The University of Hawaii at Hilo’s long-standing jazz orchestra course will continue in the spring, campus administration told students in an internal email Thursday.
The University of Hawaii at Hilo’s long-standing jazz orchestra course will continue in the spring, campus administration told students in an internal email Thursday.
Many faculty and students last week feared the orchestra could be cut after receiving what they said was an emailed list of at least 10 arts and humanities courses reportedly on the chopping block for spring semester in the wake of the campus’ tuition revenue deficit.
The jazz orchestra was among those courses.
The idea spurred students and faculty to wave signs, start a petition and write letters to lawmakers and administrators opposing the idea. The jazz orchestra produces a popular Frank Zappa tribute show that sells out each year.
At the time, administrators didn’t confirm or deny the proposal. This week, however, officials said that initial list of courses was misinterpreted.
Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Ken Hon said the list contained courses not to be cut, but rather courses currently taught by temporary lecturers and could potentially be replaced by permanent faculty. He told the Tribune-Herald the list was meant to be a private communication between administration and department chairs.
“(The list) was private for exactly this reason, releasing lists without explanation during an ongoing process will inevitably result in a lot of confusion and misinformation being spread,” he wrote in an email to the Tribune-Herald, adding the process involves “determining which classes to offer, not cutting classes.”
“Jazz Orchestra is not being cut,” he wrote. “We had only suggested that the permanent faculty member that teaches music might be considered to teach this course. This turned out not to be a viable course of action. I learned most of what I needed to know about the importance of this class from the articulate and passionate letters I received from students in support of this course.”
By Friday, it was still unknown which other courses are being offered — or cut — for spring: the 2018 spring semester schedule is expected to be finalized today.
UH-Hilo enrollment dropped this fall for the sixth consecutive year. As a result, the campus is facing about a $1.2 million decrease in tuition revenue to Academic Affairs — the unit that administers the budget for instructional departments — and a $350,000 decrease to Academic Affairs as a result of state restrictions on general fund appropriations.
Hon said the campus also had a deficit of “over a million dollars from last year” and said “this has been a very challenging year.”
Hon said each college or division was given a target budget that was 8 percent less than last year’s spending plan, applied evenly throughout the entire university, excluding the pharmacy college, which is self-funded. He said there was no set amount of budget reduction for each department.
Some colleges had senior faculty retire and were able to save more by hiring lower-cost replacements, he added, and those savings were offered to help other departments.
Thursday’s announcement was welcomed by members of the Performing Arts Department. They said the lecturer — longtime musical director and UH-Hilo alum Trever Veilleux — is not easily replaced by a faculty member.
Department chairman Michael Marshall told the Tribune-Herald on Friday he applauds students who “made their voices known.”
“Because they’re the ones who are really going to suffer,” Marshall said. “Part of what makes the university what it is, is life outside the classroom — students being integrated and engaged and I think the Performing Arts Department really provides a lot of that.”
Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.