Senate Standing Committee on Education

Good afternoon. I would like to call the Senate Committee on Education to order. Today is Friday, April 17. We are in Conference Room 229, and this hearing is mainstream live on YouTube. And if we must end this hearing, due to technical issues, the committee will reconvene on Monday, April 20, in Conference Room 229, and a public notice will be posted on the Hawaii State Legislature website.

Due to number of measures, we have 14, confirmations today. Testimony will be limited to one minute. And, and if technical issues arise during the Zoom testimony, we have several on Zoom, the committee may need to proceed to the next testifier, and written testimony is on file. What we're going to do is I'm going to name the GM number, and then I will take testimony for that particular GM.

Then I will call up the nominee, and then the nominee will be allowed to to give opening remarks, whatever you wanna say, and then we'll open it up to questions from the members.

So I just want to let you know if this is your first time coming to a confirmation, it can be a little, confusing sometimes. So with that, as I said, we have 14. We're going to start off with GM84 804, submitting for consideration the confirmation to the board of regents of the University of Hawaii gubernatorial nominee, Marie Lederca, for for term to expire 06/30/2031. She's not new to the process. She has gone through, confirmation in other other positions, throughout the years.

But we have for testifying, Titin Sakata, testifying in person. Thank you very much. James Levin Junior? Yes. Yes.

Please. Come forward. Aloha.

Aloha. Good afternoon.

I always see you on TV commercials. Okay. Welcome.

So, I'm here to advocate for your confirmation of governor Green's appointment of Marie to the board of regents at our university. Now I could go on for add some length about Marie's character, intelligence, and her exceptional work ethic. But I believe if you look at the biography, you can see that it speaks for itself. So her professional career started when she was a paralegal. Started as a paralegal at my office in 1994.

And through her talent, her discipline, and her dedication, she has steadily risen, into positions of increasing importance and responsibility. Her progression, including her service at the attorney general's office and her advancement into higher leadership positions demonstrates capability and the trust that others, particularly her superiors, have consistently placed in her in in her judgment and her performance. That is all I have to say. Yes, sir. Thank you very much for hearing me.

Thank you very much, miss Lee. Our next testifier is Kendrick King on Zoom. Kendrick, are you on Zoom?

Not on Zoom, chair.

Not on Zoom.

Okay. And we have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven others that have sent in, supportive testimony. Is there anyone else in this room who would like to testify on this GM? If not, and before I call up Marie, I was remissed into saying that and this is for the public and for people who are not familiar with what the Board of Regents do.

The Board of Regents of the unify University of Hawaii is the governing body responsible for overall management and control of the university, which is established in state statute as the state's public system public university system.

So despite what they say that I control it, I don't. Composed of 11 members, the board is appointed by the governor from candidate screen, by the Candidate Advisory Council, and confirmed by the Senate. The board exercises broad authority over the university's general fund, general affairs, including setting policy, overseeing internal structure and operations, managing finances and property, approving contracts and expenditures, and delegating authority to the university president as appropriate.

Through this governance role, the board ensures the university fulfill its statewide mission while maintaining accountability, transparency, and effective administration under Hawaii's Hawaii revised statute chapter three zero four a. And with that, we wanna call miss Marie Lodertha.

Marie, you're welcome to give opening remarks.

Thank you very much. Thank you, Senator Kim. Good afternoon, chair Kim, vice chair Kidani, and Senator Fukunaga. Thank you very much for the opportunity to be here this afternoon, to be heard, and, to consider me for the position of regent at the university. I just want to say, give a very short opening remark by saying that this is actually a very optimal time that this opportunity has come to me because I am at the end of my term at another board, the Labor Appeals Board.

Oh, good afternoon, Senator DeCote.

Good afternoon.

Thank you for having me. Finishing up my term of office there, and so it would give me time to spend on the matters of the Board of Regents, which is a place that I had always, wanted to be part of. I wanted to be part of the solutions there and part of the stewardship of, higher education for the people in Hawaii so that we can have a better place to live in and and build a stronger citizenship. So thank you very much.

Thank you very much, members. We're open to questions. I can start if not have you ready. Marie, and I know that you have served in many capacities, and so you're very much qualified for this position. As an outsider, and when I say outsider, I don't mean outsider of government or anything, but just not being on the board, not working at the university this time.

What have been your thoughts about, you know, from the outside looking in, about the Board of Regents and the governance of the university? Do you have any thoughts about that?

Yes. I've always thought that the university is has a very vast broad challenges facing them because it's the only, you know, higher education institute in the state of Hawaii with 10 campuses. So from, what I've read on the news and what people I've talked to, friends and relatives who have attended the university, there are many, many issues that that that the university has to face.

But that overall, our university is a top notch university, and that we need to try to sustain it and make it better so that, we can attract, more people and we can also, increase funding to the university, which especially at these difficult times where funds are getting cut, that we have to find ways to make up for those funds. And this is a time of need.

And having been, somewhat tangentially associated with the university over the past ten years, because I have been guest lecturing at Shidler for the past ten years, in accounting and tax courses. And the reason I did that in the first place is to get hands on feelings and sort of opinions from the students, the younger generation, as to, what the issues are today. Because I have been around the block, so to speak, I've been working for nearly thirty years in state government alone.

I felt I needed to, really, get the pulse of what's going on currently and what a better place or what better people to give me that indication than the students of today. And so throughout my, times that I I do do the lecturing, which is maybe I would say six or seven times a year, I do get a lot of feedback from them as to the happenings of the university.

And I'd like to be part of the team, the board of regents, to to offer solutions to, their many challenges that are ongoing.

Just for, public's information, all the candidates up for, confirmation today were sent, questions, approximately nine to 10 questions. They have answered it, all except one has turned it in. And so the members all have this. So we're not going to go over some of the perfunctory questions. So we may cover it or we may ask new questions, just so you know.

So members, any questions, Samir?

Thank you. You know, I I appreciated your, comments that you wanted to get a feel for what the students think in this kind of very challenging time. And, through your experience at Shidler, what would you say are some of the issues that the students have identified?

I think some of the students, are looking for, tools to to be able to meet technological challenges, like, artificial intelligence, perhaps. That's been, like, the, the current thing, the talk of the students these days. And, also, classrooms, they complain about the classrooms being run down. I think in that area, we we need to do we. I'm speaking as if I'm already there, but the university and its system there that we need to do better in upgrading some of the, the structures that have, fallen apart.

And I think I've read also about the mold situation, from the flooding. All those things are ongoing, and the students have all expressed those concerns. They are all very happy with the programs themselves, the level of education, the standard of education they're being given in the classroom. I think that, I don't hear too too many complaints about that at all.

So it sounds as though this is really a good time for us to be looking for ways to engage students in how to upgrade our facilities with their input in that.

Yes. Absolutely, Senator Fukuraga. Thank you. And good afternoon, Senator Hashimoto.

Need some water? Nope. I'm

Okay. Members, any other questions? Senator Kidani.

good. Good.

Thank you for being here.

Can

you give me, an example of what would be your innovative approach to generate funding for the university and leveraging real property?

Well, I don't have any specific ideas, but I I certainly, as an area where that I would, be looking into it, given the opportunity to do so, as well as looking to the, foundation, the fundraising arm of the university with respect to endowments, and looking to the alumni in ramping up, perhaps, donations towards the university. As I have had some firsthand knowledge, I I actually have peers and friends who to donate to the university and set up scholarships and endowments.

Especially, I know in one of the areas that's a hot topic at the legislature is the athletic the the name image bill that is running through and skin is looking for funding for that. So those are some of the things that I think that I would be happy to be a part of.

Thank you. I appreciate that because we have heard that before from previous nominees, but I think we've had very good feedback in actuality. So I would appreciate some feedback.

Thank you, Senator Kidani.

Are there other questions?

Thank you. Thank you, Marie. Thank you for being here, and thank you for your willingness to serve. In your questionnaire, you had mentioned that the board sets policy and the president executes that. So can you give a real example of when the board should step in if execution is failing?

Well, I am not sure what specific example I can give, but if I give if we give instructions to the the president to execute, and I see her, in the role of a chief executive officer, and we are not satisfied with the results or have questions as to, maybe shortcomings, then I definitely think that we we take the time to find out what some of those challenges might be.

If the reports that are given to us, like pro progress reports are not adequate, I think we need to ask the right questions at the meetings and outside of the meetings and and get more information and data as to what's going on. I think it is our responsibility to go beyond being just a thinking tank, be presented with what's been presented and just, you know, accept that for what it is.

If it looks like there are things that we we don't know about or that there are things that are missing, I think it is our job to make those inquiries and to get dig deeper to find out what the problem is.

Thank you. And also in your questionnaire, you did mention progress reports and committee work. So do you have any specific consequences? Like, should well, yeah. Do you have like, what would that look like if, as example, the president gets too complacent or too passive?

What does that fail to meet expectations look like and real consequences?

I think they are provisions in the bylaws that I've I have read through months that provide for, like, a process to deal with, those kinds of, discrepancies within the executive.

Thank you. Thank you, chair.

Thank you, Senator de court. Senator Hashimoto.

Thanks for being here, and thanks for your willingness to serve. I guess, you know, as as you know, the university has a very large surplus in the tuition special fund. I guess going on to the border regions, what do you what do you think should happen with this large surplus? What is the timing of, you know, action that should be taken? And, you know, how do we go forward from here?

I I you probably are aware that there is a push and pull with the legislature that, you know, we're at we're at a point where we're like, okay. If you're not gonna spend it, we're gonna sweep it. But I think there at some point, there needs to be some action from the university to show where that money is going to go, and it's going to be used adequately before we continue using more general funds.

I just want to understand what your thoughts be on more process wise of of how you would approach this kind of thing and, you know, just just some opinions that you might have on on the current dilemma that we're facing.

Well, Senator Hashimoto, thank you for the question. And, I think, I would agree I would agree that if there are, excess funds that the legislature should think about, what to do with those funds. And as stewards of the public funds that the university gets, because as, the university gets funding public funding from from the state as well as the Federal Government.

