Update, May 9, 2022: The deadline is extended to May 16, 2022.

Licensed attorneys who wish to provide specialized legal services to the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaiʻi (RCUH) for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2022, are invited to submit a Statement of Qualifications and Expression of Interest (SOQ) to RCUH pursuant to HRS § 103D-304.

RCUH is currently looking to contract for legal services in the following areas:

1. Employment: Employment, employee benefits, disciplinary, termination, workers’ compensation and discrimination/retaliation issues. Services shall include but not be limited to:
   1. Drafting, reviewing, and providing advice and recommendations relating thereto;
   2. Providing advice and recommendations regarding responses to claims asserted by current and former employees; 
   3. Participating in negotiations regarding items (a) and (b); and
   4. Providing guidance on applicable statutes, regulations, and other legal requirements.

Previous experience advising employers is essential, and previous experience advising government agencies is preferred.  

2. Immigration: Temporary visas and/or permanent residency applications. Services shall include but not be limited to:
   1. Drafting, reviewing, and providing advice and recommendations relating thereto;
   2. Completing and filing permanent residency applications (previous experience representing both employers and employees in the permanent residency application process is essential);
   3. Completing and filing temporary visa applications and related documentation; and
   4. Providing guidance on applicable statutes, regulations, and other legal requirements.

3. Tax: Payroll, IRS compliance, foreign payroll and/or nonresident alien and foreign entity contractor payments (crossover immigration experience preferred), IRS compliance. Services shall include but not be limited to:
   1. Providing guidance on applicable statutes, regulations, internal policies, and other legal requirements.

4. Maritime: Charter, third-party vessel, and other marine-related agreements; marine insurance terms and policies. Services shall include but not be limited to:
   1. Drafting, reviewing, and providing advice and recommendations relating thereto; and
   2. Providing guidance on applicable statutes, regulations, insurance policies/terms, internal policies, and other legal requirements.

Please email your SOQ to: [email protected] by Monday, May 16, 2022, to be eligible for consideration. SOQs received after May 16, 2022 will be classified as “late submittals” for the balance of the fiscal year as follows: a late submittal received May 17, 2022 through June 10, 2022, will be considered for services beginning October 1, 2022.

SOQ forms are available here.

To: Principal Investigators and Fiscal Administrators

The continuation of intramural and/or revolving accounts beyond their termination date require a renewal request. If your account is expiring on June 30, 2022, RCUH Project Administration will email you the renewal instructions in mid-April.

It is highly recommended that you submit the renewal request(s) as soon as possible; RCUH is the last stop in the routing process. Please note that payroll will be held and procurement actions will be delayed on an expired account.

Your prompt attention and submittals are appreciated. If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer Chang by emailing [email protected] or calling (808) 988-8341.

The RCUH Financial Portal will be down for system maintenance on Friday, February 4, 2022, 4:00 p.m. (HST) to Saturday, February 5, 2022, 6:00 p.m. (HST).

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your understanding.

The RCUH Financial Portal is back in operation and you may resume approving transactions in the Financial Portal.

On Tuesday, January 4, 2022, we encountered a system error which affected our end of day business processing and consequently checks could not be printed.  Vendor payments approved on Tuesday, January 4, 2022 will be processed a little later than normal on January 5, 2022.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused, and we appreciate your patience.

On Tuesday, January 4, 2022, we encountered a system error which affected our end of day business processing and consequently checks could not be printed.  We are working to resolve the issue and we will post an updated announcement when the Financial Portal is back in operation. At this time, online purchasing, payment, and travel transactions cannot be approved until the issue is resolved. 

We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.

Effective January 1, 2022, the following updates were made:

• UH WH-1 Form – The University of Hawaii Statement of Citizenship and Federal Tax Status form has been updated for 2022. The new form may be found in the RCUH Procurement and Disbursing Document Library. Previous versions of the UH WH-1 Form will no longer be valid.
• Standard mileage rates – The Internal Revenue Service has updated the standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile (includes cars, vans, pickups, and panel trucks) for business or charitable purposes. The 2022 rates are as follows:

$0.585	per mile driven for business purposes, increased from $0.56 in 2021
$0.14	per mile driven in service of charitable organizations (rate for volunteers)

• The standard mileage rate for business miles is based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile. The charitable mileage rate is set by statute. See IR-2021-251, December 17, 2021.
• Attachment 12, Current RCUH Travel Rates, has been updated with the mileage rate changes. UH employees may refer to www.hawaii.edu/etravel/rates.html.

Should you have any questions, please contact Charlene Gibo at [email protected].

The following procurement policies have been updated on the RCUH website effective December 27, 2021.

