UH regents to review reimbursement policy

By Catherine E. Toth and Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writers

The University of Hawai'i's Board of Regents is reviewing a discontinued policy that allowed UH President Evan Dobelle to submit monthly credit card bills without making a distinction between school and personal expenditures, the president's chief of staff confirmed yesterday.

The subject was not supposed to be public and caught regents and other university officials off-guard when it surfaced Thursday during a board meeting, said Sam Callejo, the university's chief of staff.

The reimbursement practice was discontinued in March 2003, Callejo said.

The fund, which has $200,000, is available for Dobelle to use on trips and expenses that will benefit the university, Callejo said. For example, when the school buys a coach ticket for Mainland travel, Dobelle can upgrade to first-class using money from the school's "protocol support fund." He can do the same thing with hotel rooms.

The regents were concerned that Dobelle was taking too long to reimburse the foundation, Callejo said.

When Dobelle first began as president, he would pay his entire credit card bill, then ask the foundation to reimburse him. But the practice did not work well, Callejo said, so the foundation began paying the entire bill and have Dobelle reimburse it for his personal expenses. Callejo said that did not work well, either.

Currently, the president's staff goes over his expenditures to make sure that no personal expenses are submitted to the foundation.