Legislator calls The chairman of the state Senate Ways and Means Committee is calling for an audit of the University of Hawaii's fund-raising arm to "clear the air" about certain expenditures, such as UH President Evan Dobelle taking two dozen donors and staff members to the Janet Jackson concert last month.
for UH fund audit
Tickets to a Janet Jackson
concert raise questions
about the use of donationsBy Treena Shapiro
tshapiro@starbulletin.com
Sen. Brian Taniguchi (D, Manoa-Moiliili-McCully-Pawaa) said he introduced a resolution asking the state auditor to do a study of the University of Hawaii Foundation.
Dobelle declined comment yesterday.
Senate Concurrent Resolution 83 asks the state auditor to determine how the money is being used, whether funds are being diverted for private uses, and other issues related to the solicitation and expenditure of funds.
"Contributors to the University of Hawaii, including university alumni, assume that donations to the University of Hawaii Foundation are going toward the University of Hawaii, including student aid and scholarships," the resolution says.
Taniguchi said he first became interested in how the foundation was spending money when he heard about the renovations at College Hill.
"That probably kicked it off, all the improvements to the president's house," he said.
The foundation paid $112,000 for interior design and furnishings at College Hill and $71,227 to renovate Dobelle's Bachman Hall office. Dobelle has said he will raise private donations to cover those costs.
The concert tickets, first-class air fare and accommodations have also raised some questions.
Dobelle is paid $442,000 a year.
"The foundation provides him (Dobelle) with kind of a slush fund -- a protocol fund -- so he's able to spend that in any way he deems necessary to further the interest of the university," Taniguchi said. "Apparently, that's one of the big things the foundation does: They raise money for his protocol fund."
The protocol fund allows Dobelle to spend up to $150,000 per year for the advancement of the university.
The fund comes from the foundation's operating budget, not from private donations, unless donors specifically designate them for the president's use. The protocol fund is meant to be used only for official university business, not personal expenses.
Dobelle receives the same annual allocation as his predecessor, Kenneth Mortimer.
The UH Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation, separate from the university. Its mission is to raise and steward private gifts for the university.
"I'm not clear that we can audit them," Taniguchi said.
However, because the foundation offices, phone systems and Internet services are funded by the state, he noted, "there's a certain amount of contact with the university."
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