• Policy 2.013 Signature and Document Approval Requirements
  • Sections III.B. and IV.
    • Updates to signature requirements were made to conform to changes in Policy 2.203, noted below.
• Policy 2.201 Purchase Orders
  • Sections II.B., II.C., II.G., and III.
    • Updates were made to clarify tax exemption, and to conform to changes in Policy 2.203, noted below.
• Policy 2.203 Vendor Terms and Conditions
  • All sections have been updated.
    • Updates were made to:
      • Clarify the types of terms and conditions that RCUH amends for purchases $25,000 and above (Section III.A.1.).
      • Include various University of Hawaii and Direct Project requirements for certain purchases (related to intellectual property, export controls, data, hardware/software, and publicity issues) (Section III.A.2.).
      • Revise RCUH’s requirements, such that Fiscal Administrators are now authorized to execute certain vendor terms and conditions under $25,000 (Section III.B.).
• Policy 2.204 Services Agreements
  • Sections I., III.C., and IV.
    • Updates were made to add policy references, to add in guidance on Hawaii Revised Statutes § 103-55, and to conform to changes in Policy 2.203, noted above.

Should you have any questions, please contact Erin Yoda at [email protected].

Due to the inclement weather, the payment approval deadline for Monday, December 6, 2021 will be 3:20 p.m.  Online payment transactions approved before 3:20 p.m. on December 6 will be included in the daily check print and ePayment file for December 6.  Online payment transactions approved after 3:20 p.m. on December 6 will be processed on Tuesday, December 7, 2021.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your understanding.

Due to a system error, RCUH transactions approved on September 30, 2021 were not transmitted or posted to the University of Hawaii Kuali Financial System (KFS).  These transactions will be transmitted and should post to KFS on October 1, 2021.

We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused.

*NOTE: This posting was edited on July 8, 2021 to add the award to provide legal services related to employment, to the RCUH Corporate Office.

Project Title	To provide legal services related to maritime/admiralty, to the RCUH Corporate Office.
Selected Consultant	Michael J. Nakano, Esq. (Cox Wootton Lerner Griffin & Hansen)
Contract Amount	$20,000.00
Date of Award	June 30, 2021
Consultants Considered (ranked candidates only)	No other submissions.
Appointing Officer	Leonard R. Gouveia, Jr.
Project Title	To provide legal services related to immigration, to the RCUH Corporate Office.
Selected Consultant	Newton J. Chu, Esq. (Torkildson Katz Hetherington Harris & Knorek)
Contract Amount	$15,000.00
Date of Award	June 30, 2021
Consultants Considered (ranked candidates only)	Vaughn G.T. Cook (Torkildson Katz Hetherington Harris & Knorek)
Appointing Officer	Leonard R. Gouveia, Jr.
Project Title	To provide legal services related to employee benefits/taxes, to the RCUH Corporate Office.
Selected Consultant	Joseph D’Amato, Esq. (D’Amato & Maloney)
Contract Amount	$40,000.00
Date of Award	July 6, 2021
Consultants Considered (ranked candidates only)	No other applicants in the specialty area of employee benefits.  Other applicants in the general employment field included:  Barry W. Marr, Esq. (Marr Jones & Wang); Andrew L. Pepper (Jackson Lewis); Richard M. Rand (Marr Jones & Wang); Sarah O. Wang (Marr Jones & Wang); Christopher J. Cole (Marr Jones & Wang); Patrick H. Jones (Marr Jones & Wang); Kristi O’Heron (Marr Jones & Wang); Newton J. Chu (Torkildson Katz Hetherington Harris & Knorek); Christopher S.Y. Yeh (Marr Jones & Wang); Eileen C. Zorc (Marr Jones & Wang); Megumi Sakae (Marr Jones & Wang); Cecily D.M. Kaya (Marr Jones & Wang); Andrea L. Miyashita (Marr Jones & Wang); Ronald Tang (Marr Jones & Wang).
Appointing Officer	Leonard R. Gouveia, Jr.
Project Title	To provide legal services related to taxes and payroll, to the RCUH Corporate Office.
Selected Consultant	Vaughn G.T. Cook (Torkildson Katz Hetherington Harris & Knorek)
Contract Amount	$15,000.00
Date of Award	July 6, 2021
Consultants Considered (ranked candidates only)	John J. D’Amato (D’Amato & Maloney) (employee benefits tax only)
Appointing Officer	Leonard R. Gouveia, Jr.
Project Title	To provide legal services related to employment, to the RCUH Corporate Office.
Selected Consultant	Barry W. Marr, Esq. (Marr Jones & Wang)
Contract Amount	$50,000.00
Date of Award	July 8, 2021
Consultants Considered (ranked candidates only)	Andrew L. Pepper (Jackson Lewis); Richard M. Rand (Marr Jones & Wang); Sarah O. Wang (Marr Jones & Wang); Christopher J. Cole (Marr Jones & Wang); Patrick H. Jones (Marr Jones & Wang); Kristi O’Heron (Marr Jones & Wang); Newton J. Chu (Torkildson Katz Hetherington Harris & Knorek); Christopher S.Y. Yeh (Marr Jones & Wang); Eileen C. Zorc (Marr Jones & Wang); Megumi Sakae (Marr Jones & Wang); Cecily D.M. Kaya (Marr Jones & Wang); Andrea L. Miyashita (Marr Jones & Wang); Ronald Tang (Marr Jones & Wang).
Appointing Officer	Leonard R. Gouveia, Jr.