BOARD OF REGENTS; POWERS
Section 6. There shall be a board of regents of the University of Hawaii, the members of which shall be nominated and, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, appointed by the governor from pools of qualified candidates presented to the governor by the candidate advisory council for the board of regents of the University of Hawaii, as provided by law. At least part of the membership of the board shall represent geographic subdivisions of the State. The board shall have the power to formulate policy, and to exercise control over the university through its executive officer, the president of the university, who shall be appointed by the board. The board shall also have exclusive jurisdiction over the internal structure, management, and operation of the university. This section shall not limit the power of the legislature to enact laws of statewide concern. The legislature shall have the exclusive jurisdiction to identify laws of statewide concern. [Am HB 253 (1964) and election Nov 3, 1964; ren and am Const Con 1978 and election Nov 7, 1978; am SB 539 (2000) and election Nov 7, 2000; am SB 1256 (2005) and election Nov 7, 2006]
Cross References
Composition of board, see §26-11.
Regents candidate advisory council, see §304A-104.5.
Attorney General Opinions
President need not satisfy the three-year residence requirement. Att. Gen. Op. 61-84.
Board may delegate to the president the authority to set student activity fees. Att. Gen. Op. 73-16.
Board of regents can delegate limited investment authority to external investment managers. Att. Gen. Op. 78-1.
Limitations on board of regents' power to set compensation of university president. Att. Gen. Op. 85-1.
Case Notes
Board may delegate to president the authority to make negative decisions in tenure cases. 56 H. 680, 548 P.2d 253.
Board's mandatory retirement policy which conflicted with §§78-3 and 304-11 violated this section. 63 H. 366, 628 P.2d 1026.
Does not preclude the university from agreeing to submit tenure or promotion disputes to arbitration or preclude an arbitrator from granting promotion or tenure. 66 H. 214, 659 P.2d 720.
Petitioners had standing to invoke Hawaii supreme court's remedial power of mandamus where petitioners' constitutional duty, as senators who must advise and consent on governor's board of regents nominees under this section, was usurped by governor's holding over of six regents whose terms had expired, and this deprivation of the right to advise and consent on regent appointments was sufficiently personal to constitute an injury in fact. 119 H. 341, 198 P.3d 604.
Respondent's application of the holdover provision of §304A-104(a) to the six regents whose terms had expired contravened L 2007, Act 56, §§1 and 5 and was contrary to the modified appointment process for regents prescribed by this section. 119 H. 341, 198 P.3d 604.
The governor's nondiscretionary duty--pursuant to this section, and §§304A-104(a) and 304A-104.5(e)--to nominate and appoint members of the board of regents of the University of Hawaii, is subject to a reasonable time standard; reasonable time is judged by the totality of the circumstances; the passage of nearly ten months since the governor was presented with the regent candidate list was an unreasonable period of time for the governor to perform this constitutional and statutory duty and the governor was thus subject to mandamus. 119 H. 341, 198 P.3d 604.