Expect progress for UH pay raises

State lawmakers last week handed out packets to the University of Hawaii administration, containing something less welcome than the $800,000 in managerial pay increases that take effect on Monday.

Instead, they delivered barbed criticism of those salary boosts, which some said were coming at a time when UH revenues could shrink further if enrollment continues to dip.

While taxpayers do have reason to worry about keeping tuition rates, pay scales and education quality in balance, some context is needed. The administration countered the criticism, rightly in some cases, by pointing to improved graduation rates and other measures.

UH union contracts have raised faculty and staff wages, and money was allotted for managers as part of the deal. Legislators already had signed off on a set-aside for managers excluded from the union contract agreement.

During a legislative briefing on Wednesday, however, they took aim and fired at UH financial officers, charging that the raises were either not needed or poorly timed. If some of that sounds like political posturing, it undoubtedly is: An election year also begins on Monday.

In the midst of rising faculty wages, some increase for management is to be expected. Maintaining some level above average faculty wages for managers and especially executives simply keeps the pay rates competitive.

The real question, however, is what the taxpayer is getting from those at the helm of the state’s public university. UH administration should come back to the state Capitol throughout the upcoming legislative session to make its case, outlining where it’s improving efficiency and producing higher education that meets the needs of the students.

To start with, it’s actually a good thing that UH President David Lassner had decided to allocate much of the $800,000 based on evaluations of the managers’ performance.

Of the 198 people holding “excluded managerial” posts system-wide, 174 were deemed eligible for the pay increase, because their length of service met qualifications, said Dan Meisenzahl. At UH-Manoa, almost a third were ineligible, according to a second presentation Lassner made on Friday, speaking as the Manoa interim chancellor.

Eligible employees will receive at least a 1 percent boost in base pay, with the remainder calculated according to their annual performance evaluation, and delivered as a one-time bonus payment. The evaluations assemble reviews from supervisors, self-assessments and comments submitted anonymously from peers and subordinates.

The possible ratings are: does not meet expectations (no bonus), meets expectations (a $2,400 increase in base salary), exceeds expectations (the base increase, plus a 2 percent bonus) and exceptional (the base increase, plus a 3 percent bonus).

Lassner presented slides to lawmakers summarizing the compensation report for the Manoa campus as an example. There, about a fourth received the “exceptional” class increase. Based on that proportion, the administration needs to examine its evaluation process to ensure the bar is kept high.

Even more important than justifying the level of raises awarded is the need to communicate to the public, frequently and in detail, the results of management efforts. Lassner made some progress in that direction on Friday, addressing topics from online learning options to the prospects for future tuition increases.

On that latter score, the president acknowledged that further increases are due in 2018-19 and 2019-20 but asserted that UH tuition has “settled” since the large hikes of earlier years.

That is a metric the university must continue to manage; for many families, travel to the mainland for higher education is not an option financially, so the public option at home should be kept as affordable as possible.

According to the UH presentation, the development of online degree options is a bright spot. Three newly approved bachelor’s degree programs — bachelor of arts in economics and in psychology, as well as a bachelor of social work degree — are now on the list of 30 degree and certificate programs delivered online or through distance-learning technology.

“Stopping the bleeding” for money-losing facets at the university is also a concern. Lassner, joined by Athletic Director David Matlin, acknowledged the ongoing operating deficit run by the Athletic Department, despite a $3 million infusion.

State Sen. Donna Mercado Kim bemoaned the paltry proceeds from licensing and merchandising. Lassner promised to report back again on new initiatives being planned, to erase the deficit by 2020.

An ongoing series of such reports is in order. Hawaii residents who support the university through tax dollars and tuition payments want to see it succeed. They need to see it succeed, in fact, in order to ensure the islands have a workforce trained for careers of the future.

And they deserve to hear how the leaders, well paid as they are, are making that happen.