Apple wants to stick around to fix budget, help students

Embattled University of Hawaii at Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple says he wants to continue working to improve accessibility for students and turn around budget troubles at UH’s flagship campus despite an attempt to remove him from Manoa’s top post.

In a brief email to the Hono­lulu Star-Advertiser on Monday, Apple said he couldn’t talk about his employment situation but said he "just (wants) to keep working to make UH Manoa a better place — more student-friendly and with budget stability."

The University of Hawaii says Apple is still chancellor of the Manoa campus and that UH President David Lassner "continues to work with him to address the challenges facing UH Manoa," following a confidential performance assessment.

UH spokeswoman Lynne Waters said Apple, like other administrators, did not receive a formal contract when he was hired in May 2012 at a $439,008 annual salary to replace former Chancellor Virginia Hin­shaw. Apple’s lawyer contends he has a valid contract for a five-year term.

"If it’s in writing, it’s a contract," Apple’s attorney, Hawaii island lawyer Jerry Hiatt, said Monday, adding that no decision has been made to remove Apple as chancellor. "He has an offer and acceptance letter signed by the president. The regents approved his appointment, which is for a five-year term and specific rights to return as a tenured professor."

A May 9, 2012, memo from former UH President M.R.C. Greenwood to the Board of Regents recommended Apple be appointed to a five-year term through June 30, 2017, "subject each year to successful annual performance evaluations at the level of satisfactory or above." (The recommendation was unanimously approved by the board.)

The memo includes a provision that "subject to the successful completion of a review and board approval, Dr. Apple shall be appointed as a full professor in an appropriate department."

Apple, the second-highest-paid executive at Manoa, most recently had been provost at the University of Dela­ware, where he earned a doctorate in physical chemistry. He holds an undergraduate degree in biology from Pennsylvania State University.

Some regents were initially apprehensive about Apple’s proposed term and salary at the time of his hiring, according to minutes from the May 17, 2012, meeting where his appointment was approved.

Greenwood had responded that while the recommended term would deviate from board policy that allows initial appointments of up to three years for academic leaders, "the duration of this appointment reflects my assessment that the UH Manoa campus needs to be assured of sustained, continuous leadership in order to continue to achieve its academic goals."

Hiatt said Apple’s employment agreement requires an unsatisfactory performance rating to remove him, something he said would be "extremely difficult" to achieve.

"Any decision to remove Mr. Apple would violate that contract, which has a three-year term remaining," he said. "Anyone who supports financial responsibility at the UH and a fair sharing of the burdens there should support his retention."

Apple’s latest efforts to try to rein in spending have rankled some deans and directors, who have called for his removal.

"The university’s budget was cut by millions and millions of dollars, and he’s used common-sense budgeting that was necessary to fill the shortfall," Hiatt said. "It offended some people and they’re moving for his ouster. They’re trying to oust him for doing exactly the job he is expected to do. He was brought in precisely because he has the skill set to do this."

Earlier this month Apple announced a plan to save $10 million in each of the next two years by imposing a hiring freeze and suspending salary increases for nonunion employees until further notice.

Apple told his deans and department heads that programs that ended the 2014 fiscal year in the red will have their negative balances applied against their 2014-15 budgets.

He said the move was prompted by overspending at UH-Manoa, which has a budget of approximately $540 million this year, with more than half of it coming from tuition revenue.

Some of Apple’s critics point out his first two years on the job have been marked by controversy.

Less than two months into his tenure, the university was rocked by the "Wonder blunder" scandal in which UH-Manoa was scammed out of $200,000 by bogus promoters promising to deliver Stevie Wonder to perform a concert in Hawaii as a fundraiser for the athletic department.

The UH administration’s bungled response to the scam led to high-profile hearings in the state Senate that spurred questions about UH’s operations and accountability.

Apple is grappling with a still-struggling athletic department, and last year "forgave" a $14.7 million accumulated net deficit the department built up over the previous decade.

He also came under fire for two failed attempts late last year to fire UH Cancer Center Director Michele Carbone after a small group of faculty members called for Carbone to be removed.

Lassner, acting as interim president at the time, approved a revamped leadership team for the Cancer Center that allowed Carbone — who has the support of donors and key legislators — to keep his job as director. The plan, announced in early January, also included new channels so Carbone no longer has to report directly to Apple.

A few days later at a Manoa faculty senate meeting, Apple discredited the changes as a temporary solution. He would later retract his remarks in a memo pledging his support for Lassner’s plan.