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Post by aloha on Jun 16, 2004 16:43:00 GMT -5
University of Hawaii President was fired last night by the board of regents. Hopefully this will have no affect on University of Hawaii sports.
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Post by simplycurious on Jun 16, 2004 18:09:07 GMT -5
Do you (or any of the other Hawaii natives) have a press release link or any subsequent stories (from the local papers) that might go into detail as to why this happened?  Thanks!  |
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Post by 7thWoman on Jun 16, 2004 18:29:59 GMT -5
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Post by Laulena14 on Jun 16, 2004 18:49:26 GMT -5
No new details have been given so far but more is expected from the board in the very near future and maybe as early as today. The Advertiser updates the breaking news section very quickly. www.honoluluadvertiser.com/ |
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Post by aloha on Jun 16, 2004 21:19:46 GMT -5
Breaking news from the starbulletin
Dobelle firing no surprise to officials
The dismissal of UH's president changes few opinions of his tenure
Richard Borreca and Craig Gima
rborreca@starbulletin.com | cgima@starbulletin.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The decision by University of Hawaii regents to fire UH President Evan Dobelle caught few by surprise, and changed few opinions about his tenure.
“I think it’s pretty sad,” said C.J. Benito, part of the UH summer program Napua Noeau. “Throughout his career he has supported Native Hawaiians. It’s sad to see him leave.”<br>
Legislative leaders who worked with Dobelle say they suspected he would be fired and thought it was justified.
Democratic leaders clashed with Dobelle shortly after he was named president in 2001 and he was never able to repair the political damage.
“Based on our dealings with him, I felt from the beginning that he was not forthcoming, he didn’t give a straight answer, he was quick in making public promises and then couldn’t deliver on them,” said Sen. Donna Kim (D, Kalihi Valley-Halawa).
Kim asked Dobelle how he would pay for a $1 million renovation to his UH house, College Hill, and Dobelle told her he would get private donations for it. But Kim recalls that Dobelle then denied he said it when she confronted him with newspaper stories about his promise.
“He refused to be accountable for his expenditures … they were all signs of his attitude and character and it finally caught up with him,” Kim said.
Another lawmaker, Rep. Mark Takai, (D, Newtown-Pearl City), chairman of the House higher education committee, co-wrote a critical article about Dobelle in the Star-Bulletin last year about Dobelle. Takai said today he thought Dobelle should be removed.
“I thought something was justified a year ago,” Takai said. “It is time now for the University to put this behind and move forward, because for the past three years we have been caught up in this roller coaster ride.”<br>
Takai’s co-author, Amy Agbayani, director of student equity, excellence and diversity at UH-Manoa, said a bipartisan group opposed Dobelle.
“I think we were being spokespersons of a lot of individuals,” Agbayani said.
Dobelle was unable to understand the complexity of Hawaii, she said.
“One of the lessons is to be responsive to a new environment. Hawaii is a complicated environment,” Agbayani said.
Senate President Robert Bunda was disturbed by Dobelle’s promises that lawmakers felt he didn’t keep. Bunda recalls a meeting with Dobelle, when the University President promised that he would be able to raise $150 million for the new UH medical school.
“His end of the bargain was to come up with the $150 million and to this date he has not delivered,” Bunda said.
House Speaker Calvin Say, however, said he thought Dobelle should not have been fired. “I think they should have given him his four years. I don’t really know what happened, but I will leave it up to the Regents.”<br>
One person who was involved in the final selection process of Dobelle, former Gov. Ben Cayetano, said this morning he thought the Regents should have waited until Dobelle was back in state before firing him.
“Until I find out the specific reasons for firing Dobelle, I will withhold comment on the ‘cause’ issue, except to say that I find it hypocritical for the regents to pontificate about ‘trust’ and ‘integrity’ and fire the guy while he is on the mainland on a vacation with his son. No class,” Cayetano said.
Cayetano praised Dobelle for his work including “the new Medical-bioresearch center in Kakaako, the new Film School and the ongoing reorganization of the UH system.”<br>
Cayetano, a Democrat, said that he thought the regents appointed by Republican Gov. Linda Lingle had “an agenda.”<br>
Despite the leadership change, UH will continue to function well, said J.N. Musto, executive director of the UH Professional Assembly.
“I think it’s really a sad day all around for the university. We do not want to fail. We want people to succeed,” he said. “I hope the public does not come away with an image of a university in chaos. The university is not in chaos.”<br>
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Post by Laulena14 on Jun 16, 2004 21:26:29 GMT -5
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Post by kolohekeiki on Jun 21, 2004 5:27:35 GMT -5
As of today, I don't think the BOR announced why they fired Dobelle.
