UH needs firm, open leadership

With the selection of David Lassner as the next University of Hawaii president, there is the opportunity to correct an important flaw in the relationship between UH and the public it serves — a perceived lack of candor and open dialogue with the community.

Through public meetings leading up to its final decision this week, the UH Board of Regents demonstrated the value of better communication with the community. The more fully the new president embraces this part of his job — as the university’s principal ambassador — the sooner he’ll be able gain the support he needs to accomplish the goals he has set.

On Monday, the regents chose Lassner over retired Army Gen. Frank Wiercinski. That decision, made after months of debate and acrimony over the selection process, would have been an ideal time for Lassner to reach out directly, even if briefly, to a public that endured this spectacle. Instead, he chose to keep his distance by issuing a general statement through the UH media office.

It was a missed opportunity to demonstrate to the public that he’s fully prepared to take on this leadership role.

His staff indicated there are now plans for interviews. That’s encouraging, but the expectation is that the personal touch will be the rule, not the exception, going forward.

The regents approved what they called the "president’s agenda" and Lassner must lay out a strategic plan for implementing it. Given the 11-2 vote to choose him, the board owes Lassner the support he’ll need to succeed. But that won’t be enough. Lassner also will have to convince taxpayers and lawmakers who haven’t always been eager to commit sufficient resources to the state’s public university system.

Prior to his selection, Lassner discussed his priorities with the Star-Advertiser editorial board. Among the issues he emphasized:

» UH faces the undeniable imperative of delivering higher education to more of Hawaii’s students.

"The data indicates things like 65 percent of the jobs in Hawaii will require some postsecondary education by 2018," he said. "We’re at about 42 percent with degrees of some kind now, so we have a ways to go."

» College needs to be an attainable, affordable goal for more students, which will mean that the university needs further improvement in revenue sources beyond tuition.

Among Lassner’s ideas here are improving the ways UH commercializes intellectual property and leveraging the value of the university’s 17,000 acres of land holdings, whether through development or uses that improve the system’s bottom line, such as investment in renewable energy installations.

» Expanding technology-based courses can extend the university’s reach with less cost, and Lassner’s background in information technology can be an asset here.

» The university needs to become a more powerful magnet for international students. This is one area where having the president serve that ambassador’s role could yield results. UH needs to do a better job reaching out throughout the region and finding an audience receptive to the university’s programs.

» First impressions mean a great deal, to domestic and international students alike, and Lassner underscored the need to get a handle on UH’s aging physical plant.

» He also talked about growing the university’s research programs into a full-scale innovation sector. Tailoring a plan that comports with the current limitations on the UH construction program will have to be his objective.

» Only half the freshmen entering UH from Hawaii’s public schools are ready for college-level math and English, pointing to the need for cooperative ventures between UH and public schools, Lassner said. He cited the example of Waipahu High School’s delivery of college courses to its students, but acknowledged that part of his job will be to find resources to replicate its results.

The University of Hawaii is arguably the public institution with the most potential to change the state’s economic fortunes, through research and development and preparing the next generation to pursue those advances.

The hope now is that its new leader in Bachman Hall has a vision for the future and is resolute in pursuing excellence at UH — and that the rest of the state’s leadership will enable that to happen.