HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

144

TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the university of hawaii system to implement a system wide senior citizen visitor program for senior citizen students.

 

 


     WHEREAS, prior to 1995, there existed a Hawaii state law that required the University of Hawaii to allow senior citizens who were age sixty or older and Hawaii residents to enroll in university courses without payment of tuition or fees; and

 

     WHEREAS, Act 161, Session Laws of Hawaii 1995, repealed this and other statutorily mandated tuition waiver programs as part of an initiative to allow the University of Hawaii System to set tuition policies and thereby exert direct management over the resources being generated at the university and community college campuses; and

 

     WHEREAS, since the repeal of this law, the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus has instituted the Senior Citizen Visitor Program, which allows seniors to visit university courses free of charge; provided that they have the consent of the instructors, are not awarded university credits, and there is space available in the course; and

 

     WHEREAS, amongst the other University of Hawaii campuses and community colleges, there seems to be disparate treatment of senior citizens who request to attend courses as visitors, ranging from a strict prohibition, to a case-by-case exception by campus administration, to permission being extended by individual faculty members; and

 

     WHEREAS, many other state university systems still maintain either through law or policy, programs to allow tuition-free attendance by senior citizens in university courses; and

 

     WHEREAS, as expressed in the University of Hawaii at Manoa program policy, the presence of senior citizens on the university campuses "adds to the diversity of campus culture and they contribute from their life experience to the classroom setting;" and

 

     WHEREAS, allowing senior citizens to attend university courses without cost to the senior citizen supports the important concept of lifelong learning that the State wants to instill in our children and youth; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, the Senate concurring, that the University of Hawaii System is requested to implement a system wide Senior Citizen Visitor Program to allow senior citizen students to visit university courses free of charge or at reduced rates; provided that they have the consent of the instructors, are not awarded university credits, and there is space available in the courses; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the University of Hawaii system provide information about the Senior Citizen Visitor Program on each campus and community college website, and provide information about the program to the Executive Office on Aging, each county area Office on Aging, and each library within the public library system; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the University of Hawaii submit a report to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2008 on its plan and efforts to establish and implement a system wide Senior Citizen Visitor Program; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii, the President of the University of Hawaii System, the Chancellor of each University of Hawaii campus, the Provost of each community college, the State Librarian, the Executive Director of the Executive Office on Aging, and the County Executive of each county Office on Aging.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

UH; Senior Citizen Visitor Program