And and as part of our job is I think one of the main part of our jobs is to be good stewards of that public fund, of that money. And I don't know all the ins and outs and details of, their, like, operational their request for funding versus, the amount of the excess.

And but I do think that in theory in theory, that if I were to look at these funds and this we have an excess pot of funds that either the university should apply it towards, what their needs might they might be other yeah. Like, refurbishing buildings, construction, supplementing, lack of tuition. Perhaps they're not collecting as much tuition now as they used to be. I read somewhere that the tuition amounts have dropped over the years.

If they need money, I think they would should look at their own pot of money first. That's my thinking, Senator.

So you so you think that the region should expeditiously or in the universe, should expeditiously come up with a plan?

Yes. K. Because I think

that's that's partly our concern is we've been waiting for some semblance of a plan, and I think the university president asked us to give our time. But I think when you're making budgetary decisions, it's sometimes it's you have a time clock. Right? Three weeks, we're gonna turn it to pumpkin and leave this building, hopefully. Right?

And so I think at a certain point, decisions have to be made. But, you know, hopefully, I think it's it should be collaborative. I think, hopefully, the regions will put some pressure on on on leadership of the university to to really get those plans. You know, I I don't think I don't think it should be a surprise that we have a huge tuition balance. Right?

It's in excess of 200,000,000 in excess. That's the surplus. Right? That's a lot of money. Yet, you know, I think in some respects, we we see some bills, and and I think it's very important.

And so I think it was worth the discussion. But, you know, you're actually she was asking $5,000,000 in general funds for the NIL, which she could have easily easily use that the the excess funds to to just fund the whole thing plus more. Right? And so I don't I I think I think it here at the, you know, at the legislature, we're looking at all that and being like, okay, where's the values and the priorities of the university?

And are you just hoarding money for hoarding money's sake?

Right? And so I hope regents understand that and we'll kind of dig in and just understand the timing of when we gotta get this to the legislature so we can make appropriate decisions. And I know you were in state government before, so you know the timing of when things happen. Right?

Yes. Fast and furious, especially at this time. And I think that that's a very reasonable look by the legislators.

Right. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, Senator.

So to follow-up on that, Marie, I mean, what comes first? Does the board have a plan and they tell the administration to execute? Or does the administration comes in and tell the board, this is what we wanna do? And because it seems that's the way it seems that it has been running. The board is sort of passive and and the administration is the one that directs it and and takes the lead.

Should the board be more aggressive in that sense or be more proactive? What's your sense?

Senator Kim, that the board has a hand in it. The board should be more proactive because we are, as regions, we are supposed to be the stewards of the money. We are supposed to be directing directing the strategies and the policies for the university, set setting out the blueprint for them. So as there's people who are, you know, the architects of how things are going to be, I I believe it's our job, to give them at least a layout of what it should look like.

And then we will work collaboratively with the, executive officer, in this in this case, the president of the university, for her input as well, and and then, go forward with that.

Because if you watch the hearings and the meetings and if you read the the minutes, which I do, you you you'll note that many times, there's no discussion. There's no challenging of of the issues. It seems like they just go along. And then many times, they've said, well, our job is to hire and fire the president. It's not to run the university.

And so, you know, we just they just sit back and go along. However, during confirmations, we hear many of the statements, but then in practice, it's not going on. So and we only get to confirm you once in your, term, which is five years. And if you come up for reconfirmation, then we get to hold you accountable, and that's when we do hold you accountable for your actions or non actions. Let me ask you one more area.

So just in the news today, and I don't like to follow this entity, however, there's a lawsuit about the Board of Regents not being transparent about how the hiring went for the president and one of her appointees. And so your thoughts as far as, you know, transparency on the board, should should, you know, these kinds of appointments be more transparent to the public?

And if there is a demand for the for the, minutes or for the records, should should the regents give that information out to the media?

Senator Kim, I read the same article briefly on civil beat, I think it is, about about this. And my

trusted Ubido, just to see what happened.

I'm not endorsing them or I'm not endorsing them. Let's just say that's where I I read it briefly. And, they yes. They asked for the minutes, I think. And they said that they they alleged that they weren't trying to overturn the decision, but just wanted to see what the process was.

Well, since this is an ongoing lawsuit, I and I don't know everything about it, but, generally, from the d heard personnel point of view, things that are personnel related, especially things that's part of an ongoing litigation from the attorney point of view, that we we really don't comment. We cannot without knowing all the facts, and I haven't read everything, and I was not part of that hiring process.

On top of it, it was also done partially in executive session, which is a sacred session of, them discussing things that, do not need to be disclosed. And so Aye, think that I cannot really comment as to, the

the I'm not asking you to comment on that. The whole reason there's this lawsuit is because they feel that the process wasn't transparent and the information wasn't made available. So that's why they're they're suing to get the information.

I see.

So I guess the the question is, you know, as a if if confirmed as a regent, will you will you advocate for more transparency in whatever it is that the board, you know, because if you're dealing with public monies, you're dealing with the public, that a lot of it needs to be transparent. And executive session needs to be sacred in the sense that not everything should be going through executive session, only that which is considered, like, lawsuits or some personnel issues and so forth. So

Yes. I would agree with that, Senator Kim. I think if it's not it's not something that's protected by law, the sunshine law, some that things should be more transparent. In fact, that's one of the issues that Aye, I named as a key issue when I asked addressed this survey, the 10 questions. I believe transparency.

More transparency is always better, and in this case, in the university, so that people can see what's going on with the public funds and just why decisions are made and what some of the circumstances might be. I mean, those are things that are protected by law is another matter. But if they're not, then I think they should be transparent.

I have shared this with past board memberS, and I'll be happy to share it with the new Board Members. This was d1 in August 2014, but it's so pertinent. It's governance for a new era, a blueprint for higher education trustees. And in thiS, there'S, 1 page 13. It says, trustees also need to design better presidential contracts and conduct more regular evaluations.

They must hold presidents and senior administrators accountable for responding to information requests and for addressing the key goals and objectives that the board established each year. So I think, you know, there's a lot of good things in here that I think the trustees really need to look at because you're there more than just hiring and firing the president and, just going along with whatever is brought before the board.

And I know sometimes that they you get voluminous amount of, information brought to you just before you're required to to vote something up or down. So in that case, I hope that you folks will take the time to say, wait a minute. You need to bring this to us earlier and not, you know, the night before it's due if we don't have time to review it. So do you believe

you do that?

Yes. That's reasonable, Senator. I believe they give us material six days before a meeting, and sometimes that's just not enough time. Maybe sixty days, depending on what the issues might be. I would agree.

Budget. Right? Yes. Yes. Christian, any follow-up questions?

If not, Marie, thank you very much for your willingness to serve.

Thank you. Thank you, senators, and thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak with you. Thank you very much.

And for your folks' information, today's meeting is the committee's recommendation. So when we vote at the end, and that then goes to the floor, and then that's the final vote. So this is not the final. This is just the committee's recommendation, whether to advise your consent. Because I know in the past, people thought this was it.

Thank you for that clarification. I keep telling my friends that. This is not it yet. Yeah. Thank you so much. Thank you. I appreciate being here. It's been ten years since I've had to testify, so a bit rusty, but I think I'm I had a good jump start today. Thank you so much.

It's like riding a horse.

GM 805, submitting for consideration and confirmation to the Board of Regents, Gubernatorial nominee Keith Amemiya for a term to expire 06/30/2023. We have, let's see, Michael Yadao. Aloha, Michael.

Just really quickly, Senator. Thank you, chair. Thank you, vice chair. Mike Yadao from the Stadium Authority. We are in full support of Keith Amemiya and his and really applaud his willingness to serve as a member of the Board of Regents.

It helps us to have a member of the Board of Regents selfishly on the sports side that understands the stadium redevelopment project. He's a former member of the stadium authority and also is embedded in the Hawaii sports space and kinda knows what the university needs to succeed.

But on the personal level, Mike it out as myself as a graduate of the University of Hawaii and as a lifelong resident of the State of Hawaii, I am really delighted that Keith is willing to serve and think of him very highly as a man of integrity. And I trust him completely with our sacred university.

Thank you for the opportunity.

Thank you. See, we have Laura Zorbo, Lauren Zorbo. On Zoom?

Not on Zoom, chair.

Okay. Thank you. Bryan Mick. Aloha, Brian.

Good afternoon, Chair Kim, Vice Chair Kidani, and committee members. My name is Bryan Mick. I am here in my personal capacity today. Also a proud alumni of the university as well.

Like Michael, I too am in strong support of Keith's appointment to the Board of Regents. I happened to be a high school coach almost the exact same time as he was the executive director of Hawaii High School Sports Association and was always impressed with the job he did, even though I never really got to meet him during that.

I did get to meet him seven years ago when I was approached to be a full time volunteer on his campaign for mayor as he was considering running I got to meet him then, obviously. And what impressed me was when I met him just a couple weeks before he actually announced. He didn't know a lot about city, and he'll tell you that when he was considering that.

What impressed me was how quickly he learned about city and the process of that campaign, starting with the departments and what they did and what they were supposed to be doing with their budgets really at the global level and then eventually drilling down into specific programs that he made part of his campaign that he wanted to see improved. And the big thing, though, that really impressed me was he didn't just deal with it on paper. He made a point.

And those of us that had experience at the city like I did, we helped connect him to keep people in the city civil servants who had been there for a long time because he wanted to hear their perspective on how the city was running and how it could be run better. And then after that, he asked us to help identify community leaders that interacted with the city.

And he made a point to this was during COVID, so unfortunately, he couldn't always meet them person to person. But he would make a point of arranging phone calls and talking to these people to get their perspectives. And really, when I read that civil beat article this morning, I thought this is sort of exactly what I was trying to point out in my testimonies.

I think he'll do a real excellent job as a regent of reaching out to the broader community and getting their input into decisions that the regents need to make. Thank you.

Thank you. Danson Honda?

The weight of my heart is to bring a little more.

