University of Hawaii at Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple says he was forced out as head of the UH system's flagship campus Wednesday, two years into his five-year appointment.
Apple said he was removed "for alleged unsatisfactory performance" in his job.
"The community has a right to know from the horse's mouth, rather than wondering what happened," Apple said in an email to reporters late Wednesday. "I was handed a termination letter late this afternoon by President Lassner. … I asked one more time if there was any chance that he might reverse his intention to release me from the post, and was told ‘no.'"
Apple said he had provided David Lassner with a rebuttal of the allegations.
"I believe I have done my job to the best of my ability and in service to the true needs of this institution," he said in a statement released by his lawyer, Hawaii island attorney Jerry Hiatt.
Apple was hired in May 2012 at a $439,008 annual salary under former UH President M.R.C. Greenwood, who recommended he be appointed to a five-year term through June 30, 2017, "subject each year to successful annual performance evaluations at the level of satisfactory or above."
Hiatt had previously said the chancellor had three years remaining on a five-year contract that included rights to a tenured faculty position.
Under the terms of a settlement agreement released to the media by Hiatt, Apple will be reassigned as a tenured chemistry professor at an annual salary of $299,000, effective Sept. 1. The settlement also includes a $100,000 lump-sum payout as compensation and for attorneys' fees.
Apple said he rejected a previous offer for a position at Manoa's medical school because he would have had to report to John A. Burns School of Medicine Dean Jerris Hedges.
"That would have created untenable conditions, under which I would have had to leave the university entirely," he said. (Apple reportedly tried to terminate Hedges.)
The move comes one day after UH President David Lassner alluded to an impending firing in a statement that said he had tried to maintain confidentiality about the situation "to provide the chancellor the privacy and dignity that any of us would want for ourselves in a difficult personnel situation."
Hiatt has said that Apple's efforts to curb expenses at Manoa have riled some deans and directors, who have lobbied for his removal.
Earlier this month, Apple announced a plan to save $10 million in each of the next two years by imposing a hiring freeze and suspending salary increases for nonunion employees until further notice. The plan also stipulates that programs that ended the fiscal year in the red will have their negative balances applied against their 2014-15 budgets.
He's also been criticized for allegedly favoring the athletic department, last year "forgiving" a $14.7 million accumulated net deficit the department built up over the previous decade.
"Though I have been forced out of my post as chancellor, I remain willing to serve the university," Apple said.
He expressed gratitude and aloha "to the students, staff, faculty and administrators here on campus, and to the members of the larger community throughout the state, who have worked so tirelessly with me."
*** [8/1/14]
University of Hawaii President David Lassner said former Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple's performance over the past two years raised serious red flags about his abilities to turn around a fiscal crisis, inspire his leadership team to carry out strategic goals, and champion the university's flagship campus.
For those and other reasons, Lassner said, he initiated discussions with Apple a couple weeks ago to remove him as chancellor.
"I have had concerns about his performance. I have tried to discuss them with him over this past year, and I have been unsuccessful in improving his performance," Lassner told a crowd of about 100 students and faculty who marched to his offices Thursday to protest his decision to fire Apple the night before.
He mostly read from talking points, and was clearly flustered at times as students and faculty peppered him with questions and at times booed him.
"I had several concerns. One was the financial condition of the campus," Lassner said. "I had concerns about (his) ability to lead a cohesive leadership team. I had concerns about divisiveness on the campus, and increasing zero-sum-game attitudes about who's getting whose money."
Apple announced Wednesday night he was forced out by Lassner, following an unsatisfactory job rating. Apple, who was hired in May 2012 at a $439,008 annual salary, had three years remaining on a five-year appointment.
The school's Graduate Student Organization and the Association Students of the University of Hawaii organized Thursday's rally, which turned into a sit-in at Bachman Hall, where Lassner's offices are located.
Students blasted Lassner, wanting to know why the evaluation process didn't involve students and faculty.
"We had no opportunity, as the key stakeholders of our campus, to give you input before you made your decision," said Bonniejean Manini, a former chairwoman of the Manoa Faculty Senate.
Lassner said the evaluation process traditionally has not involved outside input, but added that he would revisit the policy.
He defended his decision to keep his discussions with Apple private.
"We went into a negotiation period, and his attorney advised us that Chancellor Apple had committed to him not to talk with the press," Lassner said. "It was during this period that Chancellor Apple began, clearly, to talk with people inside and outside the university, and this became news."
Manoa physics and astronomy professor John Learned said, "You had to have known this was going to cause an uproar."
"That was Chancellor Apple's choice," Lassner said, triggering boos from the crowd. "I haven't enjoyed this any more than you have or Chancellor Apple, quite frankly."
