$260,000 study tackles UH accountability

A University of Hawaii Board of Regents task group will spend up to $260,000 to conduct a study of accountability in the UH system and lines of responsibility on financial transactions.

The report is being characterized as an opportunity to review operational concerns raised in the wake of last year’s botched Stevie Wonder concert, which was to be a benefit for the cash-strapped athletic department but ended up costing the school more than $200,000 in an alleged scam.

James H.Q. Lee, regents vice chairman and a member of the task group, said the study will include interviews of UH administrators, legislators and representatives from the Governor’s Office.

He said the examination is unprecedented in its scope.

"We just want to make sure that with every level (at the university) there’s accountability," he said. "It’s time to make sure that we are following best practices."

The Board of Regents gave the task group the go-ahead last week to begin its work.

Lynne Waters, UH spokes­woman, said the review is expected to be completed within 12 weeks and that interim reports will be issued during the process "as appropriate."

The board has authorized the hiring of a consultant to assist in the study, at a cost of no more than $260,000.

The work is a phase two of sorts of the task group’s first project: an audit that examined the botched concert.

The Wonder debacle began in July when then-athletic director Jim Dono­van announced the benefit concert would not happen because the pop star and his representative had not authorized the event.

A North Carolina concert promoter has been indicted in connection with the alleged scam, and a second man accused of transporting the money as part of the deal has pleaded guilty.

The task group’s audit found that while UH officials had good intentions in trying to put together a benefit concert for athletics, they used poor judgment, which led to the university’s loss of $200,000 in the alleged scam.

The episode also hit the university’s credibility hard, and has spurred the introduction of several bills now before legislators that attempt to tackle transparency and accountability concerns at UH.

Waters said the systemwide report is a chance to "thoroughly examine the university system for accountability and responsibility regarding financial transactions and decision-making delegation, with as broad a scope as possible."

She added, in a statement, that the board will identify where authority has been delegated and whether "there are any lapses."