A University of Hawai'i official yesterday denied an assertion by protesters that faculty members who refuse to follow Navy research directives could be fined or even jailed.

Any action the military might take in response to such refusals would be against the university, not individual faculty members, said Gary Ostrander, school vice chancellor for research and graduate education.

A vote of the university faculty is scheduled tomorrow on whether to support a proposed University Affiliated Research Center.

Protesters of a $50 million proposed research partnership, in a five-page document, had said a detailed revision of the center's contract revealed researchers who refuse specific Navy task orders might face $10,000 in fines, one year in prison, or both.

It also alleged that all data from classified and unclassified research coming out of the proposed military research center would need to be reviewed by the Navy before being cleared for publication.

Ostrander said the university would file a formal response discrediting the document in 24 to 36 hours.

"Grants and contracts are not made with individual faculty members; they are made with the university," Ostrander said. "Even if it ever came to an issue like that, it would not be with a faculty member. The Navy would take the university to court."

Ostrander said no researcher has ever been imprisoned in connection with work at a similar center that has been operating for 60 years at the University of Washington.

"In reality, it's not going to play out that way," he said. "No faculty member under the current scenario or under the proposed UARC would ever be at risk of jail time. ... It would be an issue with the university."

In the release detailing their allegations, protesters quote four professors and two students, including some who participated in a weeklong occupation of university interim President David McClain's office last spring to protest the proposed Navy research center.

Last week, eight faculty members released a report that said it remained unclear what kind of impact the center could have on the school and on faculty's right to publish their research results. It asked that plans for the center be fully reviewed.

If established, the center would require some $3 million in startup money and bring in about $50 million in grants over its first five years of operations, school officials have said.

In addition to the University of Washington, the Navy backs centers at Pennsylvania State University, the University of Texas at Austin and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Hawai'i was recommended for the fifth center in July 2004.