MĀNOA FACULTY SENATE
University of Hawaii at Manoa Faculty Senate, August 24, 1995
Architecture #205
Presiding: Co-Chairs Alison Kay and Kiyoshi Ikeda, Manoa Faculty Senate Executive Committee
Senators Present: Belinda Aquino, Barry Brennan, John Casken, Sandra Chang, Joanne Cooper, Joel Cohn,
Linda Cox, James Dator, Steven Dawson, Austin Dias, Joel Fischer, Dolores Foley, Patricia Fryer, Gregg
Geary, Patrick Gilbert, Richard Guillory, Kathryn Hoffmann, Ruth Horie, Kiyoshi Ikeda, Wayne Iwaoka,
Alison Kay, William Lampe, Bruce Liebert, Chrisopher Measures, Ralph Moberly, Jane Moulin, Peter
Nicholson, Cynthia Ning, Aiko Oda, C. S. Papacostas, Robert Paull, Thomas Pearson, Tom Ramsey, Raul
Rudoy, Jurgen Sang, Leon Serafim, Janice Shoultz, Thomas Speitel, John Stimson, Glenn Teves, Jane Tribble,
Alice Tse, Roy Wilkens, Lorrie Wong, Ming-Bao Yue
Senators Absent: James Brandon, Gaye Chan, David Chappell, Marilyn Dunlap, Sue Hanson, Patrick Henry,
Adelheid Kuehnle, Barry Labonte, Nancy Lind, Margaret Maaka, Fred MacKenzie, Karen Meech, John Melish,
Marian Melish, Robert Meyer, Deane Neubauer, Stephen O'Harrow, Victor Olgyay, Nicholas Ordway, Neva
Owens, Karen Peacock, Teresita Ramos, Joseph Stanton, Patricia Steinhoff, Victor Stenger, Rosemarie
Woodruff
Senators Excused: Donna Rae Ching, Patricia Edelen-Smith, Bert Lum, Robert McLaren, Marita Nelson, James
Silva, Judy Weightman
Visitors: Senior Vice President Carol Eastman, Senior Vice President Dean O. Smith, Director Rodney
Sakaguchi, Assistant Vice President Tom Bopp, Linda Johnsrud, Alona Trinidad, Jason Gipson, Helen
Josephine, Christina Bacchilega, John Pincince, Glenn Man
Meeting was called to order at 3:06 PM by Co-Chair Alison Kay. The minutes from the previous meeting, May
3, 1995, were approved as written.
The members of the Senate Executive Committee (SEC) elected by the Senate for this year are Linda Cox, Jim
Dator, Richard Guillory, Kiyoshi Ikeda, E. Alison Kay, Tom Pearson, and Ming-Bao Yue.
Co-Chair Kay explained that, because of the unusual volume of extremely important business before the Senate
this year, the SEC decided at a meeting held immediately before the present Senate to elect two co-chair,
instead of a chair and vice-chair. Alison Kay and Kiyoshi Ikeda will share the job of chairing the Senate and
SEC this year.
Linda Cox was chosen as the Secretary of the Senate Executive Committee and Jim Dator will serve as
Secretary to the Senate and the Faculty Congress.
SEC Liaison to Senate Faculty Committee are:
Committee on Academic Policy and Planning--Ming-Bao Yue
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI’I AT MĀNOA FACULTY SENATE
An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Institution
MĀNOA FACULTY SENATE
Committee on Student Affairs--Linda Cox
Committee on Professional Matters--Richard Guillory
Committee on Administration and Budget--Tom Pearson
Committee on Faculty Service--Alison Kay and Kiyoshi Ikeda
Committee on Athletics--Jim Dator
Chairs' Report: Co-Chair Kay apologized for calling a meeting of the Senate so early in the semester--an August
meeting is almost without precedent. However, she assumed that everyone was aware of the urgency of Faculty
response to the budget crisis afflicting the University. She pointed out that the SEC had been meeting over the
summer with the President and other University officers in order to stay informed of fast-breaking
developments. She also mentioned to meetings in August, one with the President and the Board of Regents
(BOR) and the other with the Deans and Directors of UHM, where budget cuts were discussed.
