糖心Vlog官方

Presented to the M膩noa Faculty Senate by the Committee on Administration & Budget (CAB) for a vote of the full Senate on October 21, 2020, a resolution censuring the M膩noa Chief Executive Officer (President Lassner) over failure to conduct meaningful faculty consultation in the reorganization process.聽 Approved by the M膩noa Faculty Senate on October 21, 2020 with 51 votes (85.0%) in support; 9 votes (15.0%) opposed; and 5 abstentions.

RESOLUTION CENSURING THE M膧NOA CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (PRESIDENT LASSNER) OVER FAILURE TO CONDUCT MEANINGFUL FACULTY CONSULTATION IN THE REORGANIZATION PROCESS

WHEREAS, the M膩noa Faculty Senate (MFS) and its constituents acknowledge that, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Hawai鈥榠 at M膩noa (糖心Vlog官方M) must adapt, address immediate financial deficits, and evolve, and the MFS desires to be an active participant in finding new and creative solutions; and

WHEREAS, faculty are fundamental to 糖心Vlog官方M, and must, by Hawai鈥榠 law and principles of shared governance, be involved in the very first steps of transforming and revisioning 糖心Vlog官方M, and faculty bring valuable knowledge, expertise, and skills to the conversation; and

WHEREAS, Chapter 搂89-1 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes states:

鈥�(a)聽 The legislature finds that joint decision-making is the modern way of administering government.聽 Where public employees have been granted the right to share in the decision-making process affecting wages and working conditions, they have become more responsive and better able to exchange ideas and information on operations with their administrators.聽 Accordingly, government is made more effective;鈥� and,

WHEREAS, the Hawaii Labor Relations Board (HLRB) Decision 394, which deals with the Employer-Union-Employee consultation process,聽 found that the 鈥渘atural consequences of the State鈥檚 failure to engage in meaningful consultation constitutes a prohibited practice,鈥� and HLRB Decision 394 is substantially related to the issues at hand; and,

WHEREAS, Executive Policy A3.101 calls for the MFS to review any proposed reorganization; and

WHEREAS, Board of Regents (BOR) Resolution 20-03 states:

鈥渢he Administration will consult with faculty, staff, and student organizations in a cooperative and collaborative manner and approach, taking into account the interests of the individuals, groups and entities involved or affected;鈥� and,

WHEREAS, the agreement between the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly (糖心Vlog官方PA), the MFS, and Administration (2017-2021 糖心Vlog官方PA-BOR Contract, Section R-20, Part 1) specifies that: 鈥淭he University will refer the following topics to Senates […]

1. Initiation, review, and evaluation of proposed, probationary, or established research, instructional and academic programs;鈥� and,

WHEREAS, President Lassner and Provost Bruno assembled 鈥渁 small team that spent countless hours over the summer examining student enrollments, program reviews, etc, across all of the 糖心Vlog官方 M膩noa units;鈥� and,

WHEREAS, the members of this 鈥渟mall team […] consisted of President Lassner and myself [Provost Bruno], along with interim [sic] Vice Chancellor for Administration, Finance and Operations Sandy French, interim [sic] Vice Chancellor for Research Velma Kameoka, Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Laura Lyons, and Senior Advisor to the Provost Wendy Pearson鈥� (italics added, bold in original; referred to initially as 鈥淢膩noa Budget Team鈥� and henceforth herein); and,

WHEREAS, in the two instances where President Lassner is mentioned in Provost Bruno鈥檚 September 11 announcement, President Lassner鈥檚 role is described in equal terms with Provost Bruno鈥檚 in the creation of the M膩noa Budget Team and the creation of a 鈥渃ourse of action to reposition the University for FY22 and beyond;鈥� and,

WHEREAS, President鈥檚 Lassner鈥檚 active leadership role in managing the academic concerns of 糖心Vlog官方M appear to contradict the distinct roles of the President/CEO and Provost of 糖心Vlog官方M outlined in the 鈥淧hase I Reorganization of the M膩noa Management Structure;鈥� and,

