UH HILO FACULTY CONGRESS
Meeting Minutes
January 27, 2006
Members Present: Philippe Binder, Marilyn Brown, Kelly Burke, Iota Cabral, Jerry
Calton, Rick Castberg, Keola Donaghy, Sevki Erdogan, Robert Fox, April Komenaka,
Michael Marshall, Jim Mellon, Jene Michaud, Helen Rogers, Sabry Shehata
Ex-Officio Members Present: Randy Hirokawa, Steve Hora, Marcia Sakai, Rose Tseng
Others Present: Audrey Furukawa, Melissa Johnson, Linda Johnsrud, Gail MakuakaneLundin, Jeff Scofield, Susan Shirachi
Meeting called to order by Chair Jene Michaud at 3:00 pm.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1.
2.
3.
Chair Jene Michaud gave an update on policies passed by Congress:
a) The VCAA has indicated that he will implement the transfer policy and the 3peat policy.
b) The VCAA has taken adverse action on the three GPA policies passed by
Congress at our last meeting. Apparently there is too much confusion about
what is meant by "all courses required for the major". Action item #3 (below) is
intended to remedy this defect. The Congress Chair has re-submitted the policy
relating to the lack of rounding. It is premature to revisit the 25% rule until the
Academic Policy Committee makes a recommendation relating to double
majors.
Kenith Simmons and April Komenaka have volunteered to make a preliminary
review of whether UH Hilo is meeting the objectives of the Strategic Plan. The
initial emphasis will be on tentatively identifying which objectives are being met,
which ones aren't being met, and which ones we are not sure of. The preliminary
review will also identify those objectives that can be evaluated using quantitative
measures. These analyses are viewed as a necessary first step towards review of the
Strategic Plan, formal assessment, or integrating the Plan into the planning and
budgeting process.
The new student representative for the College of Hawaiian Language is Kristi
Malia Temple.
GUEST REPORT
Linda Johnsrud, Interim Vice President for Academic Planning and Policy for the UH
system, gave a presentation on the proposed “Financial Assistance Program” for the UH
system. The purpose of the proposal is “to revise the existing tuition waiver program and
the non-resident tuition differential program to maximize the financial assistance
available for Hawaii residents and to ensure that the revenues made available for
financial assistance serve the interests of the University and the taxpayers of the state of
Hawaii.” The objectives are to “monetize the existing tuition waivers and non-resident
tuition differentials as appropriate” and “to increase the amount of assistance available to
students based on their financial need.” When the UH system administration was
proposing tuition increases last year, they publicly made a commitment to increase the
amount of financial aid available to financially needy students. The proposal aims to do
that. Dr. Johnsrud was particularly interested in getting feedback on the proportion of aid
that would be need-based versus merit-based, which for UH Hilo would be 60% needbased and 40% merit-based.. Although no motions were made, the consensus seemed to
be in agreement with the proportions proposed in the plan.
A copy of the Power Point presentation made by Dr. Johnsrud is available on the UH
Hilo Faculty Congress website (http://www.uhh.hawaii.edu/uhh/congress/reports.php).
ACTION ITEMS
1,
Approval of the minutes of the December 2, 2005 meeting. Approved by
acclamation.
2.
Motion by the Congress Executive Committee (CEC) to appoint Regina Titunik to a
three-year term on the system-wide Presidential Scholars Selection Committee.
Vote: 14 in favor, 0 opposed, 0 abstentions. Motion passed.
3.
Motion by the CEC, intended to determine and clearly communicate precisely
which courses are used to calculate the GPA for majors, minors, and certificates:
The Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs shall require that each
program clearly state in the catalog which of the courses applied
towards satisfaction of the major/minor/certificate shall be
included in the calculation of the GPA for the
major/minor/certificate.
By way of clarification, the CEC recommends that each program address the
following issues in order to achieve clear communication:
 Many programs have requirements broken down into groups (core courses,
elective courses, required courses from related fields). In such cases, programs
should state which of these groups are included in the GPA for the
major/minor/certificate.
 Programs should clarify whether or not courses that simultaneously fulfill
requirements in the major and other requirements (such as GE, W/I, or HAP)
are included in the GPA for the major/minor/certificate.
 Programs should clarify whether elective courses applied towards a
requirement are included in the GPA. As an example, if students must take
either Art 150 or Art 160, and they take Art 150, is Art 150 included in the
GPA? It is, of course, possible that students will take both courses. In that
case, it is recommended that the course with the highest grade be included in
the GPA.
