Board of Regents approves Reed Dasenbrock as UH Manoa vice chancellor for academic affairs

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Carolyn Tanaka, (808) 956-8109
External Affairs & University Relations
Diane Chang, (808) 956-0391
UH Manoa Chancellorʻs Office
Posted: Mar 23, 2009


At its monthly meeting held at Honolulu Community College, the University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents (BOR) approved Reed Dasenbrock as the new vice chancellor for academic affairs at UH Mānoa, where he will serve as the top academic officer.

"We're delighted that UH Mānoa will benefit from Dr. Dasenbrock's many years of impressive accomplishments and experience in higher education planning, administration and teaching. He will play a critical role in charting a future for our Mānoa campus that builds on our tradition of academic excellence during a challenging period of budget constraints," said Mānoa Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw. "We are also very grateful to Peter Quigley for his leadership as interim vice chancellor; he has moved many important initiatives forward and will continue to contribute substantially to Mānoa‘s academic affairs office."

Since 2007, Dasenbrock has served as the cabinet secretary in charge of New Mexico‘s Higher Education Department, the only such position in any state. As secretary, he exercised oversight over all state monies flowing to the 25 different institutions in the state and has worked closely with the institutions to develop statewide policies on higher education. He formerly served as provost, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and professor of English at the University of New Mexico.

Also at last Friday's meeting, the BOR approved a proposal to establish a mandatory U-PASS fee to create a low-cost transportation option for students attending classes at the UH Mānoa campus. The request to establish the new fee was at the request of the Associated Students of the University of Hawaii (ASUH) and is supported by the vice chancellor for students. The fee would expand the existing optional U-PASS program to allow all Mānoa students to have unlimited student ridership on all routes of TheBus and improved inter-campus transportation services.

The proposed fee would be $20 per fall and spring semester, and assessed to undergraduate and graduate students regardless of credit load beginning as early as spring 2010 pending the completion of a Memorandum of Understanding between campus administrators and representatives of City and County of Honolulu's Oʻahu Transportation Services. It will be implemented for a two-year schedule and evaluated for continuation based upon increased ridership, improved intercampus transportation and student demand.

Campus-wide mandatory U-PASS transportation programs at peer and benchmark institutions demonstrated an average seven percent increase in public transportation ridership each year over a 10-year span. In addition, the proposed $20 amount per semester is significantly less than similar fees at 23 universities.

The BOR also authorized the establishment of a Bachelor of Business Administration in Entrepreneurship to be administered by the Shidler College of Business at UH Mānoa. The purpose of the program is to develop entrepreneurs in the state who are capable of identifying business opportunities, using cutting-edge analytical tools and problem-solving skills to both start new businesses and to implement processes for successfully operating these businesses.