UH, Hawaii Will Lose If PBRC Is Closed
Editor’s note: This is a response to a Civil Beat article, University of Hawaii Wants To Close Major Research Group.
We are writing to correct factual errors made by the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education (VCRGE), Dr. Gary Ostrander, regarding the closure of the Pacific Biosciences Research Center (PBRC), the only basic biological science Organized Research Unit (ORU) at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. (The errors were made in an article, University of Hawaii Wants to Close Major Research Group.)
Dr. Ostrander says, 鈥淭he argument is that they bring in $6 million in grant money. But actually they don鈥檛 pay for themselves. The university pays for their salaries and support staff, so we鈥檙e paying $3 million a year. The grant money is used for their own research鈥.
PBRC does indeed bring in $6 million dollars per year in grant funding. These provide jobs for the 70+ support staff, support the training of local students in marketable state-of-the-art technology, and pay for research supplies and equipment, much of it purchased locally. The overall economic impact to Hawaii of grants to UH Manoa, including PBRC, according to the UH administration, is more than 4 times the actual dollars received. The dissolution of PBRC likely will jeopardize the external grants because researchers placed in departments whose primary mandate is not research will be less competitive for those funds. Ostrander and Chancellor Hinshaw clearly state that no PBRC faculty or staff will lose their jobs. So, closing PBRC will not save a dime of the $3 million dollars of state funds.
What Ostrander also does not mention is that there is NO research unit at UH Manoa that covers all of its direct costs, but all of them generate additional jobs, spending, and taxes to benefit the state of Hawaii. It is very surprising that Ostrander, the Vice Chancellor for Research, did not use the Civil Beat article to publicize the contributions of the UH Manoa research enterprise, but instead chose to diminish those contributions.
Dr. Ostrander states: “That鈥檚 what my job is to do here 鈥 is to figure out what is best for the faculty at PBRC.”
It is incredibly puzzling that Ostrander thinks he knows better than anyone else what is best for PBRC faculty and their future contributions to the University and the State. Consider:
1. The faculty, staff and students of PBRC are opposed to dissolution.
2. The UH Manoa Faculty Senate Committees on Research and Personnel Matters voted unanimously against Ostrander鈥檚 PBRC dissolution plan.
3. 47 of 49 UH Manoa Faculty Senate members voted against Ostrander鈥檚 PBRC dissolution plan.
4. Other individuals/organizations/alumni have spoken against the PBRC dissolution plan including:
HGEA and UHPA
Nature Conservancy of Hawaii
Hawaii Conservation Alliance
Marine Coastal Advocacy Council
College of the Marshall Islands
Governor of American Samoa
Governor of Guam
Manoa Neighborhood Board
UH system Pukoa Council
UH Manoa Kuali’i Council
Hawaii State Legislature – 21 members
Faculty members, Dept. of Zoology and the College of Natural Sciences
UH Manoa Graduate Student Organization
and over 200 members of the broader community of stakeholders in Hawaii, who have signed a petition or have written letters in support of saving PBRC. (See the “Save PBRC” for specifics.)
Dr. Ostrander asserts, 鈥淢oving PRBC’s “tenured faculty (to) other units on campus that match with what they鈥檙e doing and are synergistic makes the most sense..鈥
High-functioning research units are the perfect vehicles for synergies with researchers in less research-intensive departments and programs. PBRC already collaborates with 6 Colleges/Schools and 12 Academic Departments or programs at UH Manoa. There currently are NO boundaries preventing PBRC members from working with other units.
Ostrander states, 鈥淭he expectation isn鈥檛 that everything will stay the same 鈥 companies, universities, are constantly undergoing reorganization to deal with the changing times,”
PBRC’s capacity to build, reorganize, and respond to changing demands makes it a model for UH Manoa in these difficult economic times. In addition to the School of Medicine and the Cancer Research Center, PBRC also has spun off the Hawaii Conservation Alliance, and developed a world-class marine biology facility at Kewalo Basin. PBRC’s research mandate seeds innovation that has led to new companies for Hawaii’s biotechnology sector. Hawaii Biotech was a previous spin-off, and PBRC currently has innovative partnerships with Intelesense Technologies and Protekai Corporation.