Good afternoon. Aloha, Chair Kim, Vice chair Kidani, members of the Senate Education Committee. My name is Danson Hana, and I'm here today in strong support of the nomination of Keitha Amemiya to serve on the University of Hawaii Board of Regents. And for my testimony, I want to briefly share a personal story of mine. Back when I was in high school, I had the opportunity and privilege to serve as a student representative on the Hawaii State Board of Education.

And it was an incredible experience but to be completely honest, I struggled at first. I felt intimidated, out of place, and unsure of how to find my voice in rooms filled with experienced leaders. I wanted to do something, but I wasn't sure how. And during that time, Keith stepped in, not because he had to, but because that's who he is. He didn't see me as just a student.

He saw potential and he encouraged me to speak up, to be engaged, and to take my role seriously. And more importantly, he took action. He helped connect me with stakeholders, set up meetings, and supported the initiatives that I cared about. And because of that, I started to find my voice and that made a lasting impact on me. Right?

So after, after high school, I served, I went to University of Hawaii at Manoa, and I served on the student government there, ASUH, as a student body treasurer. And even today after graduating, I regularly testify here at the state legislature, and advocate on issues like education, housing, and some of you may know financial literacy. Yep. Yep. But that confidence didn't come naturally.

You know, it was built over time and it started with leaders like Keith who took the time to invest in me when I was still trying to figure things out. And, you know, that's the kind of leadership he brings. And, you know, the University of Hawaii has the responsibility not just to educate students, but to help develop future leaders as well. Right? And having somebody like him on the board is a tremendous asset, and I respect respectfully urge you to support his nomination.

Thank you for your time. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you for bringing her and starting her early because, well, I think she'll tell the story how she sat on your lap before she could join staduim center. My son sat on my lap at one point.

Oh, that's awesome. Amelia. This is Amelia. Thank you.

Thank you. So you see, just bring a little one in and we'll just melt.

Okay. That's all the people that I have testifying in person. Is there anyone else here with you to testify as nominee?

If not, there are nine others all in support, by the way.

Okay. With that, I'm going to ask the nominee to come forward.

Aloha, Keith. You are no stranger to most of us but please open your box.

I'd be better if you had a baby.

Yours is growing. Right?

Yeah. Like Micah, he'd be too big on my lap. My sons are about the same size.

Anyway, good afternoon, Chair Kim, vice chair Kidani, and committee members Hashimoto, DeCorte, and Fukunaga. My name is Keith Amemiya, nominee for the University of Hawaii Board of Regents. And I'm seeking the nomination and selection as a regent because I feel I have the skill sets, background, and experience to be an effective regent. The bulk of my career has been centered around education and uplifting our younger generations.

So I view this opportunity to serve on the regents continue service to the community and helping education and our youth throughout the state.

I believe you all received a copy of my resume and my responses to Chair Kim's questionnaire. So I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have of me regarding any of those documents or anything else that you might wanna ask.

Thank you. I'm gonna open up the members. Senator DeCorte.

Thank you, Keith, for continuing to put yourself out there to serve in a public capacity. So we appreciate you. And thank you for the time that you had spent in my office. We had a lot of good discussions. I agree with Mike Yadao as far as your knowledge with regards to sports.

So I did wanna bring up in our discussion too in my office, NIL. That's becoming a very huge topic. Now right now through previous hearings, the AD's office and the university, I believe, had said they had raised maybe about $1,500,000 something like that. Given your background and how much you have privately raised for sports, do you feel that the university could do better in its capacity to raise this kind of funds?

Because when I mean, if these funds do become available for NIL purposes, are we just like, creating a revolving door for the university to keep coming back to us and asking us for more money?

Well, I know that, there's a still, I believe a pending bill to fund the university, with NIL monies. And I know it's a priority of the Governor and some key legislators as well as sports fans across the state and of course, the UHS Athletic Department. I know the value of NIL and the importance, myself, along with several other business leaders in the community raised several $100,000 towards UHNIL, through private funding over the last three years.

But having said that, there's a lot of competing needs out there, whether it's throughout the University of Hawaii System, our public schools, our Lahaina wildfire victims who are still struggling, the Kona low storm victims, those who are impacted by the reduction in federal funding. So I'm very sensitive to the competing needs out there.

I support the funding of NIL this year, but I do think looking forward to next year and the years beyond, the university and the athletic program in particular, needs to know that they can't count on the legislature to fund NIL every year. And we need to look at private funding like all of our counterparts throughout the country have used for NIL funding. It's hard, it's not easy but it needs to be done.

Yeah. Do you believe that the department, sorry, the university has basically exhausted all of its resources before coming to taxpayers and asking taxpayers for money?

I don't know enough to fairly answer that question. But, of course, the athletic department or any entity can always do more in terms of fundraising. And so you need to look at every possible avenue of fundraising. You need to look at in between and underneath, sofa cushions. And you know, there's I'm just gonna rattle off off the top of my head.

I don't know where student activity fees are and whether they have been reviewed and have been increased over the last several years. Ticket pricing, sponsorships. It's not easy, but I feel that athletic programs have an advantage over other parts of the university and that, I mean, it's just frankly harder to fund for the biology department or oceanography. Sports has a built in vehicle to raise money through selling tickets and sponsorships, like I said, and philanthropic donations.

So, we need to explore all those avenues before coming back to the legislature next year and beyond.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you, chair.

Just to follow-up on that question, you mentioned that you can't keep coming in for NIL, but they do keep coming in for a shortfall for athletics. So we are already subsidizing the athletic program every year.

And so this NIL would be on top of that, which is why you we have to build with an endowment fund on it. So, hopefully, that is not gonna be reoccurring. So, you know, how do we manage that?

Do we fund NIL and not fund the athletic department?

Right. So I view those issues differently. As you know, Senator, the vast majority of division one programs run a deficit every year. And so the University of Hawaii is no different than most athletic programs. So that funding to make up the shortfall is is greatly needed and appreciated.

But I view that as a priority over NIL because if I have to choose covering a shortfall versus, extra money to athletes, I'm gonna pick filling the shortfall.

And then you mentioned that you weren't quite sure on the student athletic fees, and whether it's been reviewed or raised and so forth. My understanding hasn't been. However, when we talk about that, we have a tuition and fees surplus. So it's kinda hard to raise fees when you have a surplus. Right?

It's kinda hard to raise tuition when you have a surplus. And so we want to keep tuition low, so our residents can afford higher education because across the country, it's just skyrocketing. And student loans are skyrocketing as well. And therefore, the value for higher education, around the country has diminished. So, yeah.

So as far as looking at how to, you know, raise more fees but we have that surplus. So how do we justify that?

So I heard Senator Hashimoto's question to nominee Laderta about the surplus. And I'm not as well versed on that issue as I should be and I will be if I become a regent, but hopefully, I'm presuming the president and her team are are working on a plan and a suggestion or recommendation on how to deal with the surplus and how to spend it down and the timeline for spending it down.

Now, having said that, the university is basically a multibillion dollar corporation, and it's prudent for any large or small corporation to have some type of reserve in case of a rainy day. Now what that amount is, I'm not sure.

It's 16%.

It says that. And and the surplus is in excess of the 16%, just for your information. So we're not taking that that reserve away or the budget is not proposing that you take they take the 16%.

Okay.

Okay. Well, then that's good to know. I just wanted to make that point clear that obvious and I didn't I wasn't suggesting the legislature was gonna

Right. Just to you know, it's hard to keep track of what's going on. And, you know, the university has made a good point that we shouldn't be taking student tuition and putting it into the general fund. It should go for the university. But, you know, you need to know that whenever they come and ask us for monies, like $5,000,000 for NIL, it comes to the general fund.

So any money that you that you ask for comes from the general fund. So in essence then, you know, if you have the surplus, then the university should utilize it. I'm gonna read one thing and then I'll turn it over and know there's more questions. So going back to this governance for a new era, there's a whole paragraphs on this.

It says, trustees must be willing to withstand pressure to grow athletic programs that are a net drain on resources and they should ensure that salary contracts for coaches as reward, academic performance first and athletic success second.

So I just read that's part of the overall governance because there is that pressure. Right? It comes forth over and above the athlete, the academics. So questions. Senator Hashimoto.

So I guess, thanks, Keith for being here. I guess, I'll kinda go off of the continuation of the surplus. So I guess, where how do we ensure that we'd be more proactive in the future? Right? I think it seems like in my mind, it was kind of a surprise, at least to the legislature that there was a surplus.

And I think what really bothered us was that it was there was really no action until the legislature brought this to the forefront. And so, you know, what's done is done.

But I think, you know, all that we can do now is just ensure that the regions that we're putting on to the border regions, number one, know that this is happening. And number two, know how to react and and how to make things better and to make sure that we're spending our money in the best way possible. So I guess, you know, you're very familiar.

You were you know, you served to lead the board of regents as staff before, like so I guess, what can we expect, I guess, from your role of giving advice to the other regions on how do we be a little bit more proactive in big issues, like a $200,000,000 plus surplus above and beyond the board of regents policy.

Right?

Well, if I'm lucky enough to be a regent, you made your concerns loud and clear. And we as a board and the president and her administration needs to be much more proactive communicate. I view the legislature as not an adversary, but as a partner. And as a partner, we should discuss things before decisions are made or if an issue well before an issue arises so that we can game plan accordingly. And so, you know, you weren't aware of this high surplus issue.

Now you're made aware me as a prospective regent, has been made aware and and fairly new president Hensel has been made aware. And so I'm confident before next session, there will be a game plan in place on how to deal with the existing surplus and how to deal with surpluses moving forward.

And I understand it potentially is a one time thing. You know, I think when you talk to the University administration, they say it's COVID. It was because the COVID monies and the maintenance effort issues. But I guess when we now have this big surplus, why do we deal with things like NIL? Like, is it smart that we're having a concurrent bill to ask for additional general funds and we're sitting on $200,000,000?

