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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.C.R. NO. |
162 |
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TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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RESOLUTION
REQUESTING AN AUDIT OF THE uNIVERSITY OF hAWAII SYSTEM TO ESTABLISH BASELINE NUMBERS OF NATIVE HAWAIIAN STUDENTS at the university.
WHEREAS, there is an overwhelming body of evidence that native Hawaiians, like other indigenous peoples who have lost their sovereignty and become disenfranchised in their home lands, experience depressed social and economic conditions, including inadequate housing, poor health, and limited access to health care and education; and
WHEREAS, although the University of Hawaii (UH) is now celebrating its 92nd anniversary, with a student body that has grown and changed dramatically, one constant fact is that native Hawaiian students continue to be underrepresented at UH; and
WHEREAS, while native Hawaiians represent 27 percent of students in public schools across the state, less than 10 percent of the students attending UH at Manoa (UH-Manoa) are identified as native Hawaiian or part Hawaiian; and the UH 2002 Institutional Research Office Report also indicated that less than 10 percent of incoming freshmen were native Hawaiian; and
WHEREAS, for 2002-2003, only 6.8 percent of graduate degrees and 8.5 percent of undergraduate degrees were conferred on native Hawaiians or part Hawaiians, an improvement over 2001-2002, when only 5.7 percent of graduate degrees and 7.7 percent of undergraduate degrees were conferred on native Hawaiians or part Hawaiians; and
WHEREAS, the UH system-wide network now uses or controls 16,000 acres of ceded lands covered under section 5(f) of The Admission Act; and
WHEREAS, the dollar value of these lands over 92 years is so great that it is almost impossible to calculate, and yet it is very clear that the indigenous people of Hawaii have never received compensation or benefits for the use of these lands; and
WHEREAS, numerous Hawaiian advocacy groups, agencies, and nonprofits have long supported the education of native Hawaiians, believing it to be one of the best hopes for the improvement of the social and economic conditions endured by native Hawaiians and the survival of the host culture of this State; and
WHEREAS, the Legislature and UH have supported various programs to recruit and retain native Hawaiians at UH; and
WHEREAS, despite these efforts, UH is not statutorily considered a native Hawaiian-serving institution under Title III of the federal Higher Education Act of 1965 and has consequently been denied millions of dollars in funding because it does not meet the minimum enrollment requirement of native Hawaiian students; and
WHEREAS, of a total allotment of 4,478 tuition waivers awarded at UH in 2000-2001, only 127 were awarded to native Hawaiian or part Hawaiian students, and UH identified 1,500 other native Hawaiian students who were paying more than $3,000 annually to attend UH; and
WHEREAS, many native Hawaiian students have been unable to adjust to college, and one in four native Hawaiian or part Hawaiian students drop out within the first two years of college for reasons that include tuition cost, housing and transportation costs, and family needs; and
WHEREAS, in recognizing the importance of our host culture and the challenges faced by native Hawaiians, the UH-Manoa Strategic Plan calls for the creation of a "Hawaiian place of learning"; and
WHEREAS, in support of this goal, UH President Evan Dobelle allocated over $1 million for Hawaiian programs for 2002-2004, and UH-Manoa Chancellor Peter Englert has allocated over $1 million for Hawaiian programs for 2003-2005; and
WHEREAS, the Legislature is committed to the advancement of the native Hawaiian people and UH, and recognizes the vast contributions and mutual benefits that may be derived by creating a Hawaiian place of learning at UH; and
WHEREAS, the Legislature is committed to increasing support for the education of native Hawaiians and has advanced a measure to provide tuition waivers for all qualified Hawaiian students; and
WHEREAS, to ensure the success of these programs and to efficiently plan, implement, track, and improve strategic efforts to increase native Hawaiian enrollment at UH, funding must be linked to measurable outcomes; and
WHEREAS, in 2002, the implementation of a new Student Information Management System (SIMS) revealed a large number of invalid entries in the database used to track native Hawaiians moving throughout the UH system, and a published disclaimer advises that the data cannot be used for year-to-year tracking; and
WHEREAS, to track programmatic funding and the effectiveness of current and new programs, an appropriate means of measurement and a baseline must be established; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2004, the Senate concurring, that the State Auditor is requested to audit the UH system and SIMS to establish baseline numbers of native Hawaiian students at UH; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the UH-Manoa Chancellor is requested to appoint a working group to collaborate with the Auditor and track baseline numbers of native Hawaiians in the UH system; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor and the UH-Manoa Chancellor are requested to report their findings to the Legislature no later than 20 days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2005; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Auditor and the Chancellor of the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
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OFFERED BY: |
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Report Title:
Audit, UH; native Hawaiian students at UH