Nearly a thousand programs and activities across the UH Mānoa campus are undergoing review in an effort to redefine the school's academic priorities.
The current strategic plan, Defining our Destiny, nears its 2010 conclusion, and the class prioritization process is meant as one way to update it. UH hopes to determine the most beneficial areas to invest its financial resources in the current tight economy.
In an e-mail to staff, Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw said, "We embarked on this process last year as a way to set priorities to ensure that we invest our resources in areas that best fulfill our mission as a leading academic and research university serving Hawai'i."
The review process will determine what programs will receive additional resources, which ones get less, and which ones are eliminated completely.
In her e-mail, Hinshaw said one idea the campus will consider for implementation is to reduce the number of low enrollment certificate and degree programs. She also placed emphasis on strengthening education about the Hawaiian culture and maintaining a multicultural global experience.
In a commitment to supporting Mānoa's newest school, which is dedicated to Hawai'i's host culture, the School of Hawaiian Knowledge will be exempt from reductions. Hinshaw also said that security and facilities repair and maintenance are also exempt from the cuts.
In April, the vice chancellors sent Hinshaw a preliminary chart of classes considered for reduction or elimination. Education and linguistics classes, as well as some exchange programs, are among the numerous programs being considered for elimination.
Hinshaw said that proposals such as these are initiated and reviewed by people who are directly involved in these programs, therefore they can provide perspective on where resources can be invested most effectively.
At the beginning of this process, the dramatic budget cuts had not yet taken place, but now the school must accommodate these cuts when working to update the school's strategic plan.
"The recently proposed, additional reduction of $50 million per year in general funds for UH will definitely hurt," Hinshaw said in an e-mail to Ka Leo. "Our general funds are used to support our personnel, so the significant reductions in those funds by the State of Hawai'i are truly impacting."
As a result, a considerable number of faculty and staff must prepare for either salary reductions or termination.
Hinshaw said that while there is a concern about being able to offer all that we do now with a reduction in people, everyone is working hard to minimize the impact on students.
"The campus has focused on the priority of ensuring student success, because our alumni are our greatest contribution to society," Hinshaw said.






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