In January 2015, the University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents sought to explore and analyze the current structure of the University of Hawaiʻi System. Specifically, they wanted to address whether the Board of Regents should reconsider the 2001 separation of roles of the president of the University of Hawaiʻi System and the chancellor of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa or seek other changes in the management and leadership structure of the system in order to better serve the state and its citizens.
To accomplish this, the Board of Regents engaged the services of David Longanecker, president of Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), and Demarée Michelau, director of policy analysis for WICHE, to lead a research effort that included reviewing historical documentation; reviewing relevant literature and research; and conducting interviews with past and present stakeholders, national experts on leadership and governance and leaders in other state higher education systems similar to that of Hawaiʻi. This report outlines the findings and recommendations of that research effort.
Perhaps the most significant finding in this report is that the University of Hawaiʻi System should retain its current leadership structure, with the president of the system being a distinctly different position than that of the chancellor of the Mānoa campus. As described in the report, these are two distinctly different jobs, requiring different skills and abilities.
