STAR-BULLETIN / 2004 In an ironic twist in June 2004, then-University of Hawaii President Evan Dobelle was to appear in an upcoming issue of The Presidency, The American Council On Education's Magazine for Higher Education, while embattled at the UH. Rick Fried, Dobelle's attorney, showed the magazine.

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Dobelle behind on
$125,000 homework

Nearly nine months into his $125,000-a-year faculty research job, former University of Hawaii President Evan Dobelle has submitted a page and a half outline of what he plans to do.

But there is still no signed agreement between the university and Dobelle on what will be turned in and setting any deadlines or benchmarks that have to be met.

Dobelle's outline, received on Saturday, also does not indicate what he has done so far on the project.

As part of a negotiated settlement leading to his resignation, Dobelle was given a non-tenured position in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, where he is supposed to perform an unspecified, mutually agreed-upon special research project. His job lasts until Aug. 14 of next year.

Dobelle is proposing to research how urban areas benefit from private/public higher education projects by looking at case studies such as UH-Manoa's impact on Moiliili and Kakaako, and Trinity College in Connecticut, where Dobelle also served as president and helped engineer a private-public partnership to redevelop the area around the campus.

Dobelle's lawyer, Rick Fried, said Dobelle is "diligent and hard working," and will complete the project and turn it in to the university.

"Evan is working on it. We've talked about it and I'm certain materials will be coming in on a fairly regular basis," Fried said.

But Board of Regents Chairwoman Patricia Lee said the regents are not satisfied with what has been turned in so far.

"It was our understanding that this is a real research project, not a sham," Lee said.

The regents were briefed in executive session in March on Dobelle's progress.

"I think we have a duty to the taxpayer to see that obligations are being met," Lee said. "From what I understand, they haven't."

Last month, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin filed a formal Freedom of Information Act request to see documents relating to Dobelle's research project.

Yesterday, the university turned over e-mails and letters between Dobelle and UH-Manoa Chancellor Peter Englert, who is overseeing Dobelle's research.

The documents indicate Dobelle and Englert discussed the former president writing a book on the impact of higher education institutions on their communities.

Dobelle also asked for a full-time research assistant, but was denied.

Dobelle did receive a laptop computer and business cards.

On Nov. 10, Englert sent Dobelle a letter confirming the project and requiring quarterly reports beginning Dec. 31. "I would expect to see in your reports discussion of the manuscript outline, target dates for initial drafts and the expected date for completion of the work," Englert wrote.

But the memo was not signed by Dobelle to indicate his agreement. Dobelle also has not produced the quarterly reports.

However, Fried said Dobelle has been in contact by phone or e-mail each quarter.

In November, Dobelle was named to another full-time job as president of the New England Board of Higher Education. He started on Jan. 1.

At the time, the university said it did not know how Dobelle's new job would affect his research.

Dobelle's settlement, which also paid him about a $1 million in severance and paid his attorney fees, specifically allows him to take another job.

However, the settlement does not require him to turn in anything as part of the research project, said Mike Nauyokas, a Honolulu lawyer who specializes in employment and contract law. Nauyokas, who did not work on the Dobelle case, reviewed the settlement documents and e-mails at the Star-Bulletin's request.

The settlement does require Dobelle to reach an agreement with the university on a research project. As part of that agreement, the university can and probably should require him to turn something in and set deadlines, Nauyokas said.

Not agreeing to a project could be a breach of the settlement, Nauyokas said.

"You'd think that they might have agreed on this already since the contract is almost half over," he said.

If the university decides to pursue the matter, the settlement requires the dispute to go to mediation and arbitration rather than court.