Opinion Letter Summary

Opinion Letter No. 04-07
March 25, 2004
Evaluation and Expectations of University of
Hawaii President

The University of Hawaii (“UH”) Board of Regents’ evaluation of UH President Evan Dobelle (“Evaluation”) and the Expectations and Performance Guidelines prepared by the Board of Regents relating to President Dobelle (“Expectations”) are public under the UIPA.

The OIP found that President Dobelle has a significant privacy interest in the Evaluation and the Expectations. His privacy interest, however, is diminished by the fact that he is a public figure by virtue of his position as UH President. When balanced against the public interest in knowing how the Board of Regents is performing its duties, including the employment of the UH president, as well as in knowing how President Dobelle is performing his job, we found that the public interest is greater.

Accordingly, UH cannot withhold the Evaluation and the Expectations, as disclosure would not be a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy under section 92F-13(1), HRS. This Opinion does not imply that evaluations of employees who are not in high ranking positions are public.

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