Self-rule at UH on hold for now

By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer

Despite assurances from University of Hawai'i administrators that the university system would always be responsive to state labor shortages, Rep. K. Mark Takai, D-34th (Pearl City, Newtown, Royal Summit), says UH is not graduating teachers and nurses fast enough to meet state needs, and he has deferred a bill to give the university complete autonomy.

"How do we assure that statewide issues are addressed adequately?" asked Rep. K. Mark Takai. Advertiser library photo • April 16, 2001

"How do we assure that statewide issues are addressed adequately?" Takai asked in reacting to testimony from UH administrators. "We almost have no control of areas we're getting nailed on."

In response, UH administrators J.R.W. "Wick" Sloane and Deane Neubauer told the committee that autonomy did not mean that UH would shirk those duties.

"Autonomy doesn't absolve us of meeting statewide needs," said Sloane, chief financial officer for the system. "Meeting state needs is what we all consider our jobs ... Accountability is paramount to our success. Period."

A limited autonomy measure was approved by voters in 2000, but it only provided UH with financial flexibility and power to award and control construction contracts. The full autonomy touted by Gov. Linda Lingle would mean the UH system could set its own priorities with financing from the Legislature — minus constant legislative oversight — in a move that would make the UH system as independent as the state judiciary.

With that type of flexibility, the system would be able to move quickly to float bonds to construct buildings — such as dorms and biotech research laboratories — to increase student enrollment, boost the economy, bolster the job market and construction industry, and attract new federal research money.

But Takai said that with complete autonomy there would also be less chance for legislators to argue the case for important state needs, even with provisos written into the legislation.

"There's a sense of frustration ... when we have these critical shortages in the state and not the ability to do anything about it," said Takai.

In general the university has been recommending between 350 and 400 teachers a year for licensure, far below the state need of around 1,500 new teachers annually.

Neubauer, the vice president for academic affairs, made the point that with budget cuts over the past seven years, the university has had to use its diminishing resources creatively.

"We try to meet state needs, but we haven't always been able to do that," he said. Some decisions have been painful, he said. He said the university hasn't been able to count on a consistent flow of money in recent years and sometimes programs have been started one year only to have money disappear the next.

"The Legislature has to say 'here's an area of state need,' and the university has to make the decision within the resources," said Neubauer.

To some extent Takai was reacting to testimony earlier in the week from College of Education Dean Randy Hitz, who told the committee that budget cuts over the past two years had meant at least 9 teaching positions in his college could not be financed.

"Just to maintain our capacity, we need to be able to fill those ... positions," said Hitz, "and we also probably need to replace the seven positions that the Department of Education is currently funding to train special education teachers."

Hitz said that in the past year the university administration has reallocated $750,000 to outreach efforts to train teachers on the Neighbor Islands. That will mean 75 more teachers graduating each year, he said. An additional $900,000 formerly used for Lab School operations has gone to maintain programs.

"At a time when the university's budget was being cut, they (the UH administration) actually put $750,000 more into teacher education," said Hitz.

Hitz said the UH College of Education has consistently seen its budget decline since the peak year of 1995 when there were 118 professors on faculty and about 500 new teachers coming out of the programs.

Now, with 103 faculty members, the college is producing 100 fewer teachers annually, even though the output of special education teachers has gone from about 35 annually four years ago to 80 or 90 a year now.

"The problem is we're not gaining much," said Hitz. "And it's complicated by the anticipated cuts in the next two fiscal years."

In their testimony on House Bill 1292 for autonomy, UH administrators and a spokesman for the Board of Regents emphasized that this version of an autonomy bill had severe problems — especially its call for completely cutting off the university from the state's general funds.

That would in essence, they said, turn the university into a private institution, remove the legal immunity UH has as a state institution, force UH to raise tuition to offset general-fund losses and essentially "cripple" the state's ability to use education as an instrument of policy.

Takai said discussions would continue.

"But at this point it's just got to be the university understanding the issues we have as priorities, and hopefully their priorities are our priorities," he said afterward. "If that's the case, it's a slam dunk."

Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8013.