Independent UH-Hilo urged

By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

HILO, Hawai'i — The University of Hawai'i at Hilo is too often overlooked or dismissed by university leaders in Honolulu, and Hilo business leaders should lobby to sever UHH from the rest of the university system, interim Regent Ted Hong said.

HONG

"Our potential is huge, our resources are huge, the people here are great in terms of what they're willing to do to get things done," he said. "It's just that we do not get the attention from Honolulu or from the Legislature or from the university to get things done.

"When it comes to the university system, Hilo and the Big Island is always the dark side of the moon," he said.

Carolyn Tanaka, associate vice president for university relations for the UH system, declined comment on Hong's proposal, saying that "the administration cannot comment on what individual regents say publicly."

Hong said UHH has had no new construction in the past decade apart from a new classroom building and an addition to the UHH Campus Center, yet lawmakers are considering building a new West O'ahu campus at a cost approaching $500 million.

Elaborating in an interview, Hong argued UHH is suppressed by "layers of bureaucracy and need at other levels."

Part of the problem is that UHH's budget is combined with the budget of the Hawai'i Community College in Hilo and the Kona Learning Center, so "what you constantly have is this bleeding of resources. Resources are small already, and they hand a plate to UH-Hilo, but they always say, you gotta share with HCC."

Instead, Hong said UHH should be allowed to have its own budget, "with its own separate funding and able to follow it's own star."

"When you look at enrollment UH-Hilo has been practically going through the roof over the last five or six years, Manoa's enrollment has been dropping, but are we seeing any more dollars from the systems administration for UH-Hilo? No," Hong said. "Because Manoa is such a 400-pound gorilla in terms of the UH system, not much gets out beyond that gorilla in terms of resources."

UH-Hilo has grown by 30 percent in the past six years to 3,340 students enrolled last fall. There are campuses in the system with more students, including Leeward Community College, Kapi'olani Community College and Honolulu Community College.

The UH-Manoa campus is the largest, with 19,742 students enrolled last fall.

With other more pressing issues pending at the Legislature, Hong said he does not expect immediate action on his proposal. But Hong said he hopes to spark a discussion on the idea of an independent UHH, an idea that was proposed years ago by former state Rep. Harvey Tajiri.

"We should start talking about it seriously," Hong said. "Instead of us constantly having to beg for things to happen in Hilo or hold some kind of demonstration and demand things forcibly from the system, we should just go off on our own and be independently funded and independently recognized."

Hong last year emerged as an outspoken critic of some of the actions and policies of UH President Evan Dobelle. Hong's interim appointment ends in May, and he said he is uncertain whether he will be reappointed by Gov. Linda Lingle.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 935-3916.