Nearly two dozen University of Hawaii-Manoa degree programs that faced possible closure for producing few graduates have been spared from the chopping block — for now.
The state House Higher Education Committee on Thursday tabled House Bill 555, which proposed shutting down small undergraduate programs that persistently award fewer than 10 degrees a year.
Twenty majors at Manoa, representing 24 percent of bachelor degree programs, would meet the criteria, according to UH data. They include biological engineering, botany, dance, geology, meteorology and physics, along with language degrees in Russian, German, Filipino and French.
State Rep. Isaac Choy, chairman of the Higher Education Committee, said the measure was intended to help with UH’s budget crisis, triggered in part by rising costs and decreasing enrollment. The flagship Manoa campus is projected to overspend regular tuition revenues this school year by roughly $31 million.
"I feel every single major is very, very important and justifiable," Choy (D, Manoa-Moiliili) said. "But we’re deficit-spending for the next five years, so this is something that we should be looking at."
The bill proposed shutting down undergraduate degree-granting programs at UH’s Manoa, Hilo and West Oahu campuses that award fewer than 10 degrees a year for three consecutive years. At that point a provision would have allowed for extensions up to six years, followed by a closure process that could take up to four years.
"I kind of need to know, after a major that doesn’t have 10 graduates for approximately 13 years — 13 years now — why you feel that the program should continue," Choy told a standing-room-only crowd of faculty, students and alumni who showed up at Thursday’s bill hearing in protest. The measure also prompted approximately 200 pieces of written testimony in opposition.
The committee heard nearly two hours of testimony on the bill.
Some called the bill shortsighted and irresponsible. Some argued it was unlikely to produce much savings.
"Instead of cutting these programs, we ask — well, demand — that you instead think of resources to put into them, get them to grow and flourish, instead of killing them," a Leeward Community College faculty member said.
Others pointed out that the number of graduates a program turns out doesn’t necessarily reflect how productive a department’s faculty are.
For example, French professor Kathryn Hoffman said her department educates 4,500 students a year, including students seeking majors, minors and certificates. But just seven French majors graduated last year and the year before.
Several students and alumni fought back tears as they shared personal stories about how and why they chose to major in the various programs eyed for closure.
UH President David Lassner said the university has a process in place to terminate underperforming programs. He said the number of student majors a program has is just one factor considered.
"We don’t generally support a blunt-edged hatchet to make difficult decisions," Lassner said. "This kind of passion is part of the reason why," he said, motioning to the roomful of testifiers.
"Certainly, we’re working hard to contain costs, and very small classes and very small programs are something that we need to look at," Lassner added.
Reed Dasenbrock, Manoa’s vice chancellor for academic affairs, said the Manoa campus is cognizant that smaller programs come at a cost but has a nuanced policy aimed at helping small programs attract more student majors.
"The small size is a challenge, but I believe it’s a problem to be addressed in the first place by seeing what we can do to make them attract more students," Dasenbrock said.
Choy ultimately chose to defer the bill, and instead asked UH to produce an annual report of the degree programs producing fewer than 10 graduates a year for lawmakers.
"We brought the discussion to the table," Choy said after the hearing. "I really hope that the regents were listening to this testimony, because last year they approved like 17 new (degree) programs. … I hope they realize to shut down a program is very, very difficult. They’re all very worthy programs, but at the end of the day, I’m still looking for 31 million bucks. I think everything’s on the table."
