John Gotanda is Hawaii born and raised. His wife, Brenda, an environmental attorney, accompanies him, with their two children, on frequent vacations here. Hawaii is, if not home for the Gotanda clan, at least familiar and popular with all.

A move back from Pennsylvania, where Gotanda, 54, is dean of Villanova University School of Law, made perfect sense in theory. That was especially true given that it was to take the post as president of Hawaii Pacific University.

But in practice, an 11-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son were involved, and a move like that isn’t easy for that age bracket. Gotanda said his son was happier after visiting a few prospective schools. His daughter, though, had to give it some thought.

“She comes back the next day,” Gotanda recalled, “and she says to me, ‘You know, Dad, I thought about this and I realize this is important to your career. And you know something? It’s going to look good on my resume, so I’ve changed my mind.’”

The family will be here in summertime when Gotanda officially takes over as HPU’s fifth president — he was here for a few days recently to formally accept the job.

It’s a consequential time for the private university, which is only now settling in at Aloha Tower Marketplace, now converted to accommodate student dorms, university facilities and tenant businesses. He admitted he’s still being briefed on the long-range plans for HPU’s downtown and Windward campuses.

Gotanda is used to change, however. The graduate of the William S. Richardson School of Law started out as a songwriter and keyboardist. He worked his way through college in another business, managing the Ala Moana eatery Lynn’s Deli.

While in music, he wrote and produced records, including a single, “Song of Love,” with Nohelani Cypriano and Danny Couch.

“Nominated for a Na Hoku Hanohano Award,” he said, adding with a laugh, “but I lost.”

He also made doughnuts for Dunkin’ Donuts — and that’s the job, he said, that impresses his kids.

QUESTION: Were you concerned by challenges keeping up enrollment levels?

ANSWER: Oh, the entire industry is facing challenges. I come from an industry that has faced 50 percent enrollment decline since its height, in a decade or so.

Q: You’re talking about law schools?

A: Yeah. So I’m familiar with the challenges there. But where there’s challenges, there’s opportunities. And I do believe that this is an opportunity for the university to distinguish itself in a difficult market. …

I believe the foundation is solid here. And the academic program is solid. …

And a real, special community. Really, what drew me to HPU was the community. This is a community that cares — from the faculty, to the students, to the alumni, this is a community not unlike the one I’m coming from.

So those distinguishing types of features are really going to, in the end, set a solid foundation to help HPU thrive, even in a difficult market.

Q: What are the first things you would like to do to move it forward? Do you have any concerns about the graduation rate?

A: The prime focus should always be on academics. Academics is first and foremost. It’s all about the students, in the end, providing for them … the knowledge, skills and values, so they not just hit the ground running on Day One, but really to thrive no matter what the future may hold.

Q: And what does that mean? How do you emphasize that?

A: I am very much interested in HPU being a leader in innovative education.

Q: And that is … ?

A: And that is providing an education that is market-aligned and student-centered. And one that focuses on, what are those knowledge skills and values that industry experts, the faculty, the employers deem important? And making sure the education that we provide to the student meets the demands of the market.

But at the same time, we want the educational experience to be student-centered. We want an educational experience to be personalized, to each individual student, and to build a program that allows each student to really tailor their education to meet what they want to do ultimately, and also to match it up with what the employers want, in the end.

I think that you will see in the coming years, higher education will move in this direction. And I think HPU has the pieces in place to be a leader here. …

Q: What steps do you need to take to make sure that alignment with the employers happens?

A: It’s one of constantly going back to employers, going back to your alumni, going back to the community and finding out what are the skills, knowledge and values that the market values, and wants.

So it is a process of doing the research and working with the faculty to provide that.

But I think it’s critical today that we do that, because as we talked about, in the end it will lead to better student outcomes. It will lead to better retention rates, better graduation rates. And it will ultimately lead to better employment rates. …

Q: What leads students to drop out, and be left with whatever debts they have? What can the school do to keep them engaged?

A: I think that there are various reasons, and they may be individualized, in any particular case, why a student decides not to remain at an institution.

I do think the institutions need to be very attentive to the needs of the student, to work with them and find out, and then to see whether or not they can address them, whether it be financial, whether it be from an academic standpoint. …

Q: So, it’s like counseling?

A: It’s more than, I think, counseling. I think we can develop new programs, not only to provide early intervention, but to give faculty members the ability to see early on where students are struggling.

And perhaps we can even build the tools in so that the students themselves can see where they stand in a particular course. In the past, we used to have grades at the end of the semester, and that with your feedback. I think we today need to explore being able to provide students with feedback throughout the process. …

Q: And you feel students will respond to that?

A: I think they will respond, because it will give them greater control. It makes it more personalized … it’s going to lead to better outcomes, in the end. …

Q: Are you concerned about the sense that college is financially out of reach for students?

A: Absolutely. One of my goals is to make sure that every student that has earned an HPU education is able to afford an HPU education. That’s clearly part of my job, to make sure that happens. And so we need to look at ways we can increase financial aid. We need to look at ways, through fundraising, and other means.

Q: About the new Aloha Tower Marketplace acquisition: Would that add to the sustainability challenge for HPU?

A: Well, I think you’re going to start to see a number (of students) coming in, because they’re going to recognize the vibrancy, as we start to build it out. I would love to also see partnerships and academic programs that partner with the business community — entrepreneurs, innovation.

Q: All the rage now?

A: Right. But one that involve students.

Q: And what about the Hawaii Loa campus, in Kaneohe? Is that two-campus split still going to work? There were plans to develop that as well, right?

A: There are a lot of different plans, and I know there have been various studies. Where in the process we are with that, I’m not sure.

Hawaii Loa campus, boy, it’s a great facility. So I think we’re looking at it and deciding what works.

Q: So there are a lot of discussions and planning to go on at this point?

A: Right. … We’re clearly looking at the time to do more in-depth planning, but in my view it should be a constant process. …

The market is changing so quickly. The industry is changing so quickly. In that situation, it’s important to understand what those changes are and how we can take advantage of them. As the saying goes, “Don’t let a good crisis go to waste.” (Laughs.)

Q: Are there going to be more shops (at Aloha Tower Marketplace), or primarily college spaces?

A: It’s going to be a mix. There clearly are going to be more businesses coming in. I know there are various negotiations underway. And I think that will make it even more vibrant, to have a mix of retail and educational offices coming together. I’d like to have the university more integrated into the life of downtown Honolulu. This is going to be one way, and a demonstration of that.

Q: How do you think your law career track prepared you for this job? I realize you were in administration, too.

A: Right. In fact, a lot of law school deans are now becoming university presidents.

Q: What’s going on with that?

A: I think it’s because law schools are, at times, sort of mini-universities. Law schools typically have their own admissions offices, they have their own financial-aid offices, they have their own food service, they have their own separate facilities in many places. So they are self-contained units. In many ways, it’s good training to be a university president.

Q: I wondered whether there was something about being a lawyer, too.

A: Lawyers are also problem solvers, in the end. And I think that also lends itself well to the job of a university president.

Q: Outside your profession, what are your interests?

A: I play music. I used to be a musician in Hawaii, a long time ago. … I used to be a professional keyboard player. I wasn’t very good, though.

Q: Well, you were a professional. You must have been pretty good.

A: (Laughs.) It was much to the delight and relief of my parents that I gave it up, because they thought, “He was never going to make any money doing this.”