UH HILO FACULTY CONGRESS
Meeting Minutes Meeting
February 24, 2006
Members Present: Philippe Binder, Kelly Burke, Jerry Calton, Rick Castberg, Keola Donaghy, Sevki
Erdogan, Robert Fox, April Komenaka, Jim Mellon, Jene Michaud, Helen Rogers
Ex Officio Members Present: Randy Hirokawa, Steve Hora
Meeting called to order by Congress Chair Jene Michaud at 3:00 pm.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Congress Chair Jene Michaud made the following announcements:
1.
Update on policies passed by Congress:
The administration has agreed to implement the policy passed by Congress that GPAs should not
be rounded.
2.
Beau Butts is the new UHHSA president. In this capacity he replaces Dylan Nonaka as the voting
student member of Congress.
3.
The Congress Executive Committee (CEC) has reviewed the existing transfer policy as it applies to
religious courses from religious institutions and conferred with the Admissions office. The CEC has
concluded that the existing policy allows us to exclude from transfer devotional-type courses from
religious institutions. Under this interpretation, amendments to the official transfer policy are not
needed.
ACTION ITEMS
4.
Approval of the minutes of the January 27, 2006 meeting. Approved by acclamation.
REPORTS
5.
Committee Reports
a) Budget Committee: Chair Jerry Calton reported that the CEC met with the administration today
and worked out an arrangement in which faculty will be involved in the process of stocktaking
(stocktaking refers to submitting Program Change Requests (PCRs) to the UH administration
and State Legislature to request funding for new programs for the 2007-2009 biennium). He
distributed a handout with the biennium budget proposal development schedule, which indicates
that campuses’ and system offices’ stocktaking presentations will be scheduled for April 24-26,
2006, for the Biennium Budget Advisory Committee. During the next three weeks, the PCRs
that have been submitted already by the various academic units will need to be reviewed and
possibly rewritten and/or consolidated. This will allow for input from faculty and wider
dissemination before the PCRs are finalized.
An ad hoc committee (rather than the Congress Budget Committee) to do this was proposed,
consisting of Jerry Calton (Chair), Rick Castberg, Bill Heacox, Helen Rogers, Mike Shintaku,
and a representative from the College of Hawaiian Language. This committee will coordinate
and work with the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs to review, consolidate, and prioritize the
PCRs from the academic units.
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Motion: Suspend the 48-hour rule so that a motion to appoint this ad hoc committee can be
made.
Discussion occurred about why an ad hoc committee needs to be formed when a Budget
Committee already exists within Congress. Reasons given included that some colleges are not
currently represented on the Budget Committee, and that there is a desire to keep the ad hoc
committee relatively small given the short turn-around time required.
Vote: Unanimous. Motion passed.
Motion: Appoint an ad hoc committee as outlined above.
Discussion occurred regarding the implication of consolidating and rewriting PCRs that faculty
have written and submitted. Robert Fox asserted that the written work of the faculty should not
be treated in a cavalier manner. Jerry Calton indicated that faculty members who have written
and submitted PCRs will be consulted and any modifications would need to be agreed upon.
Steve Hora indicated that the idea of getting approval from the writers is not acceptable; he
argued that there needs to be some coherent packaging of the proposals. All throughout the
process (from the UH system to the Governor’s office to the Legislature), changes are made.
Discussion continued regarding the need for an ad hoc committee when a Budget Committee
already exists. Jerry Calton explained that there is a desire to keep the committee small, and
that the ad hoc committee would represent all major academic units (unlike the current Budget
Committee).
Vote: 9 in favor, 0 opposed, 0 abstained. Motion passed.
Steve Hora explained that reviewing the PCRs is the first step in the process. The Chancellor
will make a presentation on/around April 27 to the Biennium Budget Advisory Committee. This
committee will put the PCRs into a manageable budget request, and over the next year, they
will get worked through the system. The administration will try to keep these alive as the
legislators get involved. In the past the faculty was not involved in the process, but the
administration is attempting to get the faculty more engaged now--to share in the work and
share in the responsibility of proposing funding for new programs. Proposals for new graduate
programs will also come through this process.
b) General Education: Philippe Binder reported that the committee met a week ago and is
considering several points. No recommendations or decisions have been made yet. At the last
Congress meeting, Chair Marilyn Brown reported that the committee has been reviewing the
2004 GE proposal, and a proposal to accept the spirit of that proposal is being considered. The
idea of requiring (or enabling within the current GE framework) a language to be taken is being
discussed. It was noted that years ago the CAS Faculty Senate voted to institute a one-year
language requirement, but it was not adopted by the administration. Dr. Binder raised the
question of who is in charge of “certifying” courses that are acceptable for GE if they accept the
previous proposal. One possibility might be to move this into the program review process:
each department would deem which courses are appropriate for GE, which would spread the
burden among the departments. The GE committee sees its role as to set minimum GE
requirements for the whole university, and then individual colleges could add requirements if
they so choose.
c) Assessment Support: Chair April Komenaka reported that there has been no action since the
report she gave at the last Congress meeting.
d) Ad Hoc Committee on Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Programs: Chair Jene Michaud reported
that the committee is making progress. A problem has been the difficulty in gaining consensus
(there are 21 interdisciplinary programs on campus but only about one-third have participated in
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the meetings). The committee will probably make a recommendation that the interdisciplinary
programs do a self-study.