Co-Chair Kay pointed out to the Senate the existence of a draft of a letter from the Senate which she had
drafted, and which the SEC and others had helped modify. She urged Senators and others to submit their
suggestions in writing on the draft immediately, and to give them to her at the end of the Senate meeting.
Otherwise, she asked that any suggestions be submitted to her before 10 AM the next morning (Thursday,
August 24). She will incorporate whatever suggestions she can, and will submit the statement to the editors of
the Advertiser and the Star-Bulletin, as well as to Ka Leo. While students and individual faculty have expressed
their concern publicly, and while the editors of the Star-Bulletin have also supported the University in their
editorials, the Senate per se had not taken a public stand on the extreme seriousness of the budget situation. The
statement in hand is intended to rectify that.
Co-Chair Kay also said that the General Education Project, which had been begun in a symposium last year, is
continuing its work and will be meeting with representatives of the entire UH system this year to define goals
and objectives for UH General Education.
The Focus on Manoa group had finished its meetings and a statement to the Faculty about its recommendations
would be forthcoming very soon.
The two primary issues before the Senate so far this year, said Co-Chair Kay, are a review of the current Tenure
and Promotion procedures of UHM. An ad hoc committee convened to begin work on this, and chaired by
Patricia Fryer, will become part of the Senate Committee on Professional Matters.
The main matter of concern will be preserving the integrity and quality of the academic program of UHM
during this period of drastic downsizing. This will initially be the concern of the Senate Committee on
Academic Policy and Planning.
Co-Chair Kay then introduced SVP Carol Eastman, SVP Dean O. Smith, SVP Tom Bopp, and Director Rodney
Sakaguchi to discuss the current situation of the budget crisis.
SVP Eastman began by reiterating Co-Chair Kay's statement about the Focus on Manoa report.
[The rest of SVP Eastman's discussion was devoted to the budget crisis.]
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI’I AT MĀNOA FACULTY SENATE
An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Institution
MĀNOA FACULTY SENATE
While the Administration had asked the Deans and Directors of all units last year to indicate what the impact of
an anticipated 5% budget cut might be, at the end of the summer, Governor Ben Cayetano announced that the
University System must take a 10.6% immediate cut. At an unusual August meeting, the BOR decided that the
UHM proportion of that cut should be 67%. This was because UHM already gets slightly more than that
percent of the System budget, and that a larger entity, such as UHM, can absorb a larger hit better than a smaller
entity, such as West Oahu, can.
There are also many other financial uncertainties (such as the full consequences of Early Retirement) and many
constraints on cuts (such as guaranteeing Student Access to Higher Education, EEO, Audit & Control, and
professional accreditation requirements, and the like).
The UHM administration decided not to take an "across the board" budget-cutting approach but rather to use the
results of the recent Prioritization Process along with the Faculty Senate Prioritization Recommendations, and
the assumption that "different responsibilities mean different funding" to cut some units more than others.
The Deans and Directors of all units have been informed by the Administration what their allocations will be,
and they are to tell the Administration next week what the impact of those allocations are on their unit.
Each Department or Unit head should find out from and/or discuss with his/her Dean or Director how the Dean
or Director then intends to allocate the severely restricted funds within his/her unit. Faculty members should
then find out from and/or discuss this with their unit heads.
[A question and answer period then followed. Among the many points raised and responses made were these
{Note: None of the below is intended to be an exact quotation of what anyone said, except when included
within quotation marks}]:
Q: Can we expect a cut of "only" 5% next year?
Eastman: Hope and work for it, but expect and plan for at least 10%.
The seriousness and extreme undesirability of the current restrictions on the Library--a 25% cut-- was widely
expressed by many and acknowledged by SVP Eastman who hoped the severely restricted hours, and freeze on
purchasing new books and journals, would soon be lifted, perhaps within three weeks or so.
The fact that access not only books, but to the CLIC computer lab, was severely impacted with the extreme
restriction of Sinclair Library hours was acknowledged.
Q: A recent Ku Lama article listed specific units to be eliminated or reorganized. How was this list determined?
Eastman: The article was mistaken and misleading in its phrasing. It was a semantic disaster. None of the units
listed will be closed, though all may be reorganized.
Q: Since Ku Lama is an official organ of the Administration, how did this error happen?