I guess, you know, I just like to get your thoughts of priorities here and you know, the view of the university in terms of being prudent. It's kind of we look at it and being like, okay, like interesting that you come for both, right? You want your surplus, plus you want additional funds and other bills. So I just want to understand what as a regent, you know, I think people got to steer the unit administration in the right direction.

Well, how would you steer the administration in this case?

So as I said earlier, well, if it comes down to a shortfall versus NIL, I support helping cover the shortfall. In terms of

But we're not, we're not covering a shortfall. Right? We have a surplus.

Well, in athletics. Athletics, you know, regularly

Right.

Yeah. Or slight profit or break it. It's a struggle for athletics. Right. But, you know, now that we know that the surplus is an issue, we're gonna make absolutely sure as a board and work with the president and her team to come forward with a plan on how to address the current surplus and how to deal with future situations ahead of time so that we're not being after the fact.

But in some respects, don't you think having to come in for a supplemental bill, if NIL is truly important. Don't you think the Board of Regents and the president should have just funded it fully and given athletics more money if it was a statement of values instead of just sitting on the surplus and then coming for general funds instead?

I mean, that's certainly what was an option given the benefit of hindsight.

But you don't, but how do we move forward then with it?

I view it as this maybe the one time pass the athletic department gets for NIL funding, but, well, Chair Kim has been around the block, and, she is smart, in the sense of creating an endowment so that she knows what may happen next year and the year after that. It'll be a recurring ask that once you give it, you have to keep giving it. And so, I don't see this becoming an issue moving forward after this year, the NIL request.

Well, I don't think it's even about NIL. It is about the statement of how the university looks views the legislature, right? In terms of how do you generate revenue, how do you spend your surplus, what is your priorities, and your statement of values of what you're gonna prioritize. Right? I that's what I, to me, it's a broader issue. I think NIL is top of mind.

We can go into any other issue. We can look at student housing. Right? Is that, you know, the amount that you're charging for student housing versus how much, you know, upkeep and maintenance that needs to go into it. I think there was a push from the university saying they didn't wanna float their own bonds, and that really frustrated us because we were essentially saying raise the rates so it looks nice and we can fund those who can't afford it another way.

But the university has been pushing back on the revenue bonds that we've been trying to float. And so to me, it's a statement of how you're looking at your finances and how do we move forward. Right? And I think we want the board who really understands all the intricacies. And I, you know, I think you have the qualifications, obviously, in banking.

You know, you've done all the athletic stuff. But we just want some assurances that you will bring that financial accountability. And part of it is political too and how you get some of these things moving. But I think, you know, I don't know what you what you think about that statement of values and where the university is at currently.

So here's what I think. You know, obviously, I wasn't involved in past decisions or I wasn't around when the surplus was created. But moving forward, we have a fairly new president who's by most accounts gotten off to a good start with the public and the legislature. You're gonna get five new regions out of 11. And so I view this as a new beginning, if you will.

And so, I'm optimistic that these issues and concerns won't happen next year and beyond.

Thank you, chair.

Before I call on Senator Fukunaga, I have to set the record straight. This is not new, and this surplus is not new. I've been aware of it for six years, maybe longer. So it's not just during COVID, because I've asked president former, president, why isn't he using this this surplus for promise program? Why isn't he using it for other things?

And they haven't. So it's not new. I've been aware. This committee, new members have been aware, but the board of regents have been around, and they should be aware because I'm very vocal about these things. But not things have happened.

So, yeah, just to be aware that it's not one time. It's been a carryover year after year. And if you go and check the records, it's fluctuated from 450,000,000 to 300,000,000 total not including the 60% over so many years. So, yeah, it's been there. So only now it comes to light because the legislature saw it or the budget committee saw it that we need to balance the budget, and here is excess funds and we're taking it from across all of the agencies.

And that is why it's come to light. Yeah. Just do the set of records.

Duly noted.

Sure, Chair.

You know, in terms of the UH system, I think in many respects for the urban Honolulu communities, you know, Manoa in particular, we've seen such a huge influx of additional traffic coming into the region that most of the roadways are inadequate to handle.

And so I'm kind of curious to see what your views on the community college system are and how you see, you know, distribution of students and programs across the 10 campuses as something that, you know, can actually enhance the role of the university in attracting more students.

Yes. You and I talked about this earlier in the week, and I agree with you that we should look at the other campuses as resources to handle the overflow, if you will, at Manoa. West Oahu is a prime example. It's no secret that it's not being utilized to its capacity. And also it's where it's Senator DeCorte is from and that's where our the majority of our students are coming from.

They're not coming from town. That's where the younger communities are. So there's a lot of logic in looking at utilizing the other campuses, including West Oahu, to take the strain off of Manoa.

Well, I guess that would also require, the city and state to work closely together because the success of utilization of other campuses is probably gonna be dependent on the availability of Skyline and other kind of mass transit opportunities. But I think the real challenge is gonna be the extent to which the university encourages you know, students to be able to take courses from multiple campuses, which I think in the long term is gonna be a real plus for the system.

I agree with you. And you know, in Hawaii, we generally we don't like change, and there's gonna be a lot of pushback. In fact, I'm sure people are yelling and screaming at me now for agreeing with you about moving more students and classes to West Oahu. But we have to do it, as as you mentioned. There's been a strain on infrastructure in town and the growth in students is in West Oahu.

So it only makes sense to have more classes on that side.

Well, I think for many communities, you know, Honolulu Community College will actually be a prime location once the, you know, Dillingham Corridor is completed and a lot of technology and advanced manufacturing programs are located at HCC.

So I think for all the campuses, you know, it really would take a different perspective on how the system might be able to support students who can then access multiple programs from a variety of different locations.

That's a good point. And well, of course, now we have the advantage of hybrid lane learning or distance learning. So you can sometimes go to class and sometimes, you can stay at home or your apartment and learn. And I, I'm glad you brought up the point of Honolulu Community College when the rail is built, when transit oriented development takes place around HCC, that could be even more vibrant campus.

And like you, I've been lucky enough to tour that campus and they're doing some amazing things, whether it's, you know, training airplane mechanics or the technology like their 3D printers.

It's phenomenal, what Chancellor Kim is doing over there or Lee, Karen Lee. Sorry, Karen.

Well, I think that's, you know, pretty much a lot of the potential for future growth and development. And certainly, transit oriented development in and around those neighborhoods would be a welcome boost. Thank you.

Let me just add that for a long time now, West Oahu and also my colleague here have been pushing that the campuses, we find that, at one time it was one of the fastest growing campus and then it started dwindling. And when we visit the campus, the chancellor was not there. And so there have been concerns about the leadership. And, so now it's moving back that we have different leadership that is taking it over, but I think that's really important.

And the regents have been made aware past regents have been made aware about the concerns, but nothing was done.

Again, there's a tendency to just go along with things and not make the changes. So we've been set back many, many years when it comes to West Oahu and having students on campus. The majority of the students are distant learning at the campus.

And that's not bad, but again, you know, I think your full experience comes from being on campus, being at the college where you have social interaction and those kinds of things that is part of the overall experience of college and life. Right?

So, I think that the region's gotta be more aware of these kinds of things that are going on at the different campuses and that changes need to be advocated for. Senator, Senator Kidani.

Thank you, Chair.

Keith, thank you for being willing to serve. But I think, as some of my colleagues have pointed out, for us, some of the concerns is we have visited campuses, particularly University of West Oahu. Many times we went, the chancellor wasn't there. There's no accountability. I don't know how the students feel about that, that you know, they're not getting maybe the bang for their buck because there's no administrative personnel for them to go to for help.

So I think one of the things that I'd like you guys to focus on is to make sure that people who are supposed to be there on campus touring school hours, that they are there to guide the students in, you know, answer the questions or fulfill the needs that they may have. And this is just for not just today but tomorrow and, you know, provide the guidance that they need.

And, I'd like to, just ask that you consider that as you, you know, are confirmed that this is one of your goals, that you guys are meeting the needs of the students.

Sure. You and your colleagues have made that loud and clear. And as I said earlier, we have a a fairly new president. We're gonna have a new slate of a regents. And so I'm committed, along with Marie and and the new regents and the returning regents, to be more proactive in our dialogue with the legislature and other stakeholders.

Thank you.

Yes, and thank you. I do remember in our conversation, we did talk about West Oahu campus. And as it's continuing to grow and leadership is so important. Right? And I'm a firm believer in on boots on the ground.

Right? In person type learning and just setting that leadership style. I would like to see more resources being poured into West Oahu. It's just a little bit more affordable out there. Parking, I don't believe is being charged right now.

We're up at UH Manoa. It's about 200 plus dollars. So just those little things for students. I've noticed that the university also has a growing number of students that are food insecure. Some studies have come out that students are not finding a stable place to live.

So I do think that if we can leverage that with offering another campus and another opportunity, it will also relieve a lot of the traffic from the students that are living out on West Oahu and then they're driving into Manoa. So I believe that you have that innovative vision that will be able to kind of branch out.

Like how you said, nobody likes change, but, you know, if it relieves taxpayers and students from not having to pay so much, I don't see tuition getting any cheaper.

So it's important that we look at all avenues. And UHS Oahu is a beautiful campus and they're growing and they have a lot of programs.

They're getting a studio. They have a lot of film industry programs that are happening, not to mention the agriculture. And I could go on and on about that campus, But I would like to continue to keep that on the table for you.

Sure. Of course.

Thank you, chair.

I have two more areas that I wanted to bring up. And not just for you, also for Marie sitting and listening. This is our last chance we get to talk with you folks for five years, so we're taking advantage of it.

One of the areas is the CIP priorities. What is the CIP priorities for the university? And I'll give you examples. So we have Sinclair that's been cost overruns delayed. It's still not up.

It was supposed to be up last year. Costs have gone up and, I don't see the regents holding them accountable for these cost overruns. The other area is McCarthy Mall. McCarthy Mall started off being an irrigation project, and then the person in charge, the vice president in charge decided they were gonna improve McCarthy Mall, which is nice to have, but was it our priority? And as a result, it cost overruns, went and nobody held that accountable.

