UH HILO FACULTY CONGRESS
Meeting Minutes
October 28, 2005
Members Present: Tausilia Amoa, Philippe Binder, Marilyn Brown, Kelly Burke, Iota Cabral,
Jerry Calton, Rick Castberg, Keola Donaghy, Robert Fox, Jonathan Groelz, Mike Marshall,
Bruce Mathews, Jim Mellon, Jene Michaud, Dylan Nonaka, Sabry Shehata
Ex-Officio Members Present: Randy Hirokawa, Steve Hora, Corinne Tamashiro
Others Present: Kainoa Ariola, Beau Butts, Hank Hennessey, Kainoa Kaumeheiwa-Rego,
Kalani Makekau-Whittaker, Doug Mikkelson, Regina Titunik, Cathy Zenz
Meeting called to order by Chair Jene Michaud at 3:00 pm.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. Refresher on ground rules: Voting members can make a motion and speak; ex-officio
members can speak but cannot make motions; visitors may only speak if asked.
2. Composition of congress and its committees:
a. Keola Donaghy is now the CHL representative to congress (first year of two-year
term)
b. Norm Stahl will replace Gail Makuakane-Lundin as the OSA representative on
the budget committee (first year of two year term).
c. Jennifer Richardson (CAS) will be added to the ad hoc Admissions Committee.
d. Beau Butts will be the student member of the ad hoc Admissions Committee
e. Jean Ippolito (Humanities), Jon Groelz (CAFNRM), Tausilia Amoa (COBE
student), and Pua Rossi (CHL student) are joining the General Education
Committee. They are currently serving the first year of a two-year term.
f. Emmeline de Pilles will be the COBE representative on the admissions
committee.
3. The Congress Executive Committee (CEC) is referring the following matters to the
Academic Policy Committee:
a. computation of the GPA for majors/minors/certificates
b. maximum of 75% of credits applying to major can be transfer credits
c. policy on double majors and concurrent degrees
4. At the CEC meeting on October 17, student Justin Avery gave a presentation on military
recruiting on campus. The CEC committee passed the following resolution:
The Congress Executive Committee (CEC) recognizes that military recruitment
on campus raises some legitimate issues regarding discrimination against
homosexuals. The CEC encourages concerned students to organize forums to
educate the campus community on this issue. The CEC also encourages student
organizations (for example GLO, UHSA, and the political science club) to take
action on this issue if they feel it is appropriate.
5. Chair Jene Michaud reported that at the recent All Campus Council of Faculty Senate
Chairs it was announced that the UH system will be generating a faculty morale survey
system-wide.
BUSINESS
1. Approval of the minutes of the September 23, 2005 meeting. Approved by acclamation with
corrections regarding ways to get congress to consider an issue.
2. Assessment Committee
a) Chair April Komenaka was not present, but filed a report that was distributed.
b) Also distributed was a copy of proposed program review guidelines. Members were advised
to review the document, which will probably be voted on at the next meeting.
3. General Education Committee
Chair Marilyn Brown reported that the committee had its first meeting, at which they had
introductions, reviewed last year’s activities, and discussed the status of the four college’s
proposals for General Education. Committee members also offered their ideas on a range of
potential General Education Committee areas of deliberation for the coming year. The
committee will be meeting with Steve Hora to discuss General Education. Next meeting is
scheduled for December 2.
4. Academic Policy Committee
a) Chair Kelly Burke reported on the proposed policy regarding the transfer of credits. He cited
one concern in the last paragraph, which states that “the transfer evaluation provided to the
student at the beginning of the student’s matriculation at UHH…” This statement implies that
the evaluation is done at the beginning of a student’s career at UH Hilo. The Records Office is
working on a set of “rules tables” that should improve the process.
Motion: To approve the policy regarding the transfer of credits.
Vote: 11 in favor, 0 opposed, 0 abstained. Motion passed.
b) Chair Kelly Burke explained that last year congress discussed a proposal to average grades
when a student repeats a course. What was eventually approved by congress was that the most
recent grade earned in a repeated course would be the one used in the GPA calculation.
Congress recognizes that the policy may result in situations where a student earns a failing grade
for a course that the student had previously earned a passing grade and course credit for. The
committee recommended that Banner be reprogrammed to prevent registration in any repeatable
courses for a second time without concurrent submission of an approval form (the intent of
which would be to inform students of the new “3-peat” policy), but according to the Registrar,
Banner cannot be programmed to prevent registration in any repeatable courses. Therefore, the
committee recommended the status quo (i.e., no changes to the policy that congress approved
last year).