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI’I AT MĀNOA FACULTY SENATE
An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Institution
MĀNOA FACULTY SENATE
Eastman: "I have no answer for that." But no vertical cuts (complete elimination of units) are being planned at
this time. The School of Public Health, for example, will continue to offer courses and grant degrees though
perhaps not as a separate unit as it is now. It is not possible to make any sensible vertical cuts at this time.
There has not been adequate time to assess the consequences of such.
Q: Will overhead be confiscated by the Administration as has been rumored?
[SVP Smith responds]: "Over my dead body." Smith then explains that more will be known about overhead
shortly, but that new expenses for RCUH management and reduction of the UH Federal overhead rate mean
immediate increased expenses for UH.
Q: What about the big computerized accounting system we bought?
Smith: It is still being developed. It is expected to be phased in a year later than originally anticipated.
Q: Will this delay cost the UH more money?
Smith: "I don't know."
Q: Will the Administration provide the Faculty with a list of units which the Legislature has ordered be
protected? [This later was expanded to a request for a list of all Legislatively-mandated units at UHM].
Director Sakaguchi agreed to provide such a list, noting that none was immediately available.
Q: How much more can the University take and still be a viable university? Is there a point where we will say to
the Governor that we just can't take any more?
Eastman: The President has been effective in one-on-one talks with the Governor to prevent some cuts and to
restore some funds. The faculty and students need to help by informing everyone what the consequences of
current and impending cuts truly are. Only you know. The Administration can not know the true effect of the
cuts until you tell us and others.
Co-Chair Ikeda intervened at this point saying that he feels he has been on a roller coaster this summer--every
meeting has produced a different set of budget numbers. He is working to set up an email Hot Line so that
faculty members can immediately send in statements about the impacts and/or suggestions concerning what to
do about or to prevent them. Rumors abound. We need facts.
Co-Chair Kay reminded everyone that UHM is not very popular in the community. We need to work to get
community support; to show that we deserve adequate funding.
SVP Eastman noted that the Administration PR office is extremely thin and understaffed. In fact it has itself
been cut. So it is very difficult for the Administration to get the word out by itself, and it certainly can't hire
more PR types at this time. The Faculty must be more active in informing everyone of the impact of the cuts.
Q: What is the position of the BOR on teaching vs. other Faculty duties?
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI’I AT MĀNOA FACULTY SENATE
An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Institution
MĀNOA FACULTY SENATE
It seems to want us just to do more teaching and to abandon everything else.
Eastman: The BOR just wants to be assured that the Faculty is doing its job. They need to understand that Work
Load does NOT equal Teaching Load, and we are getting that message across to them. It turns out that room
size is a factor seriously limiting class size. We just can't squeeze more students into existing rooms. We need
to show the BOR that we all are working our utmost, and I think we are getting them to see that.
Q. What if my Dean/Director doesn't inform me or get me involved?
Kay: Let the SEC know.
Eastman: And me too. My door is open.
Q: Is there some way to eliminate all of the needless form-filing and reporting we are required to do that takes
time away from teaching, research and service?
Eastman: I am with you on that one 100%, but it is very difficult to do because it is often someone's job
description, so we have personnel and union problems. It takes time, but we are working on it.
Q: I have read that there will be an increase in high school graduates, and that is the justification for West Oahu.
Eastman: West Oahu is a State Priority.
AVP Bopp: For UHM, increased high school graduates is not a factor. Our increase comes from "nontraditional" students.
Eastman: Also, UHM is NOT slated to grow any more. No new acreage exists and their is not much new
building space. If there is growth, it will come elsewhere, such as West Oahu.
Q: Is the Governor withholding money for West Oahu?
Eastman: "I don't know."
Q: What is UHM going to do if we can't grow?
Eastman: Perhaps place a cap on admission here, with Access to Higher Education guaranteed elsewhere. We
can do that if we tie the cap to an increase in quality at UHM.
After determining there was no old or new business, Co-Chair Kay adjourned the meeting at 4:14 PM.
Respectfully Submitted
Jim Dator
Secretary
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI’I AT MĀNOA FACULTY SENATE
An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Institution
MĀNOA FACULTY SENATE
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI’I AT MĀNOA FACULTY SENATE
An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Institution