will require a status report on efforts to maintain a stable campus leadership, increase faculty capacity and better track student achievement, among other points of lingering concern.

If the Legislature, the university system and the host community deliver the support that they should, UH-West Oahu has solid prospects for growing into a foundational institution. It then may fill the educational and workforce training gaps for the island’s fastest growing population — people who’d love to get that opportunity a little closer to home.