The University of Hawaii wants to look into whether its coaches should remain unionized members of the Hawaii Government Employees Association.

"Clearly (union representation) creates issues that other universities don’t have in the hiring, firing and retention of head coaches," UH Regent Jeff Portnoy said at Thursday’s board meeting.

UH officials have said they believe the head coaches of their 21 teams are the only ones in Division I athletics still represented by a union.

The issue has become a frequent topic of conversation at UH in the wake of the Gib Arnold firing. It came up during a State House Of Representatives briefing and Regents session last month. Arnold was represented by the HGEA in a actions against UH over terms of his Oct. 28, 2014 dismissal that ended up costing the school more than $700,000.

Portnoy said, "I know it is a very difficult issue that requires multi-group discussions with the HGEA and others. It is something President (David) Lassner said is on his radar, and it is something we need to look at and have discussions with the appropriate entities as we go into the new year."