RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, prior to 1995, there existed a Hawaii state law that required the University of Hawaii to allow senior citizens who were age 60 or older and Hawaii residents to enroll in university courses without payment of tuition or fees; and

WHEREAS, Act 161, Session Laws of Hawaii 1995, repealed this and other statutorily mandated tuition waiver programs as part of an initiative to allow the University system to set tuition policies and thereby exert direct management over the resources being generated at the university and community college campuses; and

WHEREAS, since the repeal of this law, the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus has instituted the Senior Citizen Visitor Program (SCVP), which allows seniors to visit university courses free of charge provided that they are not awarded university credits and there is space available in the course; and

WHEREAS, amongst the other University of Hawaii campuses and community colleges, there seems to be disparate treatment of senior citizens who request to attend courses as visitors, ranging from a strict prohibition to a case-by-case exception by campus administration to permission being extended by individual faculty members; and

WHEREAS, many other state university systems still maintain either through law or policy, programs to allow tuition free attendance by seniors in university courses; and

WHEREAS, as expressed in the University of Manoa program policy, the presence of senior citizens on the university campuses "adds to the diversity of campus culture and they contribute from their life experience to the classroom setting"; and

WHEREAS, allowing senior citizens to attend university courses supports the important concept of lifelong learning that we want to instill in our children and youth; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-Second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2003, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Board of Regents and the President of the University of Hawaii system are requested to fully implement the Senior Citizen Visitor Program (SCVP) on a systemwide basis; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the University of Hawaii system provide information about the SCVP on each campus and community college website, and provide information about the program to the Executive Office on Aging, each county area office on aging, and each library within the public library system; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the University of Hawaii administration submit a status report on the systemwide implementation of the program to the Legislature not less than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2004 Regular Session; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii, the President of the University of Hawaii system, the chancellor of each University of Hawaii campus, the provost of each community college, the State Librarian, the Executive Office on Aging, and each county Area Office on Aging.

Report Title:

UH System; Senior Visitor Program