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Just a couple of items from the University of Hawaii’s flagship Manoa campus.

A six-year old recycling program in a major classroom building on the Manoa Campus has apparently collapsed under its own weight, according to a story in Ka Leo, the campus newspaper.

The recycling program was part of the “Sustainable Saunders Initiative—a collaborative effort among faculty and students to pursue workplace sustainability,” and involved students and faculty in Saunders Hall. Bins to collect cans and bottles were installed on each floor of the seven story building, which houses several departments in the College of Social Sciences. In addition, white paper, colored paper, and cardboard were collected in department offices and placed in larger bins on the ground floor for recycling.

The recycling bins have now been removed from Saunders, and any recycled materials will have to be taken to bins located at the nearby student services center.

Apparently there was no move to institutionalize the project back several years ago when interest, participation, and visibility were high, so Sustainable Saunders wasn’t prepared for the turnover as students graduated or moved on.

Ka Leo reported:

According to Shanah Trevenna, a board member of Sustainable UH, who was heavily involved with Sustainable Saunders when it first started, the recycling bins were put in place six years ago and were managed by student interns for the Sustainable Saunders group. She said she is not sure who has been managing the bins since she moved to Sustainable UH in 2008 and the Saunders program came under the direction of David Nixon, an associate professor of public policy and administration, who could not be reached for comment.

Director of Buildings and Grounds Management Roxanne Adams said that the custodial staff has been taking care of the recycling bins since around 2008. “It was a student group that adopted that area … they just abandoned it … and that was Sustainable Saunders,” she said in a phone interview.

There are obviously lots of reasons for the project’s demise, but the bottom line is that it’s an unfortunate step back both for recycling and the university.

I also imagine that there’s a bit of unhappiness over the news that outgoing Manoa Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw will take a leave for most of the next year at full pay, as reported by Hawaii News Now. It’s officially called a “professional improvement leave,” according to the request submitted to the Board of Regents. Over the 10 months that she is on leave, Hinshaw will be paid $287,400, or $28,740 per month.

Hawaii News Now also reported:

Sources told Hawaii News Now Hinshaw’s sabbatical proposal generated a lot of debate behind closed doors during the executive session of a UH Board of Regents meeting Jan. 19.

The Regents who opposed the move either left the meeting before the vote or voted “yes” so they would not embarrass Hinshaw, sources said.

According to the minutes of the January 19, 2012 meeting, BOR members Dennis Hirota and Coralie Matayoshi “were absent for the vote.”

Faculty can also apply for professional improvement leaves. But, in the case of faculty, these fall in the category of “leave without pay.”

According to the current faculty contract:

Leaves of absence without pay for professional improvement may be granted where such leave is determined to be to the advantage of the University, provided a satisfactory temporary replacement can be secured.

Faculty also qualify for sabbatical leave after six years of full time work at the university. But sabbatical leaves are limited to six-months (one semester) at full pay, or 12-months at half pay, according to the contract.

Watching top university executives playing by a different rulebook is bound to be an irritant.

A reader emailed me to vent:

The campus is physically a disgrace, students can’t get the classes that they need to graduate but Bachman and Hawaii Hall (both housing administrative offices) seem to be doing fine. If my memory serves me in 2001 the addition of the chancellor’s office was not suppose to cost any thing additional to the system. What did the legislature say, $14 million plus now?

There was also some creative math used in justifying the cost of Hinshaw’s leave to the BOR. The confidential memo submitted to the Regents asserted that there would be no additional cost for the 10-month leave.

No additional cost, as salary is covered by current budgeted funds. Additional cost will be incurred for the new Chancellor.

Creative bookkeeping, indeed, since the “new chancellor” will be paid $100,000 more per year, and the during the period of overlap with Hinshaw’s leave those costs will be “additional.”