6.
Recap of the Chancellor’s Executive Committee, Vice Chancellor’s Council, and All Campus
Council of Faculty Senate Chairs
a) Chancellor’s Executive Council: Rick Castberg reported the following:
 Utility costs have increased $600,000; as a result, the administration is requesting funds
from the legislature and urging energy conservation.
 The UH system would like to see all vacant positions filled; at UH Manoa alone, there are
about 400 vacant positions.
 The administration hopes to raise the amount of funds allocated for student employment on
campus next year.
 ‘Imiloa, the new astronomy center (formerly referred to as MKAEC), is now open; an “open
house” and party in honor of Senator Inouye have been held.
 To be in compliance with Title IX, UH Hilo needs to increase women’s sports, and is
proposing to institute women’s basketball, soccer and golf.
b) Vice Chancellor’s Council: No report.
c) All Campus Council of Faculty Senate Chairs (ACCFSC): Jene Michaud reported the following:
 The ACCFSC meets once a month.
 Regarding the search for a new UH president, the search firm concluded that it would be
better not to initiate a search for a permanent president now. Discussions are now ongoing
about whether Interim President David McClain should be offered a three-year contract and
postpone conducting a search for a more permanent president.
 There is a system-wide faculty morale survey being conducted and all faculty are urged to
respond to the survey.
 NCHEMS conducted a survey of the cost effectiveness of higher education in Hawaii.
Results indicated that the cost per student is very high. However, there were concerns
about the data and how it was analyzed. The UH Manoa faculty senate passed a resolution
to censure the NCHEMS report.
 The UH Manoa faculty senate asked for input on a resolution pertaining to tenure-track
faculty who are not permanent residents. The resolution would seek to ensure that such
faculty members could be granted tenure but with the understanding that their employment
with the university would be terminated if they lost their immigration status. Dr. Michaud
stated that the CEC would study this issue further and possibly make a motion to Congress
in the future.
7.
Faculty Goverance
a) Meeting with Linda Johnsrud: Jene Michaud reported that a meeting was held recently with
Linda Johnsrud, Interim Vice President for Academic Planning and Policy, and the UH Hilo
college deans and governance body chairs. Dr. Michaud reported that Dr. Johnsrud was struck
by the disconnect between budget and planning, and that she commented that faculty have the
most expertise in day to day operations. Dr. Johnsrud’s opinion is that faculty should make
academic policy, but that long-term planning is the province of administration (with faculty
input). Rick Castberg commented that Dr. Johnsrud believes that the faculty makes
recommendations, yet the administration ultimately has the final decision-making authority.
Robert Fox commented that the extent to which UH Hilo faculty chooses to follow Dr.
Johnsrud’s beliefs is up to the faculty. The next step needs to come from faculty, i.e., to “fix” or
reinvent faculty governance; this process should start with the Congress Chair or the chairs of
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collective faculty governance groups. Jene Michaud reiterated that Steve Hora had previously
proposed bringing in an outside consultant on faculty governance matters.
b) Unresolved faculty governance issues tentatively identified by the CEC
Jene Michaud reported that the CEC will be meeting with the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor
for Academic Affairs to discuss unresolved faculty governance issues. A list of issues
tentatively identified by the CEC was distributed and is attached at the end of these meeting
minutes. Robert Fox suggested calling a meeting of the faculty governance bodies to decide
collectively what to tell the administration. Jene Michaud asked if there were any objections or
additions to the list, but there were none.
Meeting adjourned at 4:00 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Jim Mellon
Congress Secretary
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Second Attachment
Governance issues tentatively identified by the Congress Executive Committee
as priorities for discussion/resolution
1. The relationship of the senates, congress, the administration, and the graduate council.
a. Should a MOU be drafted to clarify the roles of these parties in the decision
making process?
2. The process for initiation and approval of new undergraduate and graduate programs.
a. How can we achieve a process that provides for early communication and broad
faculty input early in the planning process?
b. Is there adequate oversight to ensure academic quality of new graduate
programs?
c.
Should there be a process for evaluating proposed new programs in light of the priorities
of the strategic plan?
3. Role of faculty input in the appointment of teaching faculty to administrative positions.
a. Should the impact of the appointment on instructional staffing be a consideration during
the decision process?
b. Should the faculty member's home department have a say in the decision?
c.
Should the faculty governance bodies have a say in the decision?
4. Should there be a policy regarding the length of time that an appointed Vice Chancellor can serve
before a competitive search is initiated?
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