HONOLULU (KHON2) -- The University of Hawaii has named the next president of it's 10 campus system. Wendy Hensel, an Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost at the City University of New York was selected by a unanimous vote by the UH Board of Regents. Get Hawaii's latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You Hensel doesn't start her official role at UH until January, and she's planning on learning about Hawaii through a course at the school. "I'm excited to find out that there actually is a course in Hawaiian culture and language at the university that I plan to be a student at with my husband," Hensel said. "I come as a listener to learn constantly with I've said a few times now, ears open and heart wide, and hopefully, over time, become an integral member of the community myself." Checking the box matters for marriage, judges: Hawaiʻi elections That's one of Hensel's goals for her first year, along with going to all 10 campuses to talk with faculty, staff, students, as well as industry and government partners to seek what's important and what the vision is. The priority will be students. "Looking at how we can continue to advance graduation rates and retention rates will certainly be something that I'm looking carefully at," Hensel said. What Hensel lacks in experience in the islands she has in her tenure with CUNY's 25-campus system with 235,000 students. ‘We love these gardens; it’s how we connect with nature’: Hawaiʻi hikes "The CUNY has an R1 research institution and also many community colleges. And the key is really recognizing that each is an integral part of the mosaic that is the university system. Each has unique needs, but they all depend on each other as well. And so I think respect for the roles that are played and identifying how to coordinate that, degree offerings so that we're not duplicating, but being the greatest access mission that we possibly can for the community. So it just takes time," Hensel said. Faculty have worried about research as budget cuts hit the flagship Manoa campus hard after the Maui wildfires sliced into the state's budget. "I think there's already some great areas of strength," Hensel said. "In research across the university, an incredible increase in productivity over the last several years. So it's an exciting time to come in. I look forward to identifying with them where there might be areas to expand further, perhaps do some interdisciplinary cluster hiring in areas of emerging significance in the Asia Pacific realm to really go to the next level." Budget cuts have highlighted an at-times tumultuous relationship with some members of the state legislature. "I think the key in my career has been early proactive engagement to build relationships in advance of the struggles that inevitably come about as we have different perspectives and at times different, agendas to move forward. So I hope that my appointment is a time for a reset and that we can work collaboratively together," Hensel said. Finally, athletics at UH Manoa has had a plethora of instability resulting from the legislature's fumbling of Aloha Stadium and the ongoing musical chairs of conference realignment. The athletics department has finally struck some good positioning with the move to a full-time member of the Mountain West Conference, ending travel subsidies that they paid to other teams. Find more Hawaii, Oahu, Maui and Kauai news here "I look forward to being in the stands, rooting for, all of our Rainbow Warriors. But the bottom line is athletics are incredibly important to any university, but particularly to the University of Hawaii as the front door to our community. It's great for students. It creates a sense of pride and engagement with the campus that's good for retention. It's great for our alumni and just our fans to come in and feel part of something exciting."