Chancellor’s Address to State Legislature
January 21, 2010
Testimony by Rose Tseng
Chancellor of the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo
Presented before the House Committee on Finance
January 20, 2010
Hawai‘i State Legislature
Honolulu, Hawai‘i
On behalf of the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, I express our deep appreciation to the legislature for its investment in us over the years. With your support, UH Hilo has become a comprehensive university, with 36 bachelor’s, six master’s, and two doctoral degree programs.
However, at this time, budget cuts are devastating our small but growing campus. Our share of the UH budget cut totals $7.4 million, which is 21% of our General Funds; it will increase to $7.8 million in 2011. Even while absorbing this drastic reduction, UH Hilo is serving record numbers of students, and we are using multiple strategies to cope. They include using tuition, extra-mural and other funds to make up some of the general funds lost, deferring hiring, eliminating temporary positions, freezing civil service positions, and implementing collective bargaining and efficiency measures.
Budget reductions and priorities were developed via campus wide committees and collaborative processes. UH Hilo has already initiated the following:
• Our Long Range Budget Planning Committee has worked diligently to plan resource use and encourage innovative budget efficiencies. We are addressing student needs in creative and cost effective ways. For example, we recently equipped a residence hall cafeteria to double as a large-capacity classroom certain hours of the day. To be more efficient and user friendly to students, we merged all of our various academic support services into one center, which offers tutoring and other instructional services in the library.
• Our Campus-wide Enrollment Management Team led our successful effort to offer fewer classes but to more students and at a higher fill-rate. We also generated more student semester hours. But we cannot continue indefinitely to stretch our limited resources.
• We deferred hiring in all types of positions. Some of the faculty positions deferred are in such high demand fields as biology, chemistry, psychology, communications, and English.
• We protected certain operating priorities to maintain forward momentum. These include the College of Hawaiian Language, first-year student success, student health services, campus security, classroom instruction, enrollment growth, workforce development, and essential repairs and maintenance.
• Our Sustainability Initiative is reducing energy use and utility costs. Roof-top photovoltaic projects are planned using grant funds. Our Cost Savings Initiatives are examining campus operations to improve efficiencies. Areas identified include travel, supplies, service agreements, equipment, among many others.
• Through entrepreneurial efforts, we are generating new revenue streams by obtaining research and educational grants to supplement resources.
The cuts have been painful. Further reductions would undoubtedly harm our student body, which has a high percentage of first-generation and Native Hawaiian students. Our students would not be able to get needed courses nor graduate in a timely manner. Further reductions would also harm our community. For every $1.00 in state investment, UH Hilo generates an additional $3.06 in direct expenditures. UH Hilo is highly involved in fostering our community’s economic development. We oversee the statewide Small Business Development Center and the Office of Mauna Kea Management, both of which are crucial to the state’s economy.
We want to thank you for this opportunity to present testimony. We look forward to partnering with you as UH Hilo evolves as a comprehensive university meeting state higher education and workforce needs in the years to come.



Chancellor’s Message
Chancellor’s Message
Dexter’s experience also includes coaching women’s basketball at Dixie State College (2001-05), Western New Mexico University (1988-93), Clarendon College (1985-88) and Utah Valley Community College (1978-79). He also was athletic director for the Utah County Boys Club (1980) and Kirtland Central High School in New Mexico (1995-99).
Chancellor’s Message