You know? Who's being held accountable for those decisions? And it's I can go on and on, on all the different projects that's overrun or procurement issues that occurred. So I hope that you folks will be looking at those things. And there's no excuse because we bring it up in these meetings.

I bring it up. And so it's not new information. And if the regions are paying attention, which they should, and there should be a representative from the board of regents here at our meetings. Because a lot of times bills that are introduced about the university, it's sending a message that if we have to introduce bills then something is not being addressed. Right?

And I don't we don't wanna introduce bills. We don't wanna tell you guys how to govern. But if you're not going to be proactive and and govern the university, then we find ourselves in that awkward position because our constituents contact us. The other area is, on the tuitions. I mean, not the tuitions, the scholarships.

So every year, the university has to send in a report to us on the scholarship. And it's interesting because we give out millions of dollars in scholarships or the university gives out. System wide for the board of regents, they give out $70,000,000 in scholarships and tuition waivers, a $108,000,000 in tuition waivers and differentials, and another $29,000,000 awarded for full or partial tuition, to graduate assistants and so forth. But the interesting part about this is the nonresident tuition differentials.

So of the $108,000,000 that is given out to nonresident waivers and scholarships, we are told that is offset because we collect out of state tuition, which is fine.

We collect the high tuition so that we can give it out. However, the amount of money we're collecting in out of state tuition is only $97,500,000, and we're giving out a 108,000,000 in tuition waivers. That that doesn't jive. Right? And I don't know that even the university realized this until we pointed out to them.

Something's wrong with this picture because if we're gonna take care of people with waivers, it should be our residents. It should be our students. And, yes, we want out of state, but at the same time it should balance. It there shouldn't be a deficit there. So I hope you folks will look at that.

Okay? Because, again, these are funds going out and is it benefiting our local students and our community? So, with that, so if there are no other questions, thank you very much, Keith.

Thank you.

We appreciate you both listening. You'll be tested after.

No.

Thank you. Okay.

We are moving on to, GM, and we appreciate your patience, those of you who are waiting for your turn to come up. GM 752, and this is submitting for consideration a confirmation to the early learning board gubernatorial nominee, Cheryl Kudumat, excuse me, for a term to expire 06/30/2029. And the early learning board is established within the Department of Education for administrative purposes, is responsible for setting statewide early learning policy and overseeing the early childhood system from prenatal care to kindergarten entry.

Composed of nine members appointed by the governor, the board directs the executive office of early learning, and appoints the and evaluates its director, provides guidance to improve the quality, access, and coordination of early learning programs across the state. So with that, we have let's see who's here to testify.

You call our call across?

Chair Kim, Vice Chair Kidani, members of the committee, Yuko Arikawa Cross, director of the executive office on early learning. Thank you for this opportunity to testify in support of nomination of Shokuriya Ma to the early learning board. Miss Kururiya Ma has been a valuable member of the early learning board. She attends our meetings regularly and actively participates in discussions. As a director of a local

preschool, her contributions help to ensure that the board's decisions are informed by the practical realities of community based providers. Her membership also satisfies the statutory requirement that the board include a member with experience as a local provider of an early childhood education and development service. I respectfully request your support of her nomination. Thank you.

Thank you. Elaine Yamashita.

Aloha from Maui. Aloha from Maui. Elaine Yamashita. I'm a member of the early learning board, and I stand on my testimony in support of Cheryl's renomination. Mahalo.

Thank you. That is all that we have that signed up to testify. Anyone here wishing to testify for this nominee? If not, we will have the nominee come forward.

Aloha and good afternoon, chair Kim, vice chair Kidani, senators, Fukunaga, de court, and Hashimoto. I'll try to be brief. Well, first of all, sorry. I should have made a field trip with some of my preschool kids. I I know next time.

Just one. Just one. More than one. But I believe I I must say if

I may one of twins, but she had twins.

I must applaud. Thank you so much for bringing her the I mean, I love that. I mean, just to see, you know, parents, you know, having their children be involved with their lives. Honestly, that's one of the things that, which is why I want to continue to serve on the board. Right now at our preschool, we have, quote unquote, the COVID babies, so it's different.

It's different. Not just the children, but the parenting. So the four and five year olds were the children that were conceived during COVID. So if you may, please be on the lookout, you know, talk to the Dewey, the elementaries. These children are going on to kindergarten next year.

I'm so curious to see how it'll be. But honestly, it's the parenting. And I believe I said this, the last time I was here, that it's just the electronics in our lives today. I wish, and that's why I'm so glad and thankful to be a part of the board so I can speak up because I see this every day. I see parents who are dropping off their children on their phone.

You don't even make an opportunity for to say hi to the teachers, or sometimes maybe a goodbye to the kids, because they're on their phone having a conversation. That was not how it was, obviously, when we grew up. It's hard to believe. I don't know if I look at it, but we've had our preschool for about twenty years now. Hard to believe.

Hard to believe, man. I can remember the first day. I like to say that I'm old school. I I do not have electronics in our school. I choose not to have iPads.

100% social interaction. I always tell my parents, you will get the academics per se. Of course, we have academics on our preschool, but you will get the academics when you go to the big school, when you go to kindergarten. In preschool, I really feel it's just the values, respecting adults. So I know, Sai, I can talk forever, but if you want to visualize it in preschool, think about it as planting the seeds in our children.

I know there's a lot of money out there, and actually, thank you. There's actually been a lot of money invested from the federal and state government for preschool open doors. Thank you so much. That has brought in a lot more families. So again, I cannot thank you enough.

Please continue to fund that because I would say only about half of our children still attend preschool, but you know what? There's actually some people that get funding, but they don't even attend. So that's a that's a whole different issue, a whole different issue. But there's still a lot of children out there. You know, they just choose.

The grandparents choose to watch their kids. But we have to educate the parents, probably from prenatal, the value of education especially today. But again, just thank you. Sorry I'm talking too long, I know. But just being on the board, I can give that, as as Yuko said, the day to day, realities.

And I think I'm the only one that is a community based, preschool director to give that input, which I think is invaluable to the board.

And Cheryl, thank you. You got me at your questionnaire. I especially enjoyed, your number four a, and I'm gonna read out one of the lines in there. Sure.

It says, I hear from many teachers today of all levels that parents solely rely on teachers to teach their children. And I've been saying that that, you know, while we have preschools at at three years old or two years old, just drop the kids off and then pick them up when they're twelfth grade. Yeah. Oh, no. Yeah.

And and that is troubling Yes. Because and we have allowed this. You enabled this. Right? And I I've I've and I've said this to the DOE when they keep agreeing to take on things that are not academic related And that taking care of every other thing.

And I said once once this is allowed and enabled, then people feel that that

It's okay. Yeah. Right?

You know? And they they feel entitled to all of those things, and that they don't have to wake up in the morning, take their kids. I have a school in my district where, advocates are saying, you know, you can't close the school down. It's a small k through three school.

Because the parents come home and they're sleeping, they're working at night, they're sleeping, and the kids go to school, and they don't brush their teeth or wash, you know, their face, and the teachers brush their hair for them.

I said, but that's not the job of the teachers. But that, like you said

We do it.

Yes. And once you do it, then you're expected to do it. And then we're seeing the rise of community schools, which says schools shouldn't just be there for academics. It should be for the whole child. Yes.

Well, again, that's the families Yes. Should be providing a care for the whole child. Schools should be focusing on academics, and that's the other problem that we're having. Yeah. Because the teachers shortage is not only because of the pay.

It's the conditions and it's the responsibilities that they have.

And it's only growing

today. So I I really enjoyed

Thank you.

Come from this point of view that I think more and more, we have to impress that the families need to be included. The parents need to be part of the child's welfare at the school as well as outside of the school. Yes. And it begins with you Yes. It does.

Okay. With that, the court. Yes.

Thank you so much. Yeah. I was very intrigued by your questionnaire. You had the answer to question number eight. If reappointed, what would be your top priorities for the next term, and what outcomes would you want the early learning system to achieve?

And you highlighted a special needs to be that top priority amongst many, I'm sure. So are has the DOE been collaborative to work with you folks as far as data is concerned or as how we can implement any kind of policies that would help to identify this a little bit early on? So I'll go ahead and have you answer what you believe to be the solution to that because I think we have to address it sooner rather than later now.

Oh, no. Thank you. And if I may, I think I'd like to put on my preschool director hat more on this answer. I would say it's very inconsistent depending what school you're working with. In terms of that, obviously, I'm not gonna name names or anything, but I wish there was consistency in how we help the families.

And in terms of special needs, I know there's a huge spectrum. Right? There could be from speech delay all the way to autism. So super huge. But what I can tell you and, what I've heard is that there is a limit per se or maybe each school may be limiting how many they take in, which they I heard was is not what they're supposed to do.

They should be able to service all children based on, you know, how many there are year to year. If you're okay. First of all, if you're autism, for those that don't know, there's different federal funding and needs for that. So if you're autistic, wonderful. They're getting the help.

But it's everyone below that, ADHD, speech delay, developmental delay. I feel we are getting no support because they are not how should I say They do not have enough qualifications to be accepted at the at the special education degree level, but yet they're not able to fully function in at a regular preschool setting. And back in the day, there was more state I I don't know the name of the early office that's gave that assistance, but basically, there's no free support anymore for the children.

There's early learning, I think, up until three. So sorry.

From three to five, there's zero support for the families. And most families, they're not gonna pay out of pocket. We they don't have the money for private therapy. And if they can't get into special ed, there's this huge number of children who are getting no support. So basically, they'll get, I guess, caught when they go to kindergarten, and maybe they'll get the support there if they don't fall through the cracks.

Sorry. Sorry. It's a difficult answer, but I feel they're not getting the support.

Thank you. And I do have a follow-up to that. Oh, sure. Thank you for answering. But in regards to the teacher shortage, right?

So the special needs teacher is just a little bit different. Yes. Are you finding that to be a hard find or a hard recruit, to recruit teachers?

