Creating Solutions for UH Mānoa
October 6, 2009
Dear Colleagues,
A strong belief that binds our campus community together is that UH Mānoa truly is a major contributor to Hawaiʻi's progress and well–being — historically, currently and into the future. We recognize that the current budget reductions threaten our ability to serve Hawaiʻi in this way and that makes all of us feel pretty frustrated and angry. In such times, we also need calm, planning and collaboration to create solutions for our campus.
The difficult reality is that the budget reductions are already in place and we actually don’t have the funds to continue as we are. Many citizens and organizations across Hawaiʻi sadly are also struggling financially and Mānoa has its part to bear during such times, but the size and swiftness of these reductions, especially for our campus, present a tremendous challenge. This university is, in actuality, part of the solution to the State's economic downturn. Even though many of us spend a great deal of time advocating for Mānoa, our campus community needs to join together in a concerted effort to make known the exceptional contributions Mānoa makes to the State of Hawaiʻi. We can all share facts about UH Mānoa with our community and decision–makers, such as:
- every year we educate over 20,000 students who become critical members of Hawaiʻi's work force;
- our campus members provide compassionate public service to our broader community;
- our faculty, staff and students generate $1 million dollars worth of research each and every day of the year;
- every $1.00 invested in UH Mānoa produces $5.34 of spending in Hawaiʻi. That is an impressive return on everyone’s investment. Yet, our failing facilities remind us each and every day that the lack of investment in UH Mānoa is not a new problem. Making investments in that area is helping us improve our facilities — and, like our other contributions, will provide a strong return on investment.
With the budget reductions already upon us, many people across the campus are working really hard right now to determine ways that best support our campus community during these tough times. We want to do everything possible to avoid additional personnel losses, especially retrenchment, so many other options have to be considered, such as: eliminating bureaucratic layers; achieving savings through retirements; increasing sustainable practices for energy savings; generating new resources; improving articulation with UH campuses for increased student recruitment and many more. A group of faculty has organized a "Teach-In" (See details) and I look forward to hearing ideas and solutions emerging from that event. Many folks from the campus and across the community have stepped forward with creative ideas and also devoted significant time and energy in on–going meetings to move good ideas forward. Those ideas, and more, are definitely needed, so please continue to send them to me at vhinshaw@hawaii.edu.
Again, our shared goal is to ensure that UH Mānoa can continue to serve Hawaiʻi in the best way possible, now and into the future.
Mahalo,
Virginia S. Hinshaw
Chancellor
vhinshaw@hawaii.edu