You can throw the form chart out the window at the University of Hawaii at Hilo athletics department.
You can throw the form chart out the window at the University of Hawaii at Hilo athletics department.
Like everything else following the announcement that Chancellor Donald Straney is leaving the school to become vice president of academic planning and policy for the UH system, the road ahead for Vulcans athletics is, to be gracious, unsettled.
After 23 months in his job as athletics director, you would understand if Pat Guillen expected the turbulent waters at UHH to be calmed somewhat going into his third year, but tranquility is nowhere to be found as a result of Straney’s impending Aug. 1 departure.
UH president David Lassner wanted this move to happen right away. He gave Straney barely two weeks before Marcia Sakai, UHH’s vice chancellor for administration, takes over on an interim basis until a permanent replacement can be found.
It comes at something less than an opportune moment for Guillen, who recently returned from a vacation at an “undisclosed location,” according to Russ Blunck, the school’s sports information director.
Imagine the surprise when Guillen returned from his veiled hideaway and asks, “Did I miss anything?”
Somebody says, “Funny you should mention that. Actually, yes, it’s a little different now.”
Without Straney, who hired him in August of 2015, Guillen will lose his biggest supporter at the school. Guillen’s micromanagement style has not been well-received in the department, his firing of popular local volleyball coach Tino Reyes last year was not well received, and the unbalanced nature of gender equity among coaches — UHH has one woman coach in 12 sports, by far the lowest number in the PacWest — is discomforting for a university system that prides itself on diversity, and not just in the student body.
But Guillen has accomplished some things the university system appreciates, starting with the finances that show UHH ended the fiscal year in June with a small profit on the ledgers, a rarity at many Division II schools.
Guillen was part of a larger group last year that gave testimony to the state legislature on the need for an appropriation of funds for athletics at UH-Manoa and UH-Hilo. Those efforts resulted in an annual appropriation of $300,000 to Vulcans athletics. Along with money freed up by Straney, Guillen announced the department had added over $700,000 to the department.
At UHH, that Legislature money came in handy in balancing out the books, and Guillen is worthy of credit for handling those funds in a responsible manner.
But it’s all in the timing, isn’t it?
Just now, the timing isn’t playing in Guillen’s favor.
Allegations of ethics violations filed with the Hawaii State Ethics Commission against Guillen were recently heard, according to UHH Chancellor Donald Straney.
“I was called about the complaint by the Ethics Commission but I am unaware of where their process stands,” Straney wrote in an email recently. “Otherwise, any concerns I have heard about Pat have been looked into and resolved.”
UHH sports information director Russ Blunck offered that there wasn’t just an allegation, but a total four allegations were sent to the commission contending improprieties by Guillen.
“He was cleared on all four,” Blunck said. When asked for a comment from Guillen, Blunck replied, “His response would be ‘no comment.’”
In his email, Straney had a different estimation of how the allegations stand, after saying he discussed the matter with Guillen, who was hired after a complicated departure from Cal-State Dominguez Hills.
“I say they have been resolved,” Straney wrote in the email of his impression of the allegations that were filed. “But I do not know the outcome of the Ethics Commission complaint.”
Daniel Gluck, executive director of the HSEC, told the Tribune-Herald this week that “I cannot make any public comments on the results of any investigations we have conducted or the names of the people we may have investigated.”
Gluck would not confirm the specific nature of the four allegations that the UHH sports information department said had been filed, but he described the general nature of investigations conducted by the HSEC.
“Generally, these are resolved in one of two ways, either a public disclosure or a private resolution,” Gluck said. “In some situations, the public disclosure amounts to part of the punishment, in other situations a fine may be paid and the investigations are kept secret.
“Those aren’t the only way these are resolved,” Gluck said. “Sometimes we don’t have jurisdiction, other times there is insufficient evidence to conduct an investigation, and sometimes there are settlements that resolve it. I am not allowed to comment on any of it.”
Gluck said in 2016, there were 96 separate investigations that resulted in $47,424 in fines.
The allegations were heard last month by the HSEC, and while nothing has been publicly announced, it appears from Straney’s conversation with the HSEC that no actions were taken against Guillen and no confirmation or denial of fines.
That’s good news for Guillen, obviously. Given the timing, even better news would be that no allegations of ethics violations were heard by the HSEC. Allegations of ethics abuse are never a good thing, and when your biggest supporter at the school is leaving, when your superior is now an interim appointment, it is as though the boat has suddenly been cast adrift.
Uncertainty complicates things. Guillen was recently praised by Jeff Portnoy, UH chair of the Board of Regents.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported that Portnoy told Hilo officials that the $37,267 profit for the fiscal year ending June 30, “was remarkable. Well done.”
The task ahead makes profitability more challenging. For instance, if more money is put into, say, men’s basketball, it will help the 5.5 scholarships the team has in a conference in which the competition plays with 10 scholarships.
More money in any sport will help that sport become more competitive, but it will detract from the capacity to turn a profit.
Apart from finances, Guillen’s efforts resulted in the school being selected for the 2015-16 Pacific West Conference’s Diversity Award.
High fives all around are appropriate for being a community support group.
Competitively, the Vulcans have been in a two-year swoon, falling to 11th a year ago and 12th this past scholastic year — the lowest point in school history — in the Commissioner’s Cup standings that reflects results from all sports.
What’s the proper balance between finances and competition? Is it worth running a deficit to win more often and use athletic success as a way to increase interest in the school?
These are questions for a chancellor with a view toward the future and a realization of financial realities.
Important questions, but at the moment, there’s no one in place who can answer them.
Stay tuned.