Dobelle says University of Hawaii President Evan Dobelle said there will be no layoffs or class reductions despite a 2 percent budget cut for the UH system.
core UH plans
survived budget cuts
He says that there will be no
Tuition cheap, relatively
layoffs or class reductionsBy Treena Shapiro
tshapiro@starbulletin.com"Although we have faced a cut in our funding, with the help of the Legislature, reductions will be manageable. Core programs have been left intact," Dobelle said yesterday at a press conference at the Capitol shortly before he appeared at UH-Manoa to help unveil a draft plan for the flagship campus.
In light of a $315 million state revenue shortfall, Dobelle said that UH was treated well.
Dobelle said a bill authorizing the Health and Wellness Center in Kakaako will be seen in 20 years as "one of the monumental achievements of any Legislature in Hawaii's history."
The Legislature authorized issuance of general obligation and revenue bonds to provide half of the $300 million project costs, with UH to cover the rest through fund raising.
Dobelle said that commitments were in the works for $15 million for the medical school and $30 million for the cancer research center.
Dobelle also thanked lawmakers for almost $47.5 million for capital improvements, including $8 million for the planning and design of UH-West Oahu that was previously authorized.
The other projects include:
>> Construction of Marine Biology Research Labs on Coconut Island in Kaneohe Bay: $13 million.Later, Dobelle was on hand as members of the UH-Manoa community unveiled a draft of a strategic plan that aims to fulfill the mission of leadership, excellence and innovation at the school.>> Acquisition of Paradise Park in Manoa and facility renovation: $5.5 million.
>> Creation of UH-Hilo Student Life and Event Complex design: $4 million.
>> Construction of the UH-Hilo Science and Technology Building design: $2.5 million.
>> Construction of an Advanced Technology Research Center for the Institute for Astronomy on Maui: $8.6 million.
>> Completion of the Maui Community College food service building: $2 million.
Although the legislative package fell far short of the $700 million for capital improvements the university sought, Dobelle joked, "There's no state agency in the history of government that has ever gotten as much as it wanted."
The plan, which will be open to public comment through May 15, focuses on research, exemplary undergraduate education, social justice, economic development, culture, society and the arts and technology.
The strategic plain aims to meet the following benchmarks by 2010:
>> Increasing faculty salaries to the 80th percentile of peer institutions.>> Increasing contract and grant volume by 10 percent.
>> Increasing graduate enrollment by 15 percent annually and undergraduate enrollment by 5 percent annually.
>> Increasing native Hawaiian enrollment to 15 percent of the student population.
>> Making continuous measurable progress toward gender equity and hiring of underrepresented groups.
>> Increasing financial assistance to qualified students by 10 percent annually.
>> Increasing UH-Manoa's share of the gross state product to 4 percent from 3 percent.
A copy of the draft is available at www.uhm.hawaii.edu/vision.
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Compared with the rest of the nation, tuition at the University of Hawaii isn't a bad deal. UH tuition still a bargain
compared with rest of U.S.From staff and news reports
According to a recent study, tuition at the nation's public colleges and universities took an ever-bigger bite out of family income between 1980 and 2000, outpacing financial aid and state support.
Hardest hit were the poorest families, according to findings of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, an independent, nonprofit think tank in San Jose, Calif.
The center promotes policies that expand opportunities for higher education.
While other studies have reported about the steadily rising cost of higher learning -- a fact well known to any parent of college-age children and adults returning to school -- the report is the first to examine tuition relative to income, according to Patrick Callan, president of the center.
In 1980, average tuition for one student at a four-year state school equaled 13 percent of the median income for a family in the bottom 20 percent of income levels, the study found.
Twenty years later, tuition at such institutions equaled 25 percent of income for such families.
By comparison, UH tuition accounted for 1.7 percent of family income in 1980.
In 2002 that percentage increased to 4.7 percent. In 1980 tuition at Manoa cost $240.40 a semester. Today it costs $1,560 a semester.
"The University of Hawaii is and always has been a real bargain, particularly for residents," said UH spokesman Jim Manke.
"From time to time it even appears in the official rankings."
"By virtually every comparison, the University of Hawaii is a good deal."
The study, which relied on various federal and state statistics, focused on public institutions -- both two- and four-year state colleges and universities -- since those are the schools that roughly 80 percent of America's college students attend.
University of Hawaii
