Manoa Faculty Senate Committee on
Administration and Budget Meeting Minutes
December 4, 2008, 11:30 p.m., Hawaii Hall 208

Present:  Ross Christensen, Shirley Daniel, Bob McHenry, David Sanders, David Duffy, David Chin, Matt McGranaghan, Judith Inazu, CN Lee, Denise Antolini, and Mary Tiles UHM Faculty Senate liaison

Invited:  Vice Chancellor Kathy Cutshaw, PBRC faculty - Pat Couvillon, Dave Au, and Mark Martindale

The meeting was called to order at 11:35 a.m. 

The committee began the discussion on matters that were relevant to the VC Cutshaw’s responsibility as follows:

Budget and Financial Matters:

With regard to energy conservation, VC Cutshaw provided a memo on the “Manoa Green Days” pilot plan to “power down” certain buildings during non-peak usage.  A test run will be made during the semester break period of Dec 24-January 4.  Details of implementation will be delegated to the Deans and Directors, who are to work with their building occupants and facilities management personnel.  Upon inquiry, VC Cutshaw indicated that there were no direct incentives for the units to save energy, but that this pilot project will help reveal the issues and problems that would need to be addressed for more widespread energy saving initiatives in the future. 

With regard to the budget, VC Cutshaw provided comprehensive financial information on the UHM revenues and expenditures by funding source and type for each year from 2002 through 2007.  The information included tables, charts and graphs to illuminate the data.  VC Cutshaw indicated that she would provide a data dictionary to further facilitate understanding and analysis of the information, and said that she would be willing to answer any questions of the committee in the future relating to the information. 

VC Cutshaw requested feedback from CAB on the 2 documents she
distributed, specifically asking for suggestions about how to post the budget data on
her website to make it more user/reader-friendly, as well as suggestions on the
draft memo on the Manoa Green Days before it is distributed.

VC Cutshaw reported that the Governor has provided her biennium budget recommendations for UH.  More details will be provided in the coming days.  The legislature will have the prerogative to modify the governor’s request, therefore the final approved budget is likely to be quite different.  For the current time, the Governor has proposed cuts of $7.7m for the UHM in year 1, and about $2.2m in “plus-ups” for specific projects, several of which are for STEM related activities and programs. 

The Council of Revenues projections continue to be pessimistic, and there are concerns that severe budget cuts may be imposed.  There could also be unexpected interim cuts, and hiring freezes that further impact the UH.  For example, Civil Service employment is controlled by the State, so the UH cannot mitigate the Governor’s hiring freeze for such personnel.   The committee expressed grave concern about the possibility of severe budget cuts and the potential impact of such cuts on staffing, and on the ability of the UHM to achieve its mission. 

All agreed that in light of the budget circumstances, energy savings are imperative.  However, all also agreed that even the most effective energy saving measures would not compensate for the magnitude of budget cuts that could occur if the economy does not take a positive turn.  VC Cutshaw agreed to put additional information in her FAQ website to help everyone on campus understand how they can contribute to the cost saving efforts related to energy usage. 

VC Cutshaw left the meeting. 

Chairman Christensen led the discussion of other agenda items as follows:

Status of the Process Planning Committee:  Mary Tiles indicated that this committee is gradually moving forward to develop the process for prioritization efforts.  There is information about the composition and charge of the committee, as well as information about similar processes at other universities on the UHM OVCAFO website. 

Proposed reorganization (dissolution) of PBRC (See attached documents).

Three members of the PBRC faculty entered the meeting, and each faculty present introduced him-/herself.  The PBRC indicated that they had talked to the SEC and are also talking to the Committee on Research and the Committee on Administration and Budget to seek advice on their situation, which is described in the attached documents.  The dissolution of an organized research unit such as PBRC involves both scientific issues and financial issues.  PBRC has requested the UH administration to provide a more comprehensive analysis of the pros and cons of dissolving PBRC, particularly the cost advantages alluded to by VC Ostrander.  The members of the PBRC believe that VC Ostrander’s proposal constitutes a reorganization, yet the administration has not followed the appropriate University process for a reorganization.  PBRC believes that since their unit was created by BOR action, that the dissolution must also go through the BOR.  In addition, it appears that the UH administration renegotiated the lease at Kewalo Basin also without BOR approval, as would seem appropriate for such a lease. 

Members of the committee discussed the issues at length with the members of PBRC.  The committee noted that, with looming budget cuts and shortfalls, some significant cost cutting measures will need to be considered, and that PBRC may be compelled to rebut the administration’s position with regard to these matters.  The committee agreed that there is an inherent conflict of interest in VC Ostrander serving as Interim Director of PBRC as well as VC Research.  This conflict leaves PBRC without effective leadership to advocate for it in this situation, as well as to promote its research agenda.  The lack of leadership has gone on for some time, and it could be argued that the UH administration’s prolonged failure to replace the PBRC Director’s position, as well as refusal to fill vacant positions has diminished the PBRC’s ability to produce funded grants and publications.   PBRC has long been known for its highly competent research administration, and losing this ability would be detrimental to the UH.  It also appears that the UH has renegotiated the PBRC’s Kewalo Basin site lease as part of their negotiations to obtain a site for the new Cancer Research Center facility. 

The PBRC representatives left the meeting.

After further discussion, the committee concluded that the 2 germane issues for CAB to address are 1) if there is a reorganization involving the dissolution of an organized research unit such as PBRC, the UH administration must go through the proper process for such a reorganization, and 2) if there are serious budget implications relating to the dissolution of the PBRC, the appropriate information should be provided to the CAB and/or SEC for consideration.  The committee strongly encourages, and indeed expects, the administration to follow due process and appropriate protocols when making critically important decisions such as the dissolution of an organized research unit.  The committee noted that the matter would be discussed in the next faculty senate meeting on December 10.

The minutes of the November 6, 2008 meeting were approved. 

The meeting adjourned at 1:20 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Shirley J. Daniel