Lassner said the financial crisis at Manoa troubled him most.
He said he became aware of what Apple has characterized as a $20 million annual shortfall in operating funds soon after Lassner became interim president last fall.
"That did not exist in 2012. His vice chancellors have been trying to advise him of this, I have personally been trying to advise him of these challenges, and there was no apparent change in course of action until the freeze was announced, which was announced after we began our separation conversations," Lassner said.
In a July 15 memo, Apple announced a plan to save $10 million in each of the next two years by imposing a hiring freeze and suspending salary increases for nonunion employees until further notice.
"As Chancellor Apple's line manager, if he's as bad as he is, shouldn't you be ultimately responsible for his performance? Shouldn't we therefore be talking about your termination?" questioned Margaret Maaka, a professor in the College of Education, drawing cheers.
"It is not my job to manage the Manoa campus. It is my job to try to help the leader of the Manoa campus succeed, and I have done so regularly throughout the course of this year," Lassner replied.
Lassner insisted that outside influences did not prompt his decision. "There was no outside political influence asking me or directing me or pressuring me to remove Tom Apple," he said.
He was asked whether the 14 Manoa deans who nominated him for the permanent president post had lobbied him to fire Apple. "Was there a quid pro quo for your nomination?" Maaka asked.
"No. No. No," Lassner repeated, his voice escalating.
He was also asked whether Apple's two failed attempts to fire UHCancer Center DirectorMichele Carbone factored into the decision. "Whether or not he believed that director should be removed was not a factor in my evaluation,"Lassner said.
Apple has agreed to a settlement that will reassign him as a tenured chemistry professor at a $299,000 annual salary, effective Sept. 1. He also will receive a $100,000 lump-sum payout. His chancellor duties have been rescinded.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on specific statements by Lassner.
He shared a five-page letter he sent Lassner in response to his job rating, outlining initiatives he's implemented and defending his performance.
"You seem to have forgotten that you personally voiced support for my vision for (Manoa) on many occasions,"Apple wrote. "I stood up and took the knocks that inevitably come with such hard decisions, so I admit that I am very disappointed by the absence of support shown by you when controversy arises. ... It appears that this was deliberately done to get the result you wished to achieve -- support for a false claim of unsatisfactory performance."
*** [8/13/14] Bob Jone speculates (MidWeek, August 13, 2014):
What troubles me (from poring over Apple’s defense of himself) is my nagging feeling that much of this was about the unhappiness of a few Big Money contributors to UH Cancer Center when Apple tried to get rid of center director Michele Carbone. Apple makes that accusation himself in this letter:
“Your negative comments in my evaluation about interactions with community stakeholders thus do appear to refer to those few powerful people who support the Director of the Cancer Center, whom I tried to remove with your initial consent.
“Dr. Carbone has driven away two of our top researchers (Goodman and Kolonel), alienated two other top researchers (Le Marc-hand and Wilkens), and angered, alienated and persecuted several others. In addition to this thoroughly embarrassing and truly awful history, Dr. Carbone now requires one full-time $300,000 ‘assistant’ (Blanchette) and another $300,000 advisor (Hinshaw) to oversee his conduct.
“Had you not abruptly and unwisely reversed your earlier position on this issue, we would not now still have dysfunctional, erratic and incredibly expensive leadership at the Cancer Center.”
Those are very powerful accusations against Lassner. They suggest that he bowed to pressure from wealthy community philanthropists who have given heavily to the Cancer Center, and are close friends with and stalwart supporters of director Carbone.
That’s an issue never to be resolved. I don’t expect Lassner to say, “OK, you got me. They told me to either fire you or we lose their money. I chose the money.”
*** [9/18/14]
The University of Hawaii-Manoa Faculty Senate voted 43-16 Wednesday in favor of censuring UH President David Lassner over the group's displeasure with how Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple was fired.
The largely symbolic move apparently is a first for a UH administrator, and comes less than three months into Lassner's tenure as president and about two months after he terminated Apple following what he said was an unsatisfactory performance review.
Apple, who was two years into a five-year contract, says he was forced out and blamed for mismanaging Manoa's finances. He contends he was removed for his failed attempts to fire the controversial director of the UH Cancer Center and for budget cuts that angered the medical school dean, but Lassner insists no one influenced his decision.
The Faculty Senate considered amending the censure resolution language to a stronger vote of no confidence, which some equated to a call for Lassner to step down. But that effort failed in a tie vote that Faculty Senate Chairman Ron Bontekoe broke in favor of the original censure language.
The censure vote has no practical effect on Lassner but is meant to convey the faculty's disappointment with the new president.
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