Commentary Archives - Page 2 of 3 - University of Hawaii Professional Assembly

It Takes a Village to Provide Academic Excellence In and Outside the Classroom

Creating an environment of academic excellence in which students thrive and flourish, realize their fullest potential, and discover new opportunities for growth does not happen by accident. It takes a village of committed faculty to develop a supportive culture of learning, both in and outside of the classroom.Yet, we are aware non-instructional faculty are being attacked and may be regarded as administrative, professional and technical staff. This nothing new. We’ve been there before.That’s why your faculty collective bargaining agreement, negotiated by UHPA’s [...]

UHPA2021-02-07T14:24:47-10:00February 8, 2021|Academic, Commentary, Frontpage, Monday Report|

Attacking Tenure Threatens Democracy

Beware! A Threat to Tenure is a Threat to Democracy At a time when our nation is still reeling from witnessing brazen acts of insurgency, we must remain vigilant to any potential threats to our democracy, even in respected institutions of higher learning. Universities across our nation have always been beacons of democracy. Intellectual freedom has always been at the core of our nation’s higher education system. Free thought and free speech without reprisal are the norm and are the very qualities [...]

UHPA2021-01-29T14:03:18-10:00February 1, 2021|Commentary, Frontpage, Monday Report|

Regent Jan Sullivan Attacks Academic Freedom

Regent Jan Naoe Sullivan said “freezing tenure” should be considered.

UHPA2021-01-11T06:35:35-10:00January 11, 2021|Commentary, Frontpage, Monday Report, System Policy, UH Administration|

In Memoriam: UHPA’s First Executive Director Jerome “Jerry” Comcowich

UHPA joins others in mourning the loss of Jerome “Jerry” Comcowich, a retired UH faculty member who was UHPA’s first executive director. Jerry became a founding member of UHPA in 1973 and served the union for decades as a board member and as delegate to National Education Association meetings. Jerry was walking in a bike lane near his Enchanted Lake residence on the morning of September 3, when a driver of a pick-up truck struck him and two other parked vehicles. He [...]

UHPA2020-09-29T09:40:20-10:00September 29, 2020|BOD, Commentary, Frontpage, Newsletter, UHPA Organizational|

Are you being counted in the 2020 Census?

It's critical that we are all counted in the 2020 Census and right now it's not looking very good for Hawaii - please see Congressman Ed Case's letter received by UHPA below. He has an important message and we’re encouraging all UHPA members to take the right action to make sure your household is counted in the 2020 Census. Hawaii's fair representation is depending on you! I am reaching out to you, as a leader of Hawaii's labor community, to ask for [...]

UHPA2020-09-02T11:35:01-10:00September 2, 2020|Commentary, Frontpage, Newsletter, Opinion, Political|

Your voice made the difference at Thurday’s BOR meeting

Our Collaborative Effort Made a Difference: BOR Votes to Defer Premature Resolution At yesterday’s July 16th Board of Regents meeting, UHPA and UH faculty successfully sent a strong message to Regent Chair Benjamin Kudo that struck a chord with the Regents. Through the collaborative efforts of UHPA, HGEA, Academic Labor United, and UH faculty and students, we made Chair Kudo stop in his tracks. We collectively presented a strong, unified voice to defend the University and forestall a requirement by the UH [...]

UHPA2020-07-18T07:02:18-10:00July 17, 2020|Commentary, Contract negotiations, Frontpage, Opinion, UH Administration|

Whatever Happened to Respect and Acting in Good Faith?

The University of Hawaii Professional Assembly (UHPA) takes umbrage at Board of Regents Chair Ben Kudo’s resolution that would authorize the UH administration “to utilize whatever available means it has to reduce the operating costs and expenses of the University, including but not limited to, reduction-in-force, furloughs, retrenchment, freeze or reduction in remuneration, etc.” to address the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This Thursday, July 16, Board of Regents are expected to vote to adopt the resolution and approve an accompanying [...]

UHPA2020-07-31T11:50:28-10:00July 13, 2020|Commentary, Contract negotiations, Frontpage|

UHPA Open Letter to Hawaii State Legislators and our Faculty Members

The University of Hawaii Professional Assembly is grateful and offers our thanks to our Hawaii State Legislators who approved the scheduled salary increases for all public-sector employees at the State Capitol today. The previously negotiated 2% salary increase will go into effect on July 1, 2020 for 11-month faculty and August 1, 2020 for 9-month faculty. In addition, the 1.2% salary increase for faculty pursuant to Article XXX, Duration of the 2017-2021 Unit 7 Agreement, which was to have gone into effect [...]

UHPA2020-06-26T17:05:33-10:00June 26, 2020|Commentary, Frontpage, Legislative|

The Cost of Not Joining UHPA

Guest post by UHPA Member Randy Hirokawa, In my formative years as a young assistant professor, I admit not being a proponent of faculty unions. I believed in the integrity of universities, and the administrators who ran them. I believed that if you did your work well, you would steadily climb the tenure and promotion ladder and be rewarded appropriately. All of that changed in 1986. Allow me to tell you my story. I started as an assistant professor Upon receiving my [...]

UHPA2019-11-05T14:59:39-10:00November 13, 2019|Commentary, Frontpage, Newsletter, Why UHPA|

UH Manoa VCAA controversy continues

Sarita Rai and Lilikala Kame'eleihiwa co-authored this Op-Ed along with entitled "Administrative malfeasance is wounding the UH we all love" expressing their views on the continued controversy surrounding UH Manoa VCAA. Join the discussion about this topic on Facebook

UHPA2018-05-21T15:02:32-10:00May 27, 2015|Academic, Commentary, Frontpage, Newsletter|

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