UH HILO FACULTY CONGRESS

Meeting Minutes

August 26, 2005

Members Present: Tausilia Amoa, Justin Avery, Philippe Binder, Marilyn Brown, Kelly Burke, Iota Cabral, Jerry Calton, Rick Castberg, T. Kehau Cortez-Camero, Sevki Erdogan, Jonathan Groelz, April Komenaka, Michael Marshall, Bruce Mathews, Jim Mellon, Jene Michaud, Dylan Nonaka, Helen Rogers

Ex-Officio Members Present: Rose Tseng, Margaret Haig, Randy Hirokawa, Steve Hora

Others Present: Dan Brown, Edward Johns

Meeting called to order by Chair Jene Michaud at 3:05 pm.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

1.  Congress meetings for the 2005-2006 academic year are scheduled for 3:00-5:00 pm on September 23, October 28, December 2, January 27, February 24, March 24, and April 28. These dates do not conflict with the BOR meeting schedule, nor when the CAS Faculty Senate traditionally meets.

2.  If anyone wants to serve on a Congress committee, please see someone on the Congress Executive Committee at least a week before a Congress meeting.

OLD BUSINESS

1.  Approval of the minutes of the May 13, 2005 meeting:

Jene Michaud clarified the language of the first motion regarding the “3-peat” rule. The revised meeting minutes will read as follows: “Motion: To amend the current ‘3-peat’ policy so that students can repeat a course no matter what grade they originally received. There is no change in the number of times a course can be repeated.”

Jerry Calton clarified that the motion proposing to average the grades of repeat courses was not passed, and that the approved motion is to count the grade for the course repeated most recently. The revised minutes will reflect this clarification.

Approved by acclamation, with corrections and clarifications.

NEW BUSINESS

1.  Welcome new members into vacant seats

A roster was provided of all current members. The seats for the College of Hawaiian Language representative and the CAS Faculty Senate Chair are vacant.

2.  Election of standing committee chairs (for a one-year term)

Jene Michaud noted that chairs must be members of Congress, and that in practice, the term has been for a one-year period.

Motion #1: The Congress Executive Committee (CEC) nominates Kelly Burke for chair of the Academic Policy Committee. Vote: 12 in favor, 0 opposed. Motion passed.

Motion #2: The CEC nominates April Komenaka for chair of the Assessment Support Committee. Vote: 13 in favor, 0 opposed. Motion passed.

Motion #3: The CEC nominates Marilyn Brown for chair of the General Education Committee. Vote: 13 in favor, 0 opposed. Motion passed.

Jene Michaud opened the floor for nominations for the chair of the Budget Committee. April Komenaka nominated Jerry Calton, who accepted the nomination.

Motion #4: Nominate Jerry Calton for chair of the Budget Committee. Vote: 12 in favor, 0 opposed. Motion passed.

Jene Michaud reported that the CEC will make recommendations of who will be members of the Congress standing and ad hoc committees.

3.  Report by Dan Brown on proposed move of research jobs from RCUH to UH Human Resources.

A written report on this subject by Dan Brown was distributed. Dan explained that a new policy regarding RCUH employment has been drafted by the UH administration. If approved, many current RCUH employees working on extramural grants will be forced to move their employment locus to the University, and the vast majority of new research personnel recruitments will have to be done through the UH personnel system, rather than through RCUH. This would have a very negative effect on the grant enterprise. Dan heard that Interim President McClain will hold the proposal and not have it go to the September Board of Regents meeting, but the proposal is still alive.

Rick Castberg made a motion, which he later withdrew, to have Congress support the letter that Dan Brown sent to Jim Gaines, Vice President for Research, by sending a letter to the President and copying Gaines. Bruce Mathews stated that CAFNRM sent out a resolution opposing implementation of the policy to the Board of Regents.

In answer to the question of how the proposed policy might impact students, Dan Brown explained that since students work on grant projects, their jobs could disappear. Since the process of hiring non-students would take longer, it would take longer to hire students and get projects started. Some grants also provide direct services to students.


Motion #5: Charge Congress with sending a letter to the Board of Regents opposing the proposed policy, with a copy to Interim President McClain. Kelly Burke added that in addition to stating the Congress’s position, that there be a requirement to have a representative from UH Hilo at the table in the process from now on. Vote: 12 in favor, 0 opposed. Motion passed.

4.  Report by Steve Hora.

Steve Hora reported that on August 27, 2005, the administration will be meeting with state legislators for a legislative update. He stated that the instructional programs at UH Hilo are on the verge of a crisis, needing another $500,000. Without additional funds to support instruction, a number of students will be denied access to classes in the Spring 2006 semester. Currently, UH Hilo expends $2.3 million annually to support HawCC students. When the split between UH Hilo and HawCC occurred in 1992-1992, UH Hilo assumed responsibility to support HawCC (in areas such as utilities, security, library, maintenance, housing, etc.) without additional funds. $1.1 million of general funds in the UH Hilo budget is redirected to cover HawCC expenses. A proposal was made to Interim President McClain to transfer $1.05 million to HawCC (estimated support at separation), the UH system would transfer $1.25 million to HawCC, HawCC would pay UH Hilo for services as audited, and the UH system would then reimburse UH Hilo for past support ($7.5 million). The Chancellor spoke about her efforts over the years to try to get the UH system administration to address this issue.

Meeting adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Jim Mellon

Congress Secretary