It was pointed out that it is too late to get this information into the 2006-2007
catalog, but the intention is to get it into the 2007-2008 catalog.
Vote: 13 in favor, 0 opposed, 0 abstentions. Motion passed.
REPORTS
4.
Committee Reports
a) Budget Committee: Chair Jerry Calton gave a report which described the plans
and activities of the committee for the 2005-2006 year. A copy of the handout
he distributed is available on the UH Hilo Faculty Congress website
(http://www.uhh.hawaii.edu/uhh/congress/committee_budget.php).
b) General Education Committee: Chair Marilyn Brown reported that the
committee has been meeting and is in the process of revising the 2004 General
Education proposal.
c) Assessment Support Committee: Chair April Komenaka reported that the
committee is encouraging departments to look at the success they have made
and aim to build on what was worked for them. The committee is working with
departments that are undergoing program reviews this year: having an
orientation meeting with them, encouraging them to think about long-term goals
and to plan, document, and refine what their needs are. The committee is also
represented at all of the meetings between the VCAA and the college deans on
the MOUs that are generated between the administration and the department at
the end of a program review. The Chair also reported that the VCAA office has
funded four assessment proposals so far this year and that the committee is
involved in the search process for a new institutional researcher, which is
drawing to a conclusion.
d) Academic Policy Committee: No report.
5.
Other reports/announcements: UH Hilo was the only campus in the system that
showed an increase in enrollment from Spring 2005 to Spring 2006 (1.6% increase).
UH Hilo faculty and staff are invited to an opening of the ‘Imiloa Astronomy
Center of Hawaii on February 15. The official opening will occur the following
week.
6.
Recap of the All Campus Council of Faculty Senate Chairs (ACCFSC): Congress
Chair Jene Michaud reported on the following:
a) UARC: The Board of Regents solicited feedback from the UH Manoa faculty
and Native Hawaiians. The UH Manoa Faculty Senate voted to oppose it and
there was no word yet on a stance taken by Native Hawaiians. Rick Castberg
reported that the Congress Executive Committee decided not to take a stance on
this issue. The Chancellor commented that UARC would be under UH Manoa.
b) “Grading harmony:” Discussion has been taking place on looking at all UH
campuses using the same grading system.
c) The UH Manoa Faculty Senate is working on a resolution dealing with nonpermanent research faculty. Currently a tenure-track faculty member can get
tenure prior to receiving permanent research status. If they do not get permanent
research status, they lose their job.
d) The Legislature had transferred two positions from UH Manoa College of
Education to UHWO, but Interim UH President David McClain stopped this
from happening.
e) The search process for a permanent Vice President for Academic Planning and
Policy for the UH system is underway. Jene Michaud and Keith Miser from UH
Hilo are on the search committee.
f) Interim UH President David McClain decided he does not want to be considered
for the permanent president position, so the Board of Regents is choosing an
executive search firm to begin the process of hiring a permanent president.
g) There was a plan to hire a permanent replacement in the position of UH system
Vice President for Student Affairs but there is some controversy over whether
this position should exist at all.
7.
Update on new programs
Interim VCAA Steve Hora outlined the process for establishing new academic
programs. The process begins with a “permission to a plan request,” which involves
a form that goes to the Council of Chief Academic Officers. This Council reviews
the request. If permission to plan is granted, the requesting academic unit then
needs to seek approval from faculty governing bodies on campus. The academic
and budgetary “sides” of the process need to come together and work out funding
issues and concerns. If this is successful, it goes back to the Council of Chief
Academic Officers, which would then bring the proposed new program to the Board
of Regents. The Board can establish a provisional program; after the fifth year of
the program, then the Board can either cancel or establish the program permanently.
The program is then reviewed through the Program Review process every seventh
year.
A question was raised about the possibility of a new MSW degree program at UH
Hilo. Dr. Hora reported that such a program is in the “talking stages” now. A state
legislator approached UH Hilo and requested that a proposal for an MSW program
be developed, since there is a shortage of MSWs on the Big Island. A concern was
raised about the process, specifically getting funds from the legislature, developing
a proposal, and then bringing the proposal to the faculty, instead of the proposal
being initiated by the faculty and being approved by the faculty first. A suggestion
was made to have a policy on this.
Meeting adjourned at 4:30 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Jim Mellon
Congress Secretary