So for our preschool, we do not take in special needs, specifically, and I do say that's because it is, you know, you need special degree and certification for that. I believe that is probably one of the reasons why the DOE, quote unquote, you know, bring, you know, I guess, accepts a certain number. Yeah. I mean, I hate to say yeah. So definitely staffing staffing.

Yeah.

Yeah. So the ones that are not being accepted because they have special needs, where would they go?

So honestly, I I still accept them, and we do our best. I actually hire more staff, you know, to support that. I can't say that all peace schools will will do that because it is more cost to us. We do our best to work with the families. That's all I can say, and we just yeah.

We just do our best.

Thank you. That's more than that's more than I can say for some, but I appreciate that. Thank you.

Thank you, Trevor.

Where is your preschool?

Oh, in Pearl City. In Pearl City. Yeah.

You guys hear that? Thank

Thank you.

you. Thank you.

Thanks for being here and for your willingness to serve. You know, I think I do want to bring up one thing. I know, you know, the staff at, you know, UEL knows that this is something that really bothers me.

And I want you to make sure that you have a role in this. So essentially, you know, we have preschool open doors, and then we have our DOE public pre k program, right? And I think what has really bothered me is the low enrollment in preschool open doors, right, in terms of taking advantage of all the funding that we have available. And there's a big balance left.

And so last year, we ended up, I think, or maybe two years ago, we ended up expanding who who qualifies for preschool up indoors.

So so there's broader eligibility. But I think there to me, EOEL has to be involved in the coordination of where are these people going, right? Because there's two distinct qualifications, right? I think preschool indoors, I think there's a broader application now we're targeting more middle class people. We have the qualifications of how much you can earn.

EOEL, I think, is or I think pre k, I think, is is a little bit lower in terms of what what for a qualification in terms of income.

So I think in terms of what your role is at the board, I would hope that you guys take a more, you know, hands on approach in trying to direct past, essentially, we've just left seats, unfilled because we, there is no coordinated effort on where these people should be going based on your income levels to ensure that all the seats are filled, right?

So I think the lower income folks are going to even though, really, what we should be directing higher income people to a certain program. And so I don't know what your thoughts are on this, but I think to me, like, if our goal really is to fill all the seats, I'm not sure we're there. And I think we need you know, to me, EOL should be, like, at the forefront of trying to lead to figure out, okay.

We need to all work together. We at least should coordinate to make sure that all the seats are filled where I think we were having a really hard time spending down some of the funds. So I don't know if you have any thoughts. I don't know. You know, you're on the ground, you know, you're you're seeing things firsthand.

But I but I think that's that's something that I hope that you will take a look at if you haven't already and maybe, you know, discuss that with the board.

Yeah. Yeah. If I may say, first of all, I really love the EOEO office and the board. I feel that we really work well together as a team, like, truly. And one thing that I actually, I mentioned this maybe, at the last meeting.

So I do have my MBA with emphasis in marketing, and I'm always trying to, like, kind of interject in discussions that we really need to have more PSAs or more, you know, just advertisement because you're correct. A lot of families, for some reason or another, do not know of this additional funding. I know when parents call our preschool, I I give them everything, you know, here, this is what's available. I'm not saying that you cannot afford it, but, you know, this is really for everyone.

If you can apply and you can get something out of it, you know, good for you.

I do love that that that EOEL created a website. So kind of like a one stop shop, so to speak, of all of the information. So that's, you know, kudos to them. So again, to get more, again, education for the families to know what, I guess, support services there are. And something that I remember I mentioned last time I was here, I really feel the best place that we can start is when the parents are, you know, pregnant, you know, in the offices.

Because, you know, maybe they hear it once, but maybe they have to hear it 10 times. Here, here's the pamphlets, you know, don't forget about, you know, childcare, tuition. So we just have to constantly maybe maybe we'll work, you know, together. I know we have a doctor on the board, a pediatrician. We just have to maybe work with the doctors and the hospital, just everywhere, just to get a simple brochure, honestly, to these mothers, to these parents, this is what's available.

You know, special services for developmental needs, for tuition assistance, for everything. For everything. So discussions

haven't been happening?

I brought it up. The discussions, yes, have been taking place. But for the actual, I guess, movement on it, I I'll definitely follow-up on it. Yeah. I know it's easier said than done.

Obviously. Right? Because you want freedom of choice, but I think we've got to be strategic in a certain point to make sure

the seats

are filled. Yeah.

Yeah. That's end, if the seats are unfilled, it's just the waste.

Yeah. Alright. But thank you. I'm happy to hear that.

Thank you, chair.

Thank you. Senator Kiodani? Thank you. I have several questions. Sure.

So do you have any numbers on how many, pre k or, children are not attending pre k of any kind?

Oh, I apologize. I know you guys are gonna scold me not knowing the exact numbers, but I know it's only about 50%, like, 54% that attend ish. But like I said, there could be other reasons why it's that low, you know, by choice, not only by financial, you know, reason and such.

Yeah. If you do come up with a number

Oh, 100%. I can definitely get back with you. Yeah.

Any stats on how prepared are those who do attend pre k than those who do not once they get to?

Any stats on how prepared are those who do attend pre k than those who do not once they get to?

At the Board Meetings I've attended, I've not heard of the stats, but that's a very good question. I'm actually curious about it myself. Yeah. So thank you. I can also get back with you on that.

Sorry.

Yeah. And you also discussed that the communication is inconsistent between the DOE and DHS. Do you know which office you're supposed to be currently with?

Specifically for which sub oh, for the special needs.

That you just made that comment.

Well, for the special education, that's really with the DOE more, but I'm talking more in terms of each school. I feel that each school, like, from the principal and the, I guess, the coordinators, I feel are inconsistent from school to school. So some could have wonderful, I would say, intake processes in in terms of evaluating children, and then another school completely different completely different.

Well, it'd be interesting to get more information from you as to what the inconsistencies are and how we can help them.

Oh, that would be great. Yes. Because it should be consistent. Right?

Yes. Yeah.

Thank you. Questions. Cheryl, thank you very much. Appreciate your Thank you. For your service.

I know you have your hands full. There's people like you that is there on the boots on the ground, and you you get to see and hear and understand. So thank you.

And as always, I'm sure I speak for everyone on the board. You can contact us anytime, not just every seven years. Okay.

But then when we do, I get criticized, like

I'm trying to fight them out.

No, no, not at all. Not at all.

Can't win. I'm not I just, can't win.

Thank you so much.

Thank you. Okay. We are moving on to, GM, 744, and this is for consideration and confirmation, for the national and community service community service gubernatorial nominee, Anne Marie Matsuzaki to, CHURO to expire 06/30/2027. And I was aware of this board in the past. I am now, and I know many people aren't.

So the Hawaii Commission for National and Community Service established within the University of Hawaii for administrative purposes is responsible for promoting volunteerism, community service, and civic engagement as tools for addressing statewide needs. Composed of at least nine members representing key sectors including education, business, labor, government, and youth, the commission develops a statewide service plan, administers grant programs, and service of Hawaii's liaison to the national service initiatives.

It plays a central role in coordinating public and private efforts expanding community based programs, supporting recruitment and training of volunteers, and insurance ensuring compliance with federal and state requirements to strengthen service opportunities and community impact across the state. And so, Cheryl, anyone here wishing to testify? I will submit it.

Okay. And with that, we I mean, for Anne Marie. Anne, if you would like to open, Aloha, welcome.

Chair, staff, thank you for this opportunity to be able to or application to serve again. I have been on the board for a few years now, and you it may sound very unfamiliar maybe under this name, but many know the under AmeriCorps. Some of you may also know some of the other organizations that support volunteerism and service in Hawaii, including Teach for America legal aid.

We partner with legal have partnered with legal aid, and some of you know the Youth Conservation Corps, including Kupu Hawaii, who has a national AmeriCorps program. So I'm I'm Pardon me?

I said thank you for enlightening us on all of that. It's helpful.

Yeah. You're very welcome. I mean, we all in Hawaii we all in Hawaii you know, we whoever we call auntie and uncle even, and we have no blood relations, these are usually with people that we have relationships. They're our neighbors, they're our friends. They're teachers who volunteer after school.

They're they're any community coach. So we all are, you know, impacted by people who volunteer, whether it's official or unofficial. And so that's a lot of what, AmeriCorps does in tries to do in very formal ways, community service and volunteer tourism because it really is a connective tissue of Hawaii, I in in my opinion. I think I I did share with you about some of the folks who were our who are we work with. And do you have any questions for me?

Because I was listening to the other, earlier ones, and I'm like, oh, I don't have that kind of detail. But I

think we're more like the preschools. I mean, a lot there's lots of need out there, and we we don't always spend all of our money. A lot of it is out there beating the bushes, and a lot of it is promoting. And we have a couple of members members on our commission that are specific around, you know, and and are experienced around marketing.

And we know that's, some of our, important things is to get, the news out because there's so many great people out there doing, service and volunteering, and they don't even know about the resources that are available to them.

So Kayala, our our executive with this group, we had a little bit of a a stabilizing over the last maybe four or five years. And we're in a position now where we're trying to grow and get out there, putting in putting procedures and processes so that we can have a lot of the same things you're talking about with earlier boards so that there is process, there's transparency, there's communication, and there's information. So that's a lot of the work that we have been doing.

Thank you very much, Anne Marie. I really appreciate your willing to volunteer, and I want you to know that all of the people that have come forward before us today and coming forward after you are all volunteers on these boards. They don't get paid for them. And so without all of the volunteers, I don't know that government could operate. So I don't really have any questions.

I have two points I just wanna state in your questionnaire. I loved it when we asked, please describe the work you've done during your current term and contributions you believe you've made to the commission. And you said, steadying the commission's work by doing the work. Amen. Just do the work.

Right? I know I hear that from my my legislator from Waianae. They say, just do your work. And then you go on to say, in my opinion, sometimes we get bogged down in process, and it's important that we still need to continue to uphold our accountability. So, you know, great words, appreciate that.

So with that, members, I'm open to any questions. Senator DeCorte.

