honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Sunday, November 25, 2001

UH gets point man for projects

By Scott Ishikawa and Bev Creamer
Advertiser Staff Writers

As the University of Hawai'i prepares to spend an unprecedented $247 million on construction statewide over the next 14 months, university president Evan Dobelle has appointed Allan Y.S. Ah San to oversee the process.

Dobelle said UH will expend nearly a quarter-billion dollars over the next 12 to 14 months, calling it "the greatest commitment of dollars to new facilities and repair and maintenance projects in the shortest time span in the university's history."

Ah San, the university's associate vice president for administration, will also deal with a backlog in repairs that totals $170 million.

"Allan Ah San brings a wealth of talent and experience to this task," Dobelle said.

Ah San has served the university for three decades at various administrative support positions, and is a UH alumnus. He has a degree in finance from UH-Manoa and certification from the National Association of College and University Business Officers Executive Leadership Institute.

The spending plan marks a major shift in the way the university's budget is treated during economic downturns. The university suffered enormously during the state's economic crisis of the 1990s, losing $30 million in money from the state each year and watching its share of the state budget shrink from 13 percent or 14 percent to 9 percent.

Dobelle said the university is prepared to expand its capacity to handle new students, for increased research capability, and to replace aging classroom and offices systemwide.

Jack Bradshaw, a Massachusetts-based projects consultant who has worked with Dobelle for more than two decades, recommended that one person be responsible for directing all campus building projects. At present, Bradshaw said, projects operate with people in various areas being in charge of bits of the picture, but none overseeing the whole thing.

"There are fiefdoms, and they have to be unfiefed," said Bradshaw, who came to Hawai'i to do an assessment for Dobelle.

"There are millions of dollars that could have been spent and haven't been," he said.

Bradshaw spent time earlier this month analyzing past capital improvements projects, and found much amiss. He came to work on a pro bono basis, but the UH president asked him to accept a three-year 'on-call as needed' contract.

"Most projects don't have fingerprints," said Bradshaw, a gruff and hearty builder who worked with Dobelle at the last two colleges he headed, getting projects moving ahead after they had languished for years. "It's hard to discern who's in charge of any one project. There's been lack of a standard operating procedure."

Bradshaw also recommends that all new projects become universally understood by the people affected.

For instance, a "charrette," or community meeting, would bring together all involved as part of planning for a facility, building support, he said.

He suggested that another high priority should be speeding up maintenance projects that have been allowed to languish for years.

"Buildings that look shabby are hard to sell to students," he said. "Maybe the university doesn't understand the potential here. But this university has a great opportunity to market itself and become a real part of the economic picture in the Islands. Why wouldn't you want to come to university in Hawai'i? It's very saleable."

Construction spending will include $13 million for a UH-Manoa School of Medicine and Cancer Research Center, and $10 million for systemwide repairs and maintenance, the university said.

Also pending is $8 million for campus development of UH-West O'ahu; $3.7 million for high technology programs at Honolulu Community College; and $1 million for a UH-Hilo Sciences and Technology building.

The $247 million in UH construction money comes from several sources, including $150 million in revenue bonds authorized at this year's special legislative session to finance construction of the UH Health and Wellness Center complex along the Kaka'ako waterfront, and $52 million in capital improvement money authorized by Gov. Ben Cayetano during this year's regular and special legislative session. For the fiscal year beginning July 2002, an additional $18 million was authorized.

At the special legislative session earlier this month, $17 million was also appropriated for repairs and maintenance. An additional $10 million is committed to repair and maintenance for the fiscal year beginning July 2002.