Opinion (Archives)

UH Key to Hawaii’s economic recovery

Editor's note: the below opinion piece by UHPA Executive Director Christian Fern appeared in the April 26, 2020 Honolulu Star Advertiser Hawaii is caught between a rock and hard place. Our state constitution requires us to have a balanced budget, with a plan that shows anticipated revenue to cover projected expenditures. Although we’ve had budget deficits in the past, as a state we have generally been good about not spending more than what we generate. Aggressive strategies worldwide to mitigate the spread [...]

2020-04-26T19:53:58-10:00April 26, 2020|COVID19, Frontpage, Opinion, UH Funding|

A Different Take on the U.S. Supreme Court “Janus” Ruling

By Lynne Wilkens, UHPA President This past week's U.S. Supreme Court decision on Janus v. AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) has created a stir across the nation. The ruling overturns the Supreme Court’s 1977 ruling on Abood v. Detroit Board of Education that has served as a precedent for more than 40 years. Janus serves as a new landmark case and is causing concern over the loss of employee rights and a weakened collective voice in the workplace. [...]

2018-07-02T09:57:33-10:00July 2, 2018|BOD, Frontpage, Newsletter, Opinion|

Time to Restore Fairness to Public-Sector Employees

(Note: this op-ed originally appeared in the Star Advertiser on 7/6/2017 "Bill needed to protect UH faculty from abuse by employer") University of Hawaii faculty members do not wake up each morning thinking about how they can purposely give their students a bad learning experience or intentionally misuse research funds that have been entrusted to them. But the state of Hawaii and UH administrators, who collectively make up the employers of the faculty, seem to believe this. Even our state’s chief executive, [...]

2017-07-06T07:19:30-10:00July 6, 2017|Frontpage, Newsletter, Opinion|

SB 410 Designed to Raise the Bar of Accountability

By UHPA bargaining team: UHPA President Lynne Wilkens, UHPA Bargaining Team Chair Karla Hayashi, Amy Nishimura, Glenn Teves and Matthew Tuthill Who's accountable? When the University of Hawai‘i (UH) leadership gets itself in deep kimchee and manages to grab the headlines, alumni and others cringe. It’s the same pattern: legislators start to ask questions and restrict funding that unfortunately affects programs, faculty and, most importantly, students and research that benefits our state. Do we cry afoul? No. Does anyone demand heads roll? [...]

2017-07-06T07:13:14-10:00July 5, 2017|Frontpage, Newsletter, Opinion|

Ige should invest in UH faculty

By Eric Denton, Karla Hayashi and Lynne Wilkens Gov. David Ige’s State of the State address did not offer anything new or substantive, and did not provide any concrete solutions to actually move our state forward. We heard the governor say our state “must tap our greatest our resource, our people, to find our way to the next great economic transformation: the development of an innovation sector.” This translated into investment in the University of Hawaii Cancer Center and the HI Growth [...]

2017-02-15T13:09:21-10:00February 15, 2017|Frontpage, Newsletter, Opinion|

Why I voted no confidence on Dr. Richards at Kapiolani CC

I first began teaching at KCC in 1989. Since then I have moved from being a part time lecturer teaching multiple disciplines to a full professor and the current Chair of the Arts and Humanities Department. I voted no confidence on a personal level because I have watched myself and many of my colleagues shift slowly and inexorably from professionals who joyfully engaged students, sharing our passion for the subjects we teach, to feeling like we must put our heads down, disengage [...]

2016-05-03T13:10:34-10:00April 28, 2016|Frontpage, Kapiolani CC, Newsletter, Opinion|

Dealing with Today’s Students

Guest post by Rosiana (Nani) L. Azman, Ph.D.  Associate Professor, Psychology, University of Hawai'i Maui College I am a teacher. Technically, I'm an Associate Professor of Psychology, and by training, I am an educational psychologist; but if you ask me what I do, my response will most likely be that I am a teacher. I believe in facilitating learning. I do not enjoy professing my supposedly superior knowledge in a subject at students. I believe in interacting with them to help them to learn [...]

2015-08-27T22:14:13-10:00August 25, 2015|Academic, Frontpage, Newsletter, Opinion|

So You Want to Run the University Like a Business? Part 2: What is your educational product? (updated)

By David Duffy, UHPA President The creation and transmission of knowledge have been the traditional products of higher education. Learning and scholarship acquired through study are acknowledged by the awarding of a degree. Students are not taught a particular trade. They are taught to think for themselves, to write and to speak in ways that convince others, to understand what they read, to learn how to learn, and to continue to educate themselves, wherever life takes them. But more recently, other views [...]

2015-08-04T19:33:20-10:00August 2, 2015|Frontpage, Newsletter, Opinion|

So you want to run the university like a business? Try making nice to the faculty.

By David Duffy, UHPA President. In most businesses, it is elementary that a motivated work force is a productive one Motivations can be financial, social or even minatory.  Businesses pay well and reward performance with bonuses, pay raises and corner offices. Medals and promotion are the currencies of the military. Unfortunately too many universities seem to be completely gormless when it comes to motivation and reward, beyond tenure and promotion. I’d like to suggest some simple things that can work to motivate [...]

2015-07-24T10:45:33-10:00May 29, 2015|Academic, Frontpage, Newsletter, Opinion|

UHPA Hawai’i CC Faculty Ho’olaulea

By Joel Peralto, Accounting Professor It was the eve of the last academic senate meeting, and the HawCC faculty who came to the “Aloha JN Musto” and “Mahalo HawCC faculty” get-together at the Hilo Yacht Club on Friday, April 24th were in for a treat. UHPA hosted the 3-hour event, and Exec Committee member, Annie Brown, a Yacht Club member, graciously used her membership to sponsor the gathering. It was all made possible by former English instructor Misty Carmichael, now UHPA Assistant [...]

2015-04-28T11:19:28-10:00April 28, 2015|Campus Specific, Frontpage, Newsletter, Opinion|
Go to Top