I just wanted to say thank you so much for your willingness to serve. I think we all have the like minded approach to be boots on the ground, to be in the room, and to show leadership. Do as I do, not do as I say, and I think that's gonna reflect in the changes and the shifts that need to take place moving forward in that in that group. So thank you very much.

Members, any other questions? Hearing none, thank you again. Have a great day. We are moving on to GM 802, and this is submitting for consideration, the confirmation for the board of directors of the research corporation, the University of Hawaii known as RCUH, David Carl for a term to expire 06/30/2029. And just a little bit about RCUH if you're not familiar with them.

The research corporation of the University of Hawaii is a public instrumentality attached to the University of Hawaii that supports and advances research training knowledge disseminated in public in the public interest. Governed by an eight member board of directors, the corporation operates under the board's general management and control with members drawn from the UH Board of Regents, gubernatorial appointees representing research and business sectors, and legislative appointees along with a non voting ex official research official.

The board oversees RCUH broad and statutory authority to manage research activities, gifts, and coordinate research efforts that contribute to education, innovative, and economic development across the state. And one of the key areas or the key things that the board, enjoys is they are exempt from procurement, which often leads to some of the conflicts, will probably come out in questions. And so with that, we have Leonard Govell Junior in support, and Dylan Armstrong also in support GM 802.

Anybody else wishing to testify on this measure or on Zoom? Hearing none, we'll have, nominee, please. Aloha, mister Carl. Aloha.

Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Chair Kim, Vice Chair Kidani, members, Fukunaga, DeCorte, Hashimoto. Thank you very much for inviting me here today and spending time, with all of these nominees. I wanted to say that, the the board of RCOH, consists of eight members as Chair Kim just told us, and they represent different sectors.

And the seat that I've been nominated for is a seat that represents a university based, research scientist. And I would like to thank governor Green for nominating me for this for this prestigious Chair. And I wanted to just briefly review my experience and why I might be considered as a nominee for this position. I started at the University of Hawaii as a faculty member in 1978, so I'm in my forty ninth year of service. I'm still an active faculty member.

I've been conducting publicly funded and privately funded research all of my academic career. I've trained graduate students. I've taught formal classes. I've developed new curriculum. And RCUH, over the years, has helped me by, helping to procure, resources and, expend those resources for my research.

I'm an oceanographer, so I do complicated research. I've been to Antarctica 23 times. And oftentimes, when you do field research, as I do, you need an organization like RCUH that has these exemptions from procurement that the chair just mentioned. If you're stuck in Ushuaia, Argentina and you need to procure something that's vital for your research, it would be impractical to go through the current procurement procedures of the state of Hawaii. So RCUH has a important mission.

They have put research on the map in the state. They have helped with economic development, workforce training, and education research. So thank you once again for, for your efforts.

I wanna thank you also. And, certainly, you know, the whole intent when RCOH was imagined, and part of it was that we wanted to be able to allow research to go forward and not be bogged down by procurement. And so in that sense, it serves it's been serving us well. The issue that I will bring up is that from time to time, RCUH has been used as a conduit to get around procurement, by the university, which troubles troubles me, troubles many of us.

A good example is, RCUH was used to build West Oahu.

Did you know that?

Oh, I know that. Yes. I should have said I've I've been a board member since 2000 and, 2020, and I served as the Chair of the board for one one term one one year term. So, yes, I'm I'm fully aware of the controversy over construction, and that is in the past, I would hope.

The RCUH board, the current board, and the recently completed Board Members have been very cognizant of this issue with the construction, and and it's not I don't think you'll see a repeat of the West Oahu debacle.

Okay. But we've seen a repeat of something similar, but more recent is the early clinical trials that was run through RCUH. Are you familiar with that?

Yeah. From the medical school?

Yes. No. From the, cancer center. Cancer center. Cancer center.

Cancer center. And the concern there is that when I asked the question for to, the vice president, of Jango Via, and I said, oh, how come they didn't do it? And, because when I asked RCUH, I said, so you did the procurement, so do you have a staff? Do you have people on the construction? They said, no.

I said, where's the staff come from? So you use Jango Ville's staff, staff to to do all of this, but they're running it through RCUH. So you see the conflict there? And and the person that is the head of RCUH happens to be married to the vice president, that put the put the project at I mean, at RCUH.

Yeah. I don't know about that part. I should say that the the current, executive director, Lenny Gouveia, who just weighed in on my nomination, is, one of the most, productive and, person of of very high integrity. And I do know that they share a surname, but I didn't know any, you know, any kind of collusion between the two.

I'm not saying there is collusion, but I said appearance is there because why would you run a a procurement that you more more than capable of doing? Because, obviously, you're doing it, but you run it through RCUH to get the procurement exemption. And, you know, therein lies a concern. So I hope that doesn't I mean, like you said, that it wouldn't happen again, but it has happened again after our after West Oahu.

The other area that happened is, are you familiar with the ex MBA program, the executive MBA program that was run through RCUH?

Yeah. I'm very familiar with it.

Yeah. Well, again, that's an area of concern that RCOH is not an entity to give degrees, and it shouldn't be run through RCOH. Right?

Yeah. I agree with you on that one. Yeah. That should not have been run through.

Exactly. And, again, these things have come up. I've raised it, and then luckily, the some of the people there didn't nature didn't happen. The other one is all of the revolving accounts. You're familiar with that?

They're no longer at the RCOH as you know. Right. They've been returned to the university.

Right. But again, that that went on for years before it was fixed. So I'm just hoping that the board be more proactive in looking at those kinds of things Yeah. That, you know, it only gets fixed when we bring it up. And I only find out about it because somebody at the university calls me up and tells me these things.

Right? I mean, I have no other way of knowing it. So there's complaints that come to me. I raise it, and then sometimes it goes on deaf ears, and nothing happens. But luckily, there have been people there who recognizes this is a problem and they fixed it.

So I've just raised that because those are concerns that we have with RCUH. Members, any questions? Senator DeCorte.

Thank you. Thank you very much again for your willingness to serve. I had brought this up during the info briefing in the beginning of the year where your department had incurred some cyber attacks on very relevant information, Social Security numbers, those kinds of things.

I have been updated by your department that there have been serious measures that have been taken, but maybe you can share with us a little bit on the record on, how this happened, how we are gonna prevent it to happen, and, have have we concerns about HIPAA violations, Social Security in this modern day of everybody getting scammed and those kinds of things. I'll go ahead and let you respond.

This is a terrible situation. When just to clarify, when you say my department, are you talking about the or RCU?

The research, the cancer.

The cancer yes. That's not my department. Oh. I'm in the oceanography department.

At the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology. I happen to know about the cancer center only through my volunteer work on the RCUH board. But this is a terrible situation, and I so I don't know how it happened, and I don't know if there are, if there are, policies in place today that would keep it from happening again.

Okay.

But, you know, we live in a different world than when I started as a faculty member at and I think we we can't be vigilant enough on on, private information, like, medical records and social social security numbers.

Thank you.

RCOH is basically the entity that the grants and monies come and they get into RCOH, and then RCOH disperses it out to the researchers and stuff like that. So they did do the construction, which is the part that I was concerned about. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else wishing to ask a question, Senator?

Yes. Kidani. So in question nine of the questionnaire, you stated a greater emphasis may need to be placed on public private research partnerships, translational science engineering, and philanthropic.

How do you plan to address this, and what would be the role of the board?

Yeah. I think, you know, RCUH is not a a funding agency nor is it a a organization that proposes projects for funding, but they do execute research projects. And I think there could be a greater role played by the board for providing opportunities for faculty members to do these three things that I mentioned, increase funding for research through public private partnerships, increased funding through research through philanthropy, and increase, through translational research that could lead to things like patents or other intellectual property.

And, you know, the I see RCOH as the as the collection of, the research enterprise of the state. It's not just the University of Hawaii, even though that is in the title.

Other state agencies are eligible to use the services and expertise within the RCUH organization. So we're really trying to, you know, build a research enterprise where people work together and the sum is greater than the parts. And by doing these various kind of nontraditional fundraising exercises, maybe we can raise the research funding from the $700,000,000 a year that we have now, which is pretty phenomenal for a university the size of the University of Hawaii, to over $1,000,000,000. That's our mark. That's our target, per year.

That that is per annum.

Thank you. So that being said, then would you be willing to bring this up at the board to address this issue?

Yes. We, I think I mean, it's just my own personal view. We need to be more proactive in the community. Very few people in the community know, what RCUH is as an entity, what its role is. A lot of people maybe in the legislature don't even know that and certainly in the general public.

So, you know, I'm a a big advocate of public education and especially in the science area where taxpayers and voters have to go in and make decisions on issues of science and technology, and they really have very little training or experience. I think we could be a conduit for that kind of training.

Thank you. You have about 2,000, 2,500 employees right from RCEH.

So it's a big entity.

It's a big organization.

And two of their members on the board is from the Board of Regents. And I say that because we have two new regents here which may not realize that two of them did serve on the ICUH board.

Actually, we're honored to have the Chair of the Board of Regents serving as the board representative on the board.

We did revamp this board in past years. You had the president of the university sitting on the board, and there was a huge conflict there on some of the decisions. Yeah. So that was changed. And we had more Board of Regents on the board, and we just cut that down to two because the influence shouldn't necessarily be them driving it and shouldn't be

others driving it as well. But thank you for serving and your willingness to continue to serve.

Thank you so much for your for your service.

Yeah. Thank you. Okay. We are now going on to our next GM, which is still with the RCUH is, consideration and confirmation to, RCUH, University of Hawaii, gubernatorial nominee, Michael Nedbong, for a term to expire 06/30/2030, and, he is on Zoom. Welcome.

I will ask first for, testimony. We have Leonard Govea speaking of Leonard Govea, in support, not here. And, anyone else wishing to testify for this nominee? Hearing none, mister Nipol, welcome.

Thank you. Thank you, senators, for the opportunity to apply for the Non Research Board Position. And thank you for allowing me to testify over Zoom in consideration of my wife's medical issues today. So thank you. I appreciate that.

