University of Hawaii Manoa Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw violated procedures in the search for a new Cancer Research Center director, according to a UH-Manoa Faculty Senate resolution criticizing the selection process.

“;There was pretty strong agreement that there were process irregularities,”; said David Ross, chairman of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee. “;Our goal is just to make sure if a good and agreed process is followed, even if something happens you disagree with, it's not an issue.”;

The resolution, passed last week, says, “;Chancellor Hinshaw ignored both CRCH faculty and the written succession policy of the CRCH as agreed to by the UH administration and NIH (National Institutes of Health), in appointing Michele Carbone as acting/interim director (in December 2008), thus providing him an unfair advantage in the subsequent search process for a permanent director.”;

The search for a permanent director “;was not conducted in a manner that was fair, open, impartial,”; and it “;appeared to be biased as a result of numerous deviations from accepted conduct in academic searches,”; the measure said.

Diane Chang, communications director in the Chancellor's Office, said Carbone's appointment was appropriate and that “;under his leadership the CRCH is making great strides in recruiting strong cancer researchers, strengthening collaborations with major cancer treatment providers and building its new facility at Kakaako.”;

She added, “;The current partnership developed by Dr. Carbone involving researchers, health care providers and citizen support groups will ensure that the people of Hawaii have access to the latest advances in diagnosis, treatment and prevention of cancer.”;

Cancer Center faculty concerns prompted a Faculty Senate resolution last year asking the administration and regents “;to make every effort possible to ensure that the search process is transparent and identifies the best candidate from a comprehensive international search.”;

But the new resolution says a vote of the full search committee “;to advance the in-house candidate to finalist status reportedly never occurred, raising questions as to how Dr. Carbone was included among the finalists,”; and a full committee discussion about the finalists was not allowed.

“;The chancellor inappropriately interjected herself into the final deliberation of the committee,”; the resolution said. “;It does not appear that legitimate negotiations ever took place between the chancellor's office and other qualified finalists for the position.”; The measure also says the chancellor ignored a requirement for five years of administrative experience and “;written concerns of the majority of CRCH faculty.”;

Nineteen of 22 cancer researchers in a vote favored Steven Patierno, executive director of the George Washington University Cancer Institute, for the permanent appointment. A close second choice was Anthony Shields, associate center director for clinical research at Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit.

“;I'm just happy to see the record show the chancellor behaved egregiously”; in the search for the new CRCH director, said Dr. Robert Cooney, Faculty Senate member and associate researcher at the center. “;This goes to the heart of what the faculty has claimed—that the administration is wasting money and in this instance wasted $100,000 on a fake search.”;

The search committee hired the Los Angeles-based executive recruiting firm Korn-Ferry for a $113,000 search, and another $15,000 was spent for a videoconference and travel here for the mainland candidates.