The Board of Regents really did this in a very cowardly way. They fired Dobelle behind his back. The whole state of Hawai`i found out before Dobelle found out that they were fired. They announced the decision Tuesday night, and Dobelle wasn't told till Wednesday morning I believe. And to make it worse, they called his wife and not him. So the Board of Regents acted cowardly in their firing of president Dobelle.
The firing of Dobelle really set off an uproar on the Manoa campus. The whole Hawaiian Department (Hawaiian Studies and Hawaiian Language) were enraged with the announcement of the firing of Dobelle. The day following the announcement, the Hawaiian Department went down to the Board of Regents meeting and protested the firing of Dobelle. Not only were the Hawaiian Department angry, but the athletic department was also really disappointed with the firing of Dobelle because Dobelle was a big supporter of the UH athletic department.
Since the firing of Dobelle, the UH Board of Regents is now going to have to come a with a good reason and back it up with evidence on why they fired Dobelle, because he has lots of support from the native Hawaiians and athletes on campus.
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Post by The Bofa on the Sofa on Jun 21, 2004 11:16:56 GMT -5
Since the firing of Dobelle, the UH Board of Regents is now going to have to come a with a good reason and back it up with evidence on why they fired Dobelle, because he has lots of support from the native Hawaiians and athletes on campus. I gotta say, when considering the university administration, the viewpoints of the faculty do mean a lot, but I really don't have a lot interest in what the "athletes on campus" think about it. The views of the student athletes on the president's performance is pretty much last on the priority list. I honestly can't say I can think of anyone's opininion that means less, and that includes the janitors and the general public. Students, on the whole, have a very limited (and generally mistaken) view of job of a university president. Student athletes are going to have an even more narrow view, with very different priorities. |
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Post by Noname on Jun 21, 2004 20:08:45 GMT -5
Dobelle considers lawsuit
By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
Fired University of Hawai'i President Evan Dobelle has hired high-profile local lawyer Rick Fried, and is considering a lawsuit.
"That is certainly one of the things we are looking at," Fried said yesterday, when reached in Chicago for a brief telephone conversation.
"We're going to have a lot more to say later in the week," he said.
Dobelle, who has been traveling in the Midwest since before he was fired and is expected back in town as early as today, could not be reached for comment yesterday.
In a statement sent to The Advertiser this weekend, Dobelle said he had not yet received official notice of his firing and has not been informed of the reasons for his dismissal.
Fried said Dobelle hired him and decided to make the decision public after learning that the university's Board of Regents had retained outside council, local attorney Barry Marr, who has long specialized in employment law.
"He (Dobelle) needed someone to counsel with," Fried said.
Marr could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Regents Vice Chairwoman Kitty Lagareta said Dobelle has had counsel for several months.
Lagareta said Marr was hired by the board on the advice of university general counsel Walter Kirimitsu after the university learned that Dobelle had hired a different lawyer nine months ago.
She said that after hiring the lawyer, Dobelle applied to have the university pay the lawyer's fee. That request was denied because Dobelle had not followed the required procedure to have the expense approved, she said.
"Even in the beginning of our attempts to communicate with (Dobelle) and have a constructive dialogue," she said, "he brought his attorney into the picture."
Lagareta would not identify the lawyer she said had preceded Fried. The unnamed lawyer was not present at Tuesday's meeting at which the board fired Dobelle, she said.
She said she knew Fried and that she thinks he is a good lawyer. She also said she was glad Dobelle had someone to serve as a point of contact for him.
"Now we have someone we can communicate formally with, and that is good," she said. "His not being here for this last meeting (when he was fired) is not the first time he has surprised us and not been available when we had tough issues to discuss."
Dobelle notified the board by a letter sent to Marr that he had hired Fried, Lagareta said.
Fried has represented clients in a number of high-profile injury and wrongful-death suits in recent years. He is the lawyer for the Navy family whose 5-year-old daughter drowned in a backed-up drainage ditch in February at Pearl Harbor housing and represents the surviving truck driver from a fiery wreck on H-1 in February that may have involved road racing.
He also represents the family of a 3-year-old boy killed Christmas Day while whale watching and the family of a woman killed in October 2000 when off-duty police officer Clyde Arakawa ran a red light while intoxicated.
Fried is likely to retain additional legal assistance with "specialized expertise in several areas" to assist him, according to Dobelle's written statement.
