Ming-Tung “Mike” Lee, the fourth and final candidate for the chancellor’s post at University of Hawaii at Hilo, visited the school’s campus Friday, where he met with community members and university employees during a public forum.
Lee is a professor of business emeritus at California State University, Sacramento and earlier this year retired as vice president for administration and business affairs and chief financial officer after eight years in that role.
Like the previous three candidates who had similar forums during the past two weeks, Lee discussed with audience members the challenges and opportunities facing regional universities.
Among the challenges, Lee spoke about the competition such universities face.
There are almost 1,000 regional universities in the United States competing for students, funding and more, he said.
“We see particularly, (over) the last decade, very, very strong competition from the for-profit sector,” Lee said. “They’re very, very aggressive. They’re very, very good at putting the program together, knowing what (the) student demands are, how to reach them and actually send their program all over the world. You have nowhere to hide. You’re not going to take comfort because we’re in Hilo, so far away nobody (can) come here and take our students away. No, no, no.”
As long as there’s connection and a cellphone in hand “they can reach them and they can grab them,” he said.
Lee said universities are competing in many ways via technology, price and amenities.
“Do you have a beautiful campus? Are there sports facilities? Can I work out … when I’m not in class? And do you have a nice swimming pool? Do we have a movie theater?” he said.
These are things Lee said his generation would consider having nothing to do with education, but in “survey after survey, you ask why students choose a particular university to attend, oftentimes, the facility, the beauty, all the things come up on top.”
When speaking about opportunities, Lee talked about funding.
“In the past five years, we have seen state after state cutting the support funding for education, but we do see the tides starting to turn a little bit,” he said.
When the economy improves and state revenues are stronger, Lee said there is more willingness to invest in higher education.
“But they’re not investing unconditionally,” he said. “They’re putting money in, making it very clear ‘we want to see outcome.’”
For Lee this is good news because officials are willing to invest and the university will have a chance to “prove what we can do with the resources. If they’re not even going there, then we are doomed.”
“So I do see in terms of opportunity, we see more and more and stronger support for higher education, but we have to make the case,” he said. “We have to prove that it’s worthwhile.”
Lee also sees opportunity in stronger philanthropic support for universities.
“You’ve got a whole generation of Baby Boomers (who) are at the stage of their life that they can plan for what’s coming next,” he told the crowd. “What can I do with all of this wealth I have accumulated, so I can make a difference in the next generation?”
During the past several years, Lee said there has been tremendous growth in estate planning and bequests given to universities.
“That is a huge, huge area that every university, particularly a regional university, needs to explore,” he said.
After discussing steps to move the university forward, Lee said his first 100 days will be about listening.
“I do not come in here with a specific plan because it’s really too arrogant in my view to come here and say I already know everything about this university,” he said. “Here’s a plan, let’s do it. That’s No. 1, arrogant, No. 2, stupid. … I’d like to spend the first 100 days really getting to know you. Every one of you. Get to know the community.”
Questions from the audience covered a variety of topics, from research to “reputation management.”
When asked by the Tribune-Herald how he would address UH-Hilo’s enrollment, which has declined every year since 2012, and student retention, Lee said no university can address enrollment questions just by addressing enrollment.
“There’s a lot of things that need to happen and, by the way, there’s also things you cannot control,” he said.
However, Lee said the university can make sure students who go through the application process are treated in a welcoming manner, getting correct information in a timely manner, and that outreach could also be broader.
While Lee said it’s “unfair for me to make a quick judgment without actually knowing what has been done,” he added that another key is working closely with community colleges.
Despite his retirement Aug. 1 after 28 years at CSU-Sacramento, Lee said after the forum he could see a long-term commitment in Hilo.
Lee said he retired because eight years “is a long time” in his previous role, and Lee said he was developing staff capable of moving on to the next step.
“I want to be a president,” he said, and he is waiting for the right opportunity, but as someone who has put “so much energy and time to develop the next generation of leaders, you don’t want to be the one to block their movement.”
When asked whether he could see himself at UH-Hilo in the long-term, Lee said “oh, absolutely. … If we want to accomplish what I just talked about, it has to be long-term.”
Now that the campus visits are finished, Farrah-Marie Gomes, vice chancellor for student affairs and the chancellor search committee co-chair, said the committee expects to make a recommendation to UH President David Lassner by the first week of December and that an announcement is anticipated in early spring 2019.
“It’s been intense — four visits over a two-and-a-half-week period with each visit lasting a day and a half on this island,” Gomes said. “… We’re excited about where we are and being able to make a recommendation very shortly.”
Candidate feedback closes Nov. 23 and can be made online at hawaii.edu/executivesearch/uhh-chancellor/feedback.php.
Email Stephanie Salmons at ssalmons@hawaiitribune-herald.com.