Ostrander says, 鈥淧BRC has lost its focus, 鈥 evolving from a biomedical research unit into a group of researchers not unique to other units on campus.”
PBRC’s current and future focus is built on its strength in biological diversity, an area of world-wide importance as evidenced by the fact that 2010 was the International Year of Biodiversity. With more endangered species than any other state in the U.S., Hawaii is uniquely situated to lead in biodiversity studies and sustainability solutions.
“Ostrander emphasizes the issue of cost savings鈥.
How does closing PBRC save money? The dissolution proposal states that “no jobs will be lost.” What will be lost is the only unit in the UH system providing infrastructure that serves all of UH Manoa’s biological research, including a world-class marine laboratory with clean, reliable sea-water, a state-of-the-art microscope facility, a genetic analysis lab, and PBRC’s fiscal and personnel team whose combined expertise is irreplaceable.
Ostrander claims that he does not have a conflict of interest: 鈥淚鈥檓 just trying to be objective and do what鈥檚 best for the university”. “I don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 a valid issue,” he said. “My job is to do what鈥檚 best for the faculty and not everyone would agree that the proposed reorganization is the best thing. But that is my job. It is not necessarily to advocate for PBRC.”
Ostrander was initially hired and granted tenure in PBRC. More than a year before he announced his intent to dissolve PBRC, Ostrander moved his tenure to the Cancer Research Center, with no input from faculty personnel committees in either unit, a violation of UH procedures. At the same time, in negotiations with Townsend Capital, Ostrander proposed to give up the lease on the PBRC Kewalo Marine Lab in a land swap for a parking lot to support the new Cancer Research Center building in Kaka’ako*. Ostrander’s proposed deal with Townsend was made while he served as PBRC’s Interim Director, an apparent, if not a legal conflict of interest; leaders usually advocate for, not against, the units they lead. Ostrander has, on occasion, admitted his own failure of leadership, but when asked repeatedly to resign by PBRC researchers as well as the UH Manoa Faculty Senate, he rejected the notion of a conflict of interest, rejected all proposed candidates, and failed to identify a suitable replacement for himself.
[*Note that Townsend was not awarded the Cancer Center job, the size and location of the new Center were changed, and the parking lot idea was dropped. UH Manoa paid $2.5 million to Townsend as a result of their charge of inappropriate negotiations. In the meantime, Ostrander claims the Kewalo Marine Lab is still closing in 2013 but he has provided no reason to close it nor a plan for future use of the site.]
Summary: The PBRC faculty, staff and students continue to be highly productive in spite of Ostrander’s antagonism. PBRC has widespread support within the University and in the community. Ostrander has rejected every attempt by PBRC to explore alternatives to dissolution, including partnerships with other UH Manoa units. What is the reason for dissolving PBRC? In the absence of a rational answer, PBRC has proposed a compromise to the Board of Regents: that the unit hire a director internally, using existing funds fill 2-3 vacant faculty positions with established grant-getters, and, within the next 2-3 years, evaluate the steps PBRC has taken to position the University of Hawaii as a leader in the science and practice of biodiversity.
About the author: Dr. Mark Martindale is the Director of the Kewalo Marine Laboratory and Researcher in the field of Evolutionary Developmental Biology. He was recently awarded the Alexander Kowalevsky Medal for Comparative Embryology.
The PBRC Leadership Team consists of PBRC program heads, senior faculty and staff, representing a cross-section of the PBRC community who meet frequently to develop PBRC’s overall direction and strategy.
PBRC Leadership Team Members: Mark Martindale, Robert Richmond, Kenneth Kaneshiro, Marilyn Dunlap, Patricia Couvillon, Daniel Hartline, Robert Cowie, Healani Chang, Dave Au.