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Post by kolohekeiki on Jun 22, 2004 1:54:25 GMT -5
I gotta say, when considering the university administration, the viewpoints of the faculty do mean a lot, but I really don't have a lot interest in what the "athletes on campus" think about it. The views of the student athletes on the president's performance is pretty much last on the priority list. I honestly can't say I can think of anyone's opininion that means less, and that includes the janitors and the general public. Students, on the whole, have a very limited (and generally mistaken) view of job of a university president. Student athletes are going to have an even more narrow view, with very different priorities. Well I don't really understand your point because the students are the one's that are going to suffer from the president being fired. We are the one's that are here getting an education and to us native Hawaiian students, Dobelle was the first president that has ever supported our programs. So of course we are going to stick up for President Dobelle. And for the student athletes, he has shown that he has a lot of passion for athletics, so the student athletes respect that in the president, that he's not only about academics and puts athletics at the bottom of the list. Maybe the BOR should take some pointers from the State legislature, because there they would rather here testimonies and comments from students rather than anyone else because the students are the future of this world and we are the ones that will be here to tomorrow to lead, so the students should definitely have a say in what goes on. |
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Post by The Bofa on the Sofa on Jun 22, 2004 12:34:15 GMT -5
Well I don't really understand your point because the students are the one's that are going to suffer from the president being fired. Unless he was doing a poor job, in which case, you will benefit from a new person. For the most part, students don't understand how the president really benefits them, or doesn't. The things they focus on are generally minor in terms of the big picture of the president's job. The president can be the most popular man on campus with the students, but if he can't produce sufficient resources to operate the university effectively (which means more than putting teachers in classrooms, which is all the students really see), he is not doing his job well. Alternatively, why couldn't we say that he is wasting too many resources on athletics and not focusing on the educational mission of the university? I'm trying to figure out why you think a president more focused on athletics makes him better than one who isn't. I understand why the student athletes say that, but from a university perspective, it's not at all clear why it should be considered a good thing. |
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Post by The Bofa on the Sofa on Jun 22, 2004 12:37:18 GMT -5
Maybe the BOR should take some pointers from the State legislature, because there they would rather here testimonies and comments from students rather than anyone else because the students are the future of this world and we are the ones that will be here to tomorrow to lead, so the students should definitely have a say in what goes on. Students don't have a clue about what is involved in running the university. Personally, I'd prefer to hear the opinions of the janitors and secretaries. They would be far more insightful. |
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Post by Noname on Jun 22, 2004 13:17:13 GMT -5
By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer
Conflict between the University of Hawai'i Board of Regents and former President Evan Dobelle threatened accreditation of the university's three four-year campuses, according to a report released late last night by the UH administration.
The report had just been completed by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities (WASC). It said that the "serious problems" between Dobelle and the board jeopardized not only the functioning of the entire UH system, but also progress on the strategic plan to move the system forward.
"A nonproductive relationship exists between the Board of Regents and the president, which colors all major issues, exacerbates the politicization of the environment ... and jeopardizes the functioning of the UH system," the report said.
The WASC team placed blame on both sides — the president for being "distant" and failing to take an active leadership role and the board for micromanaging the system.
In reaction to the WASC report, regent vice chairwoman Kitty Lagareta said in a statement last night that the WASC findings were "right on target, particularly ... observations about the status of the relationship between the Board of Regents and the president. We have been aware of our responsibility to resolve the situation."
Dobelle was not available to comment on the report.
"Both the president and the BOR are under-performing in their respective roles, possibly due to the inability of the two to find an appropriate balance of roles," the report said.
"The president has a proactive duty to work with the board and to 'work the board,' " the report said. "This means that a president cannot carry out his agendas without board involvement and support, and must actively foster their engagement.
"While the UH system president has incorporated numerous progressive ideas in the original strategic plan," it said, "he does not now appear to be fully in charge of how those items are proceeding. Frequently, issues on which we would expect the president to make recommendations to the BOR have become a matter for BOR involvement in a unilateral way, or have been dealt with despite the president."
Similarly, the report said the board is also under-performing.
"Contrary to the hope expressed in last year's report, we cannot say that the BOR has developed sufficient understanding of either its policy-making and oversight functions nor of the multiple missions of the campuses.
"Rather, the BOR appears to be involved in continuing disputes with the president, micromanagement of the campuses (particularly UH-Manoa) and conflict-of-interest questions."
WASC is one of two independent accrediting commissions that look over the shoulders of academic institutions and make sure they're functioning to offer the best for their students. WASC accredits four-year institutions while its sister agency, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges handles the same for two-year institutions.
Both have been engaged in simultaneous reviews, ACCJC to assess progress of the 10-campus reorganization that elevates the community colleges to equal status with Manoa, and WASC on issues of governance, including the relationship between the board and president.
