The Senate Committee on Higher Education met March 20 and voted to request performance or management audits, approve a new nursing program on Maui and direct systemwide reviews of workforce-aligned degrees and veterinary training.

Committee members advanced or adopted a series of resolutions after testimony from university officials, auditors, and foundation leaders. The committee recorded votes to pass the resolutions either “as is” or “with amendments,” and several measures were amended to narrow audit scope or broaden study scope.

Major actions taken
- SR 32 / SCR 50: The committee recommended passage urging the University of Hawaii president and Board of Regents to establish a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at the University of Hawaii Maui campus. Committee action: pass as is. Chair Kim, Vice Chair Kidani and Senator Hashimoto recorded aye votes; two members were recorded as excused.

- SR 160 / SCR 142: The committee requested a management/performance audit of UH Manoa athletics. Members narrowed the audit scope in committee: the auditor will focus on the athletics department’s use and management of funds and whether expenditures were consistent with policies and procedures. Committee action: pass with amendments.

- SR 155 / SCR 138: The committee requested a management and performance audit of the Office of the Vice President for Academic Strategy. The committee passed the measure with amendments focusing on performance metrics and removing one subsection noted in the original draft.

- SR 154: The committee voted to request a performance audit of the University of Hawaii Foundation. Foundation leaders said the foundation runs annual independent financial audits, has an extensive donor-account structure and that donor stewardship remains a focus; committee members said a separate performance audit would provide an outside review of stewardship and processes.

- SR 173 / SCR 193: The committee asked University of Hawaii community colleges to develop a comprehensive list of baccalaureate programs aligned with regional job opportunities and workforce needs. Community college representatives requested language that would allow analysis across certificates, associate and bachelor pathways; the committee adopted broader language by amendment.

- SR 172 / SCR 192: The committee voted to establish a veterinary medicine expansion working group to study the feasibility of developing a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program, noting that Windward Community College currently lacks authority to award doctoral degrees. The committee recorded that such a study should include cost estimates and systemwide collaboration.

Testimony highlights
Louis Menon, testifying on the proposed UH Manoa athletics audit, said the university supports outside review and noted existing NCAA-required financial audits but acknowledged fewer routine programmatic performance audits: “We have performance evaluations … but nothing programmatic that is mandated by the athletic department.”

Deborah Halbert, Vice President for Academic Strategy, told the committee that her office and its partners “stand on our written testimony” and said the Office of Academic Strategy has largely new leadership and works through coalitions across UH campuses to align programs with workforce needs.

Tim Dolan, chief executive officer of the University of Hawaii Foundation, described the foundation’s annual independent audits and donor-accounting processes and said the foundation has increased philanthropic revenue in recent years: “We almost doubled the amount of dollars raised for … the university over the last six years.”

Votes at a glance
- SR 32 / SCR 50 (BSN at UH Maui): outcome — approved as is; recorded votes: Chair Kim — yes; Vice Chair Kidani — yes; Senator Hashimoto — yes; Senators Fukunaga and Fevella — excused.
- SR 160 / SCR 142 (Audit: UH Manoa athletics): outcome — approved with amendments narrowing audit scope; recorded votes: Chair Kim — yes; Vice Chair Kidani — yes; Senator Hashimoto — yes; others excused/not recorded in transcript.
- SR 155 / SCR 138 (Audit: VP Academic Strategy): outcome — approved with amendments (removed subsection 4); recorded votes: Chair Kim — yes; Senator Donnie — yes; Senator Nishimoto — yes; other members noted as absent or excused.
- SR 154 (Audit: UH Foundation): outcome — approved as is; recorded votes: Chair Kim — yes; Vice Chair Kidani — yes; Senator Hashimoto — yes; others excused.
- SR 173 / SCR 193 (Community colleges: bachelor’s alignment): outcome — approved with amendments to broaden scope; recorded votes: Chair Kim — yes; Vice Chair Kidani — yes; Senator Hashimoto — yes; others excused.
- SR 172 / SCR 192 (Veterinary medicine working group): outcome — approved as is; recorded votes: Chair Kim — yes; Senator Keohane — yes; Senator Ashimodo — yes; others excused.

Next steps and context
Several of the adopted measures request that the State Auditor conduct performance or management audits; the committee’s adopted amendments narrowed or clarified some audit scopes (notably for athletics) and removed specified subsections in others. Where the committee requested feasibility work (veterinary medicine, bachelor-degree alignment), members asked for systemwide collaboration and cost estimates before any program authorization. The committee recessed and later adjourned after taking votes.