SR112

WHEREAS, this is a turning-point period of a new millennium, as the people of Hawaii and members of the Legislature reflect on the University of Hawaii during its centennial year; and

WHEREAS, the University of Hawaii has sought and received greater autonomy, which entails greater responsibility to the people of Hawaii to whom the Legislature remains accountable; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature did not receive timely financial and budget information from the University of Hawaii during the 2002 and 2005 Regular Sessions and repeatedly at other times, as documented in House Concurrent Resolution No. 213 (2005); and

WHEREAS, the Legislature deemed it necessary to request the Auditor to conduct a two-phased, system-wide financial audit of the university's general and tuition funds and of the strategic and financial plan that accounts for nearly ten per cent of the State's executive budget; and

WHEREAS, the Auditor found in both phases of the audit that "the university struggles to demonstrate accountability," in both the 2005 audit of the University of Hawaii at Manoa (Report No. 05-15) and the December 2007 audit of the University of Hawaii System, Phase II (Report No. 07-08); and

WHEREAS, the Auditor in December 2007 concluded that: "the university's current strategic plan has limited value and does not promote accountability"; and

WHEREAS, the Auditor also found that "the university needs to improve its budgeting and internal financial reporting processes in order to foster accountability" and that "certain [university] policies and procedures over contracts are not clear and enforced"; and

WHEREAS, before considering the granting of full autonomy to the University of Hawaii as it enters its second century and to fulfill its responsibilities to the people of Hawaii, the Legislature must be assured that the University of Hawaii has formulated a mission, strategic vision and plans, and policies and procedures that will provide a full and complete accounting to the Legislature and the people of Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, the people of Hawaii demand and have a right to know how their public university is being managed as it enters its second century; and

WHEREAS, University of Hawaii President David McClain declared on February 16, 2006 that the contract with the United States Navy to establish an Applied Research Laboratory with the University of Hawaii is "clearly the most visible contract" to come before the Board of Regents "in many years"; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2008, that the University of Hawaii is requested to submit a report to the Legislature, no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2009, 2010, and 2011 regular sessions, respectively, that each include, the following:

(1) The amount of funds that the University of Hawaii received under its contract with the United States Navy for an Applied Research Laboratory, from whom the moneys were earned and for what purposes;

(2) The location of the research and what specific measures were undertaken to safeguard the health and safety of Hawaii's people and environment;

(3) The amount of funds spent on salaries and other personnel costs to manage the Applied Research Laboratory; the number of Applied Research Laboratory-hired personnel brought to Hawaii; the number of University of Hawaii faculty members and instructors working solely or partially on the Applied Research Laboratory; and the proportion of time top university administrators, by name, devoted to Applied Research Laboratory-related affairs;

(4) The number of graduate students, undergraduates, and small businesses that were funded under the Applied Research Laboratory; and which outside companies were subcontracted, and the amounts of each of those subcontracts;

(5) The amount of funds the University gave up in licensing, patenting, commercialization rights, and the value of technology transfer by assigning to the United States government exclusive rights to Applied Research Laboratory research; and

(6) The true cost to the University for all infrastructural expenses directly and indirectly associated with the Applied Research Laboratory and the amount of the University's compensation for these costs; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in this age of globalization, the University of Hawaii is requested to include in each of its annual reports, the Applied Research Laboratory's impact on the hiring, attracting or retaining of faculty and students, including international faculty and international students, and the projected impact of the Applied Research Laboratory's future acceptance of military research requiring United States security clearances; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the University of Hawaii is requested to include in each of the reports, the impact that Applied Research Laboratory has had on the underlying strategic missions of the University since its founding a century ago in terms of:

(1) The discovery of knowledge for the benefit of the people of Hawaii; and

(2) The dissemination of knowledge, given that all research produced under the Applied Research Laboratory is routed through its funding agencies and owned by them; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the University of Hawaii is requested to disclose in each of the report how the public can gain access to the list of particulars about the Applied Research Laboratory that was requested by the Manoa Faculty Senate in its Resolution of November 14, 2007 on its policy on classified and proprietary research; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii, the President of the University of Hawaii, the Chairperson of the Regents Candidate Advisory Council, the Chairperson of the Manoa Faculty Senate, and the Auditor.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

University of Hawaii; Report

THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	112
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008
STATE OF HAWAII