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Post by Noname on Jun 22, 2004 13:19:21 GMT -5
By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer
One of the two accrediting bodies for the University of Hawai'i system is poised to slam the Board of Regents for what it calls micromanagement, permitting "excessive politics" in discussions of university business, and "inappropriate behavior," citing a long political commentary by a board member during a meeting.
The criticisms and conclusions are contained in a draft report from the independent Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, issued five weeks before the board fired UH President Evan Dobelle.
The draft report, prepared by the commission as a standard follow-up to the UH systemwide reorganization of a year ago, advised the board to seek training to help it "to carry out critical functions in a professional and exemplary manner."
The draft report comes amid a firestorm surrounding Dobelle's firing a week ago today and is certain to fuel further speculation that his dismissal may have been political in nature. The Board of Regents and Gov. Linda Lingle have denied that, but the regents' refusal to make public the reason for Dobelle's firing has only added to the speculation.
Board of Regents' chairwoman Patricia Lee could not be reached for comment on the report, although a message was left on her cell phone. Attorney Barry Marr, who has been retained by the board in the wake of its firing of Dobelle, did not return a phone call seeking comment.
Dobelle, who had been expected back in Hawai'i yesterday but has delayed his return until tomorrow or later, said the report shows "that the job of president of the University of Hawai'i was being made almost impossible to succeed."
His attorney, Rick Fried, said the report "shows basically what appears to have been happening all along. This board apparently micromanaged and didn't let Evan do his job."
The final report, which changes only in one instance, according to ACCJC executive director Barbara Beno, will be mailed to UH administrators and the board Friday, along with a letter recommending action.
"At that point we ask the institution to make it available (to the public)," Beno said
Mike Rota, associate vice president for academic affairs for the system, and one of the recipients of the report, said he has asked for an electronic version to make it easier for the office of the acting president, David McClain, to post a copy of the final report on the university Web site.
Beno would not comment on what the recommended actions might be and would not say how the final report will affect accreditation of the system, if at all.
"While in a small state such as Hawai'i it is sometimes difficult to achieve several degrees of separation between university regents, campus personnel, political actors and business persons, the university seems to struggle a good deal with what appear to be politically driven actions," said the draft report issued in the early part of May.
"While one might say that this 'small-town' culture has always been a part of the University of Hawai'i operating reality," said the report, it noted that the Board of Regents has an obligation "to provide a framework and practice that limits the impact of such close personal, political and business relationships on the university's operations."
The report goes on to say that the board is riddled with politics.
"University staff described some of the employees of the university who are related to Board of Regents members and the difficulty an administrator might have making decisions that affect friends and relatives of regents, politicians and others," the report noted.
"One board member used a proposed policy on university contracting to make long political comments about the governor, the previous governor, and the state's history of contracting corruption under another political party," said the report, referring to statements made by former regent Ted Hong at the April meeting although it does not mention him by name. Hong was appointed by Gov. Linda Lingle, the state's first Republican governor following decades of Democratic leadership in the state's top office. Hong's term on the Board of Regents has since expired.
"The lengthy commentary was political, largely about an entity other than the university, and was inappropriate for a university governing board, which has a responsibility to protect the educational institution from undue political influence," the report said.
"The board chair and peers seem unable to guide or control board members in order to prevent inappropriate behavior."
Additionally, the report draft noted that the board "continues to have difficulty operating at an appropriate policy and decision-making level" and was unable to stay on its planned schedule at the April meeting attended by an ACCJC representative.
In saying that, it noted that the board asked such detailed questions regarding temporary student housing — questions that involve operations, not policy — that action was delayed. As a result, some new housing to serve students would not become available until the spring semester.
The report said that some of the board's questions, though perhaps well meaning, should have been addressed with staff before the meeting, "or should have been entrusted to university staff."
The report also noted that regents "had difficulty" following the board's policy on evaluating the president in his second year and said the relationship between the president and the board "appears to be troubled," which was "disadvantageous to the university and its institutions."
In backing that up, it noted that the board had increased its involvement in operations, citing greater decision-making by the board on contracts by reducing the monetary level needing board consultation from $100,000 to $25,000. That has already delayed one contract a chancellor had negotiated, the report said.
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Post by Noname on Jun 22, 2004 13:24:27 GMT -5
By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Staff Writer
Although life goes on for the University of Hawai'i after last week's abrupt firing of Evan Dobelle, educators continue to discuss the impact of the former UH president's leadership and whether his legacy on the Neighbor Island campuses ultimately will be significant, even in a relatively short three-year term.
"Evan did a number of things for the good of the university," said Peggy Cha, chancellor of Kaua'i Community College.
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.
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