The following is being released to the media by the UH Manoa Faculty Senate:

Memorandum

To: UHM Faculty Congress

From: Ron Bontekoe, Chair, Manoa Faculty Senate

Re: Faculty Survey           Date: August 26th, 2014

Following the August 19th meeting of the Congress of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, an impromptu discussion of concerned faculty erupted on the faculty congress listserv, generating a wide variety of valuable insights and background information. The SEC was gratified to see the outpouring of interest and concern. The SEC is currently reviewing the comments and intends to distill them down to their key points.

On Friday, August 22nd, the Manoa Faculty Senate Executive Committee then sent out a survey asking the following question:

On July 30th, President Lassner publicly announced that Tom Apple was being removed from the position of Chancellor of UH Manoa, effective as of September 1st, 2014. This decision, taken with the approval of the UH Board of Regents, was taken without any prior consultation with the Manoa Faculty Senate, its Executive Committee, the Manoa Faculty Congress, or appropriate student organizations, such as the ASUH and GSO.

With respect to the process leading to the dismissal of Chancellor Apple, are you:

a) Disturbed by it

b) Indifferent to it

c) In favor of it

In a very short period of time, over 800 faculty members responded. The results indicated that 79% of the respondents were disturbed by the process. The precise results were:

Disturbed by it 657 (79.06%)

Indifferent to it 57 (6.86%)

In favor of it 117 (14.08%)

Total 831

The Senate Executive Committee met with incoming Interim Chancellor Bley-Vroman on Monday, August 25th and is optimistic about working with him in the coming year. The SEC is committed to addressing the serious issues facing the campus with respect to governance, finances, and the autonomy of UH Manoa.