UH-West O'ahu draws concern

By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer

A report by the commission that accredits universities in the Western region had general praise for the University of Hawai'i's four-year campuses after a March review, but had "serious concerns" for current programs — and the future — of UHiWest O'ahu.

If such concerns are not addressed, the West O'ahu campus "will be in danger of being found in noncompliance with one or more of the Standards of Accreditation," said the report by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, which issued a "notice of concern" to that campus.

The oversight commission's assessment team will return this fall to evaluate improvements that the report says are under way.

While the WASC report pointed to a considerable lack of resources — including faculty and academic planning at West O'ahu — it said new directions at the flagship Manoa campus were praiseworthy and it scheduled Manoa's next full accreditation review for 2009-10.

Karl Kim, UH-Manoa's interim vice chancellor of academic affairs, said: "This is external validation of our approach and the educational quality."

This latest interim assessment was set in motion by a report in 1999 that expressed concerns about leadership, planning, governance, communications and assessment of learning at Manoa.

Since then, said Kim, the university established a strategic plan with community input; began a systemwide reorganization; dramatically increased federal money coming in through research grants; established new ways to assess learning; put into effect an updated general education core curriculum; and launched the systemwide Banner student information system to link campuses and provide seamless transfer for students.

But the WASC report found some deficiencies at Manoa, including a need for "greater understanding of the internal resource allocations" there. To that end, Manoa Chancellor Peter Englert has formed the Manoa Management Executive Team and Manoa Leadership Team to involve faculty and deans in budget priorities.

As for the new UH System offices and the four-year campuses, the WASC report found a need for an improved "partnership" between the UH administration and the Board of Regents, especially "in light of the significant changes in board membership."

And it was unclear how financial allocations for each of the four-year schools are made, the report said, pointing to "flawed" budgeting and financial monitoring and a "pressing need to coordinate budget controls and accountability at the campus and System levels."

Improvements have begun, said David McClain, newly confirmed vice president for academic affairs for the system, who wasn't surprised by that finding because "the new system had been in effect 90 days (before the team visit) and there wasn't a lot of experience with the working of the different groups we were pulling together and the budget and financial process." But "it's certainly Job One in the year ahead," McClain said.

The report specifically notes that UH-Hilo has increased its enrollments and programs "without a corresponding increase in funding or a clear UH System allocation plan or rationale." As a result, said the report, "the core budget of UH-Hilo has been eroded."

But the toughest criticism was reserved for the West O'ahu campus, which sits on a corner of Leeward Community College in Pearl City. While WASC had been critical on other occasions because the campus had inadequate buildings, this time it accepts that West O'ahu has an uncertain future and it asks instead that administrators concentrate on providing better guidance for the campus as is.

And it said the continuing uncertainty about expansion has served as a "distraction" from improving current programs. "It's clear ... UHWO faculty is under great strain and that the faculty complement cannot serve any additional students," said the report.

In response, McClain said WASC once "encouraged us to look out five and seven years to when a new campus would be built" and now the commission is saying the current situation deserves more attention. McClain said he'll follow the latest recommendation.