Cha cited, among other things, the launching of a reorganization plan that streamlined the administration to serve the needs of the entire state instead of individual geographic areas.

In the reorganization, Dobelle dumped the old community college system format, changed the titles of the provosts to chancellors and had them report directly to the president.

One of the goals in the plan, she said, was to make the system more cohesive by allowing such things as transfer of credits from one campus to another.

Dobelle also embraced the idea of allowing the community colleges to offer baccalaureate degrees.

Clyde Sakamoto, chancellor of Maui Community College, was temporarily reassigned to develop the idea, and MCC recently won approval to offer the first one: a bachelor's degree in applied science.

A related proposal to change the names of the community colleges to UH monikers, such as UH-Maui, was never accomplished, but Sakamoto said the idea may be studied further at Maui in light of the new four-year offering.

Gerald De Mello, director of UH-Hilo university relations, said Dobelle's administration granted significant spending increases for Hilo's Hawaiian language college and, recognizing the need for more housing to accommodate a growing student body, he pushed for the construction of dormitories.

De Mello said the university is launching a formal process that should result in construction.

He also said Dobelle helped to advance astronomy on Mauna Kea, home to more than a dozen observatories, by playing a major role in trying to balance the needs of the university with the concerns of environmentalists and the Hawaiian community.

Not everyone agreed that Dobelle made a significant impact on Hilo.

Ernest Kho, a UH-Hilo chemistry professor, said that when Dobelle visited the Hilo campus, he said all the right things about making improvements and boosting resources, but nothing happened.

"As far as I can see, I don't see that he's done very much for us at UH-Hilo," Kho said

Although Dobelle boasted about increasing the amount of research dollars the university received during his administration, Kho said he didn't build the facilities necessary to carry out that research, at least not on the Hilo campus. In fact, he said, UH-Hilo administrators continued to fight "tooth and nail" for resources during Dobelle's tenure.

Other Neighbor Island faculty members expressed their frustrations with Dobelle's administration.

Gerald Browne, language arts and humanities chairman at Kaua'i Community College, said there was a great deal of optimism when Dobelle vowed to turn the university into a world-class institution with commensurate salaries and facilities.

"Frankly, I have not seen a lot of that come to pass," said Browne, an English instructor. "And faculty morale systemwide hasn't gotten any better."

John Cole, a history professor at Hawai'i Community College on the Big Island, said his own reaction was mixed. He called Dobelle an advocate and cheerleader for the faculty, a leader who was just beginning to deliver on promises to reduce workload and raise salaries. On the other hand, he said, Dobelle tended to speak beyond what he could deliver.

"He seemed to get carried away by the rhetoric of the moment," Cole said.

Although Cole said he appreciated Dobelle's vision for the university, he wasn't sure the nuts and bolts to carry out his plans were being put in place.