The next University of Hawaii president will be an at-will appointment without the benefit of a multiyear contract that past UH presidents have enjoyed. The move signals a major shift for a university with a history of pricey — and embarrassing — contract buyouts.
The Board of Regents is scheduled to decide at a meeting Monday between hiring either David Lassner or Frank Wiercinski at a proposed $375,000 salary.
"There is no set term to the proposed presidential appointment at this time. It will be continuous and ‘at will’ upon a mutually determined start date," UHspokeswoman Lynne Waters said in an email to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. "It is our understanding that the new president will not have a ‘defined contract’ as the previous president did. However, this and other issues will likely be discussed in public at (Monday’s) meeting."
Industry experts say an at-will term for a university president would be highly unusual and potentially troublesome, but some say it could prove beneficial for UH.
"I think that probably makes a lot of sense, not being locked into a set number of years. It is unusual in the academic world, especially for a major position, but having a set contract when things are not working out puts the regents and the university in a difficult position," said Kitty Lagareta, a former regents chairwoman who served on the board when UH President Evan Dobelle was terminated in 2004 and given a settlement package worth $3.4 million.
"It would prevent having to buy someone out of a contract, which I think, frankly, has gotten a little bit out of control," added Lagareta, chief executive officer for public relations firm Communications Pacific.
Dobelle was hired in 2001 and given a seven-year contract that was to run through mid-2008. He was fired "for cause" just short of his third anniversary on the job amid charges of lavish spending and wasting of university resources. The regents reversed the firing and reached a settlement that allowed Dobelle to resign and receive a payout and a two-year appointment as a university researcher with a six-figure salary.
David McClain served as interim president for two years after Dobelle’s departure before being appointed to a three-year term in 2006.
M.R.C. Greenwood was named president in 2009 for a three-year term with two annual renewal options. She retired last summer to spend more time with family and address health problems, leaving with nearly two years still on her contract.
Greenwood’s departure came about a year after UH became embroiled in the so-called Wonder Blunder, a botched Stevie Wonder concert that tarnished public confidence in the university. A state Senate inquiry into the missteps of the bungled concert led to wider concerns over university governance, operations and accountability.
At several points Greenwood appeared ready to resign — or be terminated. Her lawyer sent a letter to the regents in late 2012, which was later withdrawn, that asked for a $2 million settlement for her to resign and suggested she had legal cause to sue.
Before Greenwood departed for one year of unpaid leave, the regents approved a tenured faculty position for her to return to the John A. Burns School of Medicine, with a $24,470 monthly salary.
Lassner, the UH system’s longtime information technology executive, was tapped to serve as interim president last summer as the regents launched a national search.
Following a nearly yearlong search, a regents presidential selection committee earlier this month named Lassner and Wiercinski, who retired last year at the rank of lieutenant general after 34 years of service in the Army, its top picks.
The regents have come under fire for the choices and the search process, which was handled internally without the help of an outside search firm.
Some object to Wiercinski’s military background; others find it troubling that Lassner was named a finalist when initially the board said any interim president would not be eligible for the permanent job. Other critics point out the committee failed to meet its goal of producing "no less than five and no more than six" top candidates.
Jim Shon, director of the Hawaii Educational Policy Center, said an at-will appointment could be perceived as a vote of no confidence.
"In the current state of affairs, you’d want to assert your choice as an excellent choice. With the iffy-ness surrounding both candidates as to whether they’re the right stuff, you’re basically saying to them, ‘You’re walking on eggshells. We’re watching your every move,’" said Shon, a longtime observer of the university and local politics. "It’s a very conservative, timid, sort of mousy move that seems to be in response to what’s been going on. The regents have been very strong in saying their process was valid, but this speaks the opposite."
He said the move could also hurt the university’s reputation and ability to recruit faculty and researchers.
"It would invite perpetual sniping about the choice, which is already under a lot of criticism anyway," Shon said. "You have to wonder to what extent the best talent will want to come to the University of Hawaii if the leadership will turn over."
Neither candidate responded to requests for comment.
Other buyouts at UH in recent years have come from the athletic department.
Herman Frazier was fired as athletic director in 2008 with about 1 1/2 years left on his contract for failing to retain football coach June Jones, among other reasons. He got a $312,510 payout.
UHbought men’s basketball coach Bob Nash out of his contract in 2010 for about $240,000.
Football coach Greg McMackin was forced out in 2011 and accepted a $600,000 buyout, which UH negotiated down from the $1.1 million he was due in the final year of his contract.
Jim Donovan had been athletic director for nearly five years before being relieved in 2012 in the wake of the Wonder Blunder controversy. As part of a compromise, he was reassigned to a newly created marketing position with a $211,000 salary.
UH had agreed to the deal in return for Donovan agreeing not to sue the school, but he ended up taking a new job on the mainland.