In response to questions, the Registrar reported that a student would only get three credits (as
opposed to six) if he/she repeats a 3-credit course. She also said that if a student earns a B and
then a W, that the B grade would be the one that would be counted. She said that institutions
have varying policies: some average the grades, some take the most recent grade, and others
take the highest grade. She said that this would affect about 39 students. Dylan Nonaka asked if
there is a way to have some sort of review board review cases in which students failed a course
for the second or third time, since they have different reasons for failing. The Registrar
responded that there is a mechanism in place for these kinds of circumstances (i.e., the dean’s
offices).
Motion: To rescind the policy that was approved by congress last year and go back to the policy
in which the highest grade is calculated in the GPA when a student repeats a course.
Discussion occurred about taking the highest grade versus taking the most recent grade.
Comments made in favor of counting the highest grade included that it supports students and that
since the spirit of repeating a course is to get a higher grade, the higher grade should be counted.
It was also suggested that we should be looking at things like grading, not on “quirky
procedures,” to get students to take their education more seriously. Comments in favor of
counting the most recent grade included that students need to take their education more
seriously, and that the most recent grade makes sense because it reflects time, and that learning is
a process. The Registrar commented that graduate schools average repeat grades when
reviewing applicants’ transcripts; however, it was pointed out that this practice does not always
apply, particularly with law school admissions.
It was pointed out that previously approved policies cannot be rescinded, so a substitute motion
was made as follows:
Motion: To implement a new policy in which the highest grade would be counted when a
student repeats a course.
Vote: 4 in favor, 7 opposed, 1 abstention. Motion failed.
The effect of this vote is to keep the policy passed in May 2005 (which is that a student’s most
recent grade will be calculated in the GPA when he/she repeats a course).
5. 30% Cap On Non-resident Students
Steve Hora reported that there is a policy that caps the percentage of non-resident students at
30%. Currently we have 39% non-residents. The bulk of the non-resident students are WUE
(Western Undergraduate Exchange) students, who are charged 1.5 times the amount of resident
tuition. We have about 180 students from the Pacific Islands, to whom we are mandated to give
resident tuition status. UH Hilo is under pressure by the system to reduce the percentage of nonresident students. Qualified resident students have never been turned away from UH Hilo. The
UH Hilo administration is considering changing admissions standards for WUE students, for
example requiring a 3.0 GPA for WUE freshmen and 2.8 for WUE transfer students. They are
planning to boost the enrollment of resident students. Twenty percent of the upcoming tuition
increases have to go to scholarships, which will be for resident students. They are also proposing
to the system administration to count Pacific Islanders as residents. The UH Hilo administration
will be developing an interim admissions policy while the Congress Admissions Committee is
reviewing these issues and formulating recommendations.
6. Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Course Offerings
Motion from the CEC: Congress shall establish an ad hoc committee to examine issues related
to undergraduate interdisciplinary programs. The members of the committee will consist of the
affected Deans, the VCAA, the directors of interdisciplinary undergraduate programs, and a
liaison from the Academic Policy Committee. The committee will report back to Congress by
February 15. Its charge is to 1) determine if there are issues that need to be resolved and 2) make
any recommendations it deems appropriate.
Vote: 10 in favor, 0 opposed, 0 abstained. Motion passed.
7. Surplus State Revenues
Motion from the CEC, which if passed would be forwarded to appropriate state officials:
Be it resolved that the University of Hawaii at Hilo Faculty Congress urges the
state legislature to spend projected surplus revenues on deferred maintenance for
public education, from pre-kindergarten through graduate school.
Be it resolved that the University of Hawaii at Hilo Faculty Congress urges the
governor of Hawai'i to spend projected surplus revenues on deferred maintenance for
public education, from pre-kindergarten through graduate school.
It was suggested that the statements be strengthened and more specifically address the
workforce needs of the state. CEC members stated that this wording was chosen because
focusing on deferred maintenance it is more likely to be accepted, and that speaking with as
a unified body (e.g., all of the UH campuses) gives more credibility and weight. It was also
suggested the the state legislature be flooded with students. Dylan Nonaka replied that they
would need more specific projects to discuss with the legislature, which would be more
effective and realistic.
Motion: To substitute the motion above with a new motion.
Vote: 11 in favor, 0 opposed, o abstained. Motion passed.
Motion: For the CEC to choose three specific projects pertaining to deferred maintenance
that are priorities for the UH Hilo campus for the state legislature and governor to spend
projected surplus revenues.
Vote: 7 in favor, 2 opposed, 2 abstentions. Motion passed.
8. Steve Hora reported that he gave a report at the recent Board of Regents meeting on
campus. He discussed how state appropriations to UH Hilo have declined but enrollment
has increased, such that we have only about 75% of the funds (adjusted for inflation) now
than we had a decade ago.
Meeting adjourned at 4:10 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Jim Mellon
Congress Secretary