UH Hilo welcomes new vice chancellor for administrative affairs

Posted on January 9, 2023February 20, 2024 by Staff

UH Hilo’s Vice Chancellor for Administrative Affairs Carla Ho‘ā was welcomed to campus today with a traditional kīpaepae ceremony.

New VCAA, loaded with lei above her ears, stands with her husband and son — UH Hilo’s new Vice Chancellor for Administrative Affairs Carla Ho‘ā (center) stands with her husband Tim and son Keoni after a kīpaepae welcoming ceremony held in the VC’s honor on Jan. 9, 2023. (Josephine Mischon/University Relations)

On the first day of the spring 2023 semester, the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo today welcomed the new vice chancellor for administrative affairs with a traditional kīpaepae