Second Attachment
UH HILO FACULTY CONGRESS
Meeting Minutes Meeting
DRAFT May 5, 2006
2005-2006 Members Present: Philippe Binder, Marilyn Brown, Kelly Burke, Jerry Calton, Rick Castberg,
Keola Donaghy, Sevki Erdogan, April Komenaka, Michael Marshall, Bruce Mathews, Jim Mellon, Jene
Michaud, Helen Rogers, Sabry Shehata
2006-2007 Members Present: Barbara Leonard, Shuguang Li, Gail Makuakane-Lundin, Yumiko Ohara,
Tom Pinhey
Meeting called to order by Congress Chair Jene Michaud at 3:00 pm.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
 Jerry Calton reported that Kelly Burke has been elected as next year’s COBE Faculty Senate
Chair. Barbara Leonard has been elected to replace Kelly Burke as the COBE representative to
Congress. She will serve a one-year term.
 The CAFNRM representatives to Congress will remain the same for next year.
 CHL does not have a faculty senate chair yet.
 Jerry Calton requested that someone volunteer to attend system-wide budget committee
meetings during the summer since he will be teaching and will not be able to attend. Rick
Castberg volunteered to do so.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Approved by acclamation, with the following corrections: 1) clarify that the stocktaking proposals
may not be on the website yet but will be eventually, and 2) strike a sentence in the General
Education Committee report.
END-OF-YEAR REPORT
Chair Jene Michaud thanked the members of the Congress Executive Committee for their work during the
year. She gave a report that reflected on the main accomplishments of Congress this year, gave some
insight into what she has learned, and made recommendations for issues Congress needs to address
next year.
The main accomplishments for the year were the following:

bringing admissions criteria up to the level of Congress

improving the level of transparency in the University budget process
Other accomplishments included:

developing a procedure for program reviews

the important work of the Student Success Committee (the Chair suggested that the level of
interest in this area should be sustained next year)

the continuing work on General Education

productive working relationship with the Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (the VCAA
office was receptive and asked for guidance)

somewhat greater initiative and autonomy

Having served on the ACCFSC (All Campus Council of Faculty Senate Chairs), the Chair
reported that she was able to get a better sense of how the UH system works. The system was
strengthened a few years ago, with greater division between system offices and UH Manoa
offices; this should work toward UH Hilo’s advantage. She served on the search committee for
the vice president for academic planning and policy. According to Interim VP for Academic
Planning and Policy Linda Johnsrud, the priorities for budgeting in the UH system are 1)
increasing the state’s educational capital, 2) developing the state’s workforce, and 3) diversifying
the economy through technology transfer. It should be noted that Dr. Johnsrud is concerned with
the financing of higher education (every state is in serious trouble, so Hawaii is not alone),
accountability (we have clients and we’re accountable to them), and the need for a higher
education plan for the state (we need to be deliberate in what the state needs).
The Chair’s recommendations for next year’s Congress include:

Project Second Decade: This is a project looking at education for the next decade—what are the
needs and gaps, and how we’re going to do it. The VP for Academic Planning and Policy will
come to UH Hilo to do a presentation; it was recommended that Congress take advantage of this
opportunity.

Further discussions are needed regarding the General Education proposal.

Second Major/Degree Policy: The existing policy still needs to be clarified, and perhaps
liberalized.

Faculty Governance: The Congress Executive Committee (CEC) met with the administration and
discussed a document on faculty governance in an attempt to sort out governance issues. There
is a need for better efficiency and to be clear about who does what. The Interim VCAA drafted
the document, which the CEC modified. It is a work in progress and should be reviewed/modified
by Congress, the Senates, the Graduate Council, and the VC for Academic Policy. It is important
to establish how the various governance bodies (senates, congress, graduate council) interact.
Conflicts between senates and congress seem to be sorting themselves out, but there are
unresolved issues involving graduate programs and some kinds of new programs.

Graduate Education: This is a thorny issue and has a lot of budgetary implications.

Mission of the Institution: The Chair’s opinion is that there is not a consensus among the faculty
bodies about the institution’s mission. She urged next year’s Congress to think about this. There
is a lack of a process for discussion and coming to a consensus. Supposedly there will be
discussions in the near future about a new strategic plan; perhaps this will spur discussion about
the institutional mission.
Assessment Support Committee Chair April Komenaka said that it is important for Congress to give
support for the program review process. We will have gone through a complete cycle of program reviews
within the next two years.
The Chair reported that the Congress By-Laws stipulate that the CEC is supposed to produce a slate of
candidates for Congress officer positions, but it was not able to come up with candidates for all of the
open positions.
Meeting adjourned at 3:30 pm. The 2006-2007 Congress convened immediately thereafter.
Respectfully submitted,
Jim Mellon, Congress Secretary