My current position is with the Macay ocean engineering. I'm the VP of operations there. I've been involved with the contracts administration, risk management, business standards like ISO 9,001, cybersecurity, cybersecurity audits, industrial security, working with Department of Defense. So all this experience, I think, could be beneficial to the board. I'm kind of an outsider coming to I've been working in the private sector for the past twenty five years.

So there's I have a strong desire to learn more about the relationship with and

RCUH. I've been told it's a very complex relationship, so I'm more than willing to learn more about that. Personally, I feel research is very important to and the state. I've been involved in research practically my whole life ever since I graduated, a BS in in University of Illinois, then PhD with Texas A and M, and now in the private sector. So I I'm really dedicated to research.

And, yeah, I I'm I'm happy to be here, and I hope I can contribute if I am elected. So thank you.

K. Thank you very much for willingness to serve. As, brought up earlier that, you know, this is an important board. You do enjoy procurement exemption, which no one else does in the state. And so there's a sometimes, people look at you as a way of being a conduit to get around certain certain things like procurement, which can be cumbersome for everybody else.

And so you heard the concerns that I raised, with the previous nominee. And so as a newcomer, you know, how do you see this preventing from happening again as a board member? These kinds of encroachments on, your your procurement exemption, other other types of benefits that RCUH enjoys?

Well, I certainly feel that, RCUH and the executive director needs to be held accountable for, his actions, as well as the board. There needs to be clear communication with the senators and the and the board. I don't currently understand how that communication works and how they if if you appear something that is maybe noncompliant or of concern, how is that communication made to the board? So I think maybe that communication needs to be solidified, because that's really critical that the board understands, your concerns.

And, of course, clarity is the other issue.

There needs to be clear communication between the Board Members, board decisions, executive executive director decisions, and you all.

Lots of times, the communication is done to the legislature, to the executive director, but I can see where many times it doesn't get down to the board. These things do come up in hearings because we try to be transparent, and sometimes it'll come through a resolution or a bill trying to make changes. For example, we had a, bill that, looked at the actual, statue that governs RCUH.

And over the years, it's grown to include such things as construction, which not intended to be construction construction, but construction of research type things and not actually do the construction. It's hard to explain.

But we tried to narrow it, and we had a lot of pushback. Pushback from the university, pushback from the executive director. I'm not sure if we had pushback from some of the Board Members, but again, you know, I'm hoping that you as a board will look at the the statue because you don't wanna lose this exemption.

You don't want, because the other alternative is that, well, maybe we should do away with RCUH and just give the exemption to and have them do all the research, and do and do the do the funding, and and give out the give out the grants and so forth. So if you don't want that hap to happen, then I think that the board has to police itself, police its executive director, and maybe look at the statue and say, how can we, you know, clean it up?

And how can we make it so that, you know, it is focused on research and training, which is the intent, and not all of this other stuff that is thrown in to your statue over the years because certain legislators felt that, you know, RCUH should take care of it. So, yeah, that's that's the kind of leadership I hope that we'll get, and you being a non representative on the board that, you know, you'll be vocal about that. So look forward to having you on the board.

Members, any questions? Senator Kidani.

I I guess and, going further, you stated that an important priority would be for RCUH to plan for growth in research activities. How can you help the board accomplish this in the financing and workforce capacity?

So the the the board and executive director is currently gonna be creating new goals for the next four years, and those goals should align with the research growth or lack thereof. They should be flexible in terms of how to manage the research coming in from extramural activities and and organizations.

So I think working for, the company that I'm working for, MacKay, we're constantly shifting goals and and moving with the, the current industry standards and the flow of of in flow of money coming out of the government, out of Department of Defense, for example. And so it's important to align your goals, but not be so fixed on those goals that you can't move them as you see the funding change.

So I think I can bring some expertise from the the sector I'm in to help align the goals that the executive director proposes and make suggestions thereof.

Thank you. Finally, just based on your statements in your questionnaire, I believe that you'll make a good board member. First thing you said in this is, first, I would focus on mission alignment. RCUH authority should be exercised in ways that support its statutory purpose and public interest. So I think that's important, the public interest and the statutory purpose.

Then you also say I would consider legal and ethical compliance essential. The board should ensure that RCUH maintains strong policies and practices relating to procurement, contracts, property, personnel, and financial management. So kudos to you for that, and, you know, we we look forward for for you being on the board. There are any other questions, members? Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We are then moving on to GM five zero seven. And this is for consideration and confirmation to the Hawaii Medical Education Council, gubernatorial, Christopher Yuan, for a term to expire 06/30/2029. Let me just give you a background about a Hawaii Medical Education Council, often called HMEC, established within the University of Hawaii, is responsible for assessing and strengthening the state's healthcare workforce and training systems with a particular focus on graduate medical education.

They're composed of 13 members, including university leadership, state health officials, gubernatorial appointees, representing hospitals and health professions and federal sector and the public. The council conducts workforce and program analysis, develop and implements funding strategies for health care training programs, and provides recommendations to the legislature and the board of regents.

And through its oversight role, HMBC works to ensure Hawaii has a well trained, adequately funded health care work aligned with current and future statewide needs. Very important on board. And so, I'm going to start off with testimony for Christopher, doctor Buenconsejo-Lum. Welcome. Doctor.

Aloha, senators. Thank you. I am on Zoom, and, stands on his testimony for all of the nominees. Thank you so much.

Okay. So you're gonna you're testifying in all of the nominees today. Right? Yes.

Need to necessarily call you back on each one. Okay. Very good. Thank you. Anyone else wishing to testify on this measure?

We have a let's see. Yeah. No one else signed up? None? Okay.

We will welcome Christopher. Hello, Christopher.

Senators, thank you for having me, here today. I do have to preface that, anything I say today is are of the views of my my own, not of the army, the Department of War, triple army medical center, the defense health agency. For the last year, I've been the director of medical education and designated institutional official for Tripler Army Medical Center where we have 12 ACGME accredited programs and a complement of two fifty trainees, which represents nearly half of the graduate medical trainees in the state.

We work integrally with the health system within the state.

Our residents at TripleR rotate across the vast majority of the hospitals within the state to include in the other islands. And we work we work together our problems that we face in this state are quite different than what my army colleagues face on the Mainland, and it is difficult to ascertain the difficulties of living in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. And the challenges that we have are much more similar to our state, colleagues than my army colleagues on the Mainland.

So, thank you, for having me here today.

I'm happy to answer any questions.

I'm just curious. So on this board, how is your business, that relates to military military medical? I mean, is that a a big a big part of the conversation, or is it tend to be more sidelined?

That's sidelined. The military component has not come up. It's more of our shared opportunities through medical education.

Okay.

As in we work together collaborating with our problems and often our solutions. So it is very wonderful to be able to collaborate with our other members of the committee.

That's so good to know. You know, I live in Moana Lora Gardens.

I have a lot of questions about the traffic from Tripler, but I know that's not your area. So I have a couple questions for you.

I'm done with questions. Anybody has questions? No. You did a good job with your questionnaire and your answers, so thank you very much. We appreciate your willingness to serve, and we know you guys are busy.

So thank you.

Thank you very much.

Okay. We're gonna move on

on GM659 on Zoom relating, consideration and confirmation for the medical education council for nominee Jude, Domizio, Domizio, for a term to expire sixthirtytwenty twenty nine. Let's see. Any testifiers other than Doctor. Buencon Sejo? No.

So, with that, we're going to welcome Jude on Zoom.

Aloha.

Aloha, committee. Thank you very much for, having me and, very, very appreciative of both my first chance to serve over this past year. Kind of observing, I've been under the mentorship of Lisa Rance, who previously served as the executive director of the Hilo Berry Health Medical Center Foundation. We serve as the AHEC of Area Health Education Center here

Due to you, speak up just a little bit. There seems to be some roping noise in our ceiling here.

My apologies. Yeah. So we we serve as the area health education center here for Hawaii Island, working island wide to really grow our own and and really help, but also our workforce pipeline. I clearly have been able to witness and and kinda update it on some of the things going on around the state and really trying to contribute going forward, especially when it comes to best practices on our on our outer islands here on Hawaii Island. Everything is very spread out.

There's a lot of rural communities that need additional support and resources. So we try to leverage our our connections with other nonprofits, the DOE here here on Hawaii Island, then work closely with, all of the educational institutions, from a nursing and pharmacy, UW medics, and, all

of the health pathways and health academy programs, within the high schools, as well as their connections with Japsum, tripware, for that's sent over, med students and university Japs, some over here for their rural rotations to try to really show them how rural medicine is and connect them with shadowing opportunities. But I'm happy to answer any questions. And, again, it's an honor to, have the opportunity.

Okay. June, we never got your questionnaire, response. So, yeah, we would we would request if you could send that in. And so, I think we know that that you're, you're you know, you folks have a busy time. How does you folks meet quarterly.

Is that correct? The board meets quarterly?

Yes. Yes. And I'm so sorry. I just wanna make sure who I I sent it in. I would my apologies.

I was just traveling. I sent it in before I left and and was contacted that I need to send it in again. So today, two days ago. So I can just make sure.

Okay. Yeah. We can

needs to receive it. Yeah. Since that's

Staff says they they never got it. So hopefully, you can send that in. So when you folks meet, do you meet on on Zoom or do you meet in person, and where do you meet at?

The meeting's on Zoom. There are there are sort of members there who meet in person. We were planning last year, but due to scheduling, we weren't able to have our representatives here from Big Island come up, to join in person. But the the meetings that I've attended from this previous year were were on Zoom.

Okay. Thank you. Members, any questions? Any questions? No questions?

Okay. Well, thank you very much. Next, GM665, and this is for confirmation, to the Hawaii Medical Education Council gubernatorial nominee, Lance Segawa Segawa for a term to expire 06/30/2029. And we really appreciate your patience. I know it's been a long day.

Let's see. Other than reconsider, we have Edward Chiu sending in support. Not here. Anyone else wishing to testify on GM six six five? Hearing none, Ed Lance, please.