Update: Gregg Takayama, executive assistant to Manoa Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw, responded promptly to this post as follows:
Yes, Chancellor Hinshaw did pay for it out of her personal funds so no state or UH funds were involved.
She hosted the cruise as a “thank you” for Manoa campus leaders who have worked very closely with her in a very trying period.
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Did you notice the comment left yesterday afternoon from using the name “newwife”?
Sep 9, 2009 at 4:39 pm
If UH is so short on money, what is Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw doing throwing fancy shindigs on a boat with food and free cocktails for her staff last night? Did she pay for that out of her pocket or did UH? Talk about bad timing and bad taste. Next time, when the State is THIS broke and you need to get to know your staff – try a potluck picnic!
Another faculty member later emailed about the same event, saying he had no direct knowledge but heard about the cruise from three sources.
Last night, Chancellor Hinshaw treated her deans and others of the “Manoa Executive Team” to a moonlit cruise on a catamaran in Honolulu Bay. Dinner was served. I haven’t a clue as to how it was paid for and I am sure it was all on the up and up. Given the lay offs of lecturers and all the cutbacks at UH Manoa, it does seem a tad in poor taste.
Agreed, if it was as described.
I emailed Hinshaw’s executive assistant, Gregg Takayama, to find out whether the rumored dinner cruise actually took place. I’ll post any reply received.
And from the Campus Beat column in Ka Leo, the UH Manoa student newspaper:
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 26
A resident of Frear Hall was caught with a hookah. Staff smelled marijuana coming from the room and found the contraband hookah pipe sitting on a table in plain view. Hookah pipes and other contraband should not be left around for housing staff to find.
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“personal” as in out of her salary or bank account, or out of her expense account paid for by the tax payers?
While a nice gesture, still seems a bit naive.
Thanks, Ian, for inquiring and posting the response. I was about to be satisfied with Gregg’s response, but Ulu raises a good point about which account. Im certainly no Chancellor, but I still would have gone with the picnic. Local style and all.
By the way, when did Gregg move from Communications Director to Executive Assistant? I must have missed that memo. Does that mean theres a new Communications Director? Hopefully, they are killing two birds with his one stone.
I lifted Gregg’s title from the list of administrative salaries reported to the BOR recently and cited in an earlier post.
Gregg later explained:
I would have to say that they’ve got a pretty high-powered team up there in Manoa.
I would prefer a moonlit dinner on a catamaran than a picnic. No flies, for one thing! More romantic, for another. haha.
Meanwhile the library system has cut way back on new books, periodicals and public access. Sinclair Library’s gentrification project cut the number of computers for public use in half to six or seven.
“No state or UH funds were involved” sounds pretty clear to me.
I can understand the resentment in the current fiscal context, but maybe it’s a little misdirected.
Whether state or UH funds were involved, this was certainly insensitive, or supremely ill-timed. And it focuses attention on administrative salaries, which are already a bone of contention.
The dinner cruise industry certainly needs guests and we can presume this was a kamaaina deal.
The insenstivity may lie with those that are attacking the administrator that is being both generous and helping the local economy.
if moderation means that you must agree with the blog guru — this is my last post here
aloha
Nope. No need for agreemenet, but you may have to wait until the guru returns to the computer after the early morning walk.
Oh, Bill, spin that story.
It was a legitimate question on what appeared to be a questionable use of state funds. Ian asked the question, we got a response. Ulu, who apparently has a greater understanding of UH funding, asked a follow up question. Main media seems to shy away from probing questions – so this is why I appreciate Ian’s work here in his blog.
Ian is correct that, in light of the faculty cuts and the mostly high salaries of admin (in-state comparative), partying it up on a cruise looks insensitive. Sorry, Chancellor, it just does. Didnt anyone around you suggest that to you?
When my boss wants to thank me for my work – I get personal notes. I cherish those notes because I know that my work is noticed and appreciated. Its sweet, simple, and personal. No booze-cruise needed.
I think what the Chancellor did was nice. I wish more bosses did things to appreciate the hard work of their employees. She spent her own money so why are people complaining?