WHEREAS, President Lassner did not ensure that faculty were included in the development of criteria to be used in evaluating potential stop-outs, eliminations, reorganizations, or initiations of academic or non-academic units; and,

WHEREAS, the M膩noa Budget Team produced documents for sixteen academic deans, outlining various suggested changes, including possible program reorganizations, stop-outs, or initiations; and,

WHEREAS, around August 31, 2020, faculty were asked to engage in discussions of reorganization recommendations with no transparency, strategic summary, overall vision, methodology, timeline, or fiscal justification or budgets (as they relate to the fiscal emergency or a long-term vision); and,

WHEREAS, on Friday, September 11, 2020, Provost Bruno announced a website titled, 鈥溙切腣log官方 M膩noa Planning for Post-Pandemic Hawai鈥榠;鈥� which contained, and may still contain, undated draft program review suggestions to academic units across 糖心Vlog官方M, representing the first time many faculty were notified; and,

WHEREAS,聽 the M膩noa Budget Team鈥檚 recommendations that arose from this 鈥渟mall team鈥� imply that reorganizations are impending, and suggest that dozens of stop-outs, eliminations, or program initiations should occur, ignoring Board of Regents (BOR) Policy 1.210; and,

WHEREAS, the M膩noa Budget Team鈥檚 recommendations lack consideration of facts and context,聽 lack understanding of programs, are an incomplete program review, overlook the connection between falling global rankings and a decline in ability to hire faculty, frequently reference dated external or program reviews, and lack a clear rationale or criteria for proposed reorganizations while circumventing the faculty governance processes outlined in the 2017-2021 糖心Vlog官方PA-BOR Contract; and,

WHEREAS, the unsigned documents embedded within 鈥溙切腣log官方 M膩noa Planning for Post-Pandemic Hawai鈥榠鈥� received, and may continue to receive, undated and unspecified updates, making it difficult for faculty to assess the development of such recommendations and the rationales behind each modification; and,

WHEREAS, the absence of clear, operationalized criteria and a replicable method as to how those criteria were used to arrive at the suggested program changes hinders the faculty鈥檚 ability to evaluate the proposed recommendations; and,

WHEREAS, now that the M膩noa Budget Team have shared prospective changes, without faculty consultation or input, they have unilaterally created the framework for all future discussions as it relates to transforming and revisioning the University; and,

WHEREAS, meaningful faculty consultation cannot occur if President Lassner identifies or implements prospective changes and then seeks faculty input after-the-fact, often continuing forward despite legitimate faculty concerns; and,

WHEREAS, some of the recommendations brought forth by the M膩noa Budget Team for academic units may have merit, and could lead to developing a stronger, more prestigious 糖心Vlog官方M; and,

WHEREAS, it remains to be seen if President Lassner or Provost Bruno will bring forth similar recommendations regarding non-academic units (such as student support services, university libraries, ORUs, athletics, vice chancellors鈥� and deans鈥� offices among others) and whether meaningful consultation will occur in the creation of criteria and the evaluation of such recommendations; and,

WHEREAS, President Lassner鈥檚 actions circumvent meaningful faculty shared governance and consultation to the detriment of scholarship, students, and the greater 糖心Vlog官方 community (including taxpayers of Hawai鈥榠), despite the MFS repeatedly raising this concern; and,

WHEREAS, President Lassner has knowingly allowed, and participated within, a practice and culture of non-compliance with shared faculty-governance.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the M膩noa Faculty Senate censures President Lassner of the University of Hawai鈥榠 at M膩noa; and,

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the M膩noa Faculty Senate, and principles of shared faculty governance, requires that Provost Bruno and President Lassner share all relevant data necessary (including the replicable method used to make conclusions for suggested program changes and, especially, fiscal justification in light of the ongoing fiscal crisis) for the identification, evaluation, and recommendation of potential reorganizations.