The body that accredits the University of Hawaii says fallout from last year’s Stevie Wonder concert debacle included inappropriate external interference from government officials and "revealed the fragility" of the university’s autonomy.
In a strongly worded four-page letter to UH President M.R.C. Greenwood on Monday, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges also raised concerns about the effectiveness of the Board of Regents, overlapping and "confusing" lines of authority at UH and a series of policy gaps.
Association President Ralph Wolff said a team plans to discuss the issues with legislators, the Governor’s Office and regents within four months and will also conduct a special visit in spring 2014.
One senior UH official called those actions "unprecedented" in the university’s history.
The association’s Senior College Commission accredits UH’s four-year campuses.
The association’s concerns could ultimately affect accreditation of the campuses. In 2011, UH-Manoa was accredited through 2021, but the campus must submit an interim report by 2015 that outlines progress on meeting strategic goals. UH-West Oahu is undergoing accreditation review now, while UH-Hilo has been cleared through 2015.
The body’s concerns about government interference include the actions of a state Senate committee convened last September to investigate the Wonder concert, which was to be a benefit for UH athletics but ended up costing the university more than $200,000 in an alleged scam.
During the committee’s hearings, UH administrators were grilled about their handling of the concert’s aftermath as well as a host of other issues, from the salaries of UH executives to the use of high-priced attorneys and the operations of the regents.
In its letter, the association pointed to "press accounts of the attempts of individuals within the government to demand personnel actions."
The accrediting body appears to be alluding to calls from legislators to retain then-athletic director Jim Donovan.
Shortly after announcing in July that the Wonder concert was canceled because the pop star and his representative had not authorized the event, Donovan was placed on paid administrative leave. He was then reassigned to an executive position under UH-Manoa’s chancellor, before announcing he would leave to become athletic director at California State University-Fullerton.
Under intense questioning from the Senate committee, Greenwood said UH officials were under political pressure to reinstate Donovan as athletic director.
"We were given strong advice to put him back (as athletic director) or there will be consequences," Greenwood said at the time. When questioned further, Greenwood said Gov. Neil Abercrombie spoke to her about the episode and offered advice "on the best action to take."
Linda Johnsrud, UH provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, said the association’s concerns about autonomy are shared by UH administrators.
She also said that its actions are unprecedented for the university, and unlike any she has heard of.
"I think it’s important to underscore that the university does have to be accountable," she said. "But when outside entities are precluding the Board of Regents from managing the university, that’s when it’s a problem" for the association.
Johnsrud also pointed to several bills introduced this session that lawmakers said were aimed at transparency and accountability questions about UH.
Not all the bills have survived, but "obviously there were a lot in the beginning," Johnsrud said.
The association also was disturbed by the bills, saying they "could interfere with the university’s ability to manage its own affairs."
But Senate President Donna Mercado Kim, who introduced a package of six measures dealing with UH and was also chairwoman of the investigating committee, said the bills would not take away any of the university’s autonomy.
"We’re holding them accountable and we’re questioning them," she said. "We’re not telling them how to do it."
Kim also said the Senate committee did not pressure UH to take any action, including to reinstate Donovan.
"People had positions," she said. "But at no time did the committee officially tell them they had to keep Donovan or not. Did people have opinions? Absolutely."
Kim added, "Autonomy does not come without checks and balances."
The Governor’s Office had not received a copy of the letter Tuesday, and so did not comment for this story.
In the association’s letter, Wolff said the university’s ability to set clear priorities and work with the Legislature and Governor’s Office "is being challenged."
"The university needs to take decisive action to restore relationships externally and to clarify roles and responsibilities internally," Wolff said, adding that recent gains for the university — including the completion of the West Oahu campus and improved efforts to help Native Hawaiians complete degrees — "appear to have been undermined, and possibly seriously eroded, by the revelations, hearings and reports around an unfortunate set of events."
In addition to unease about external interference, Wolff also had questions about the role of the Board of Regents, including whether the body is providing appropriate oversight.
He said while the board has conducted its own reviews of the policy lapses that led to the botched concert, it has not "assessed its own role in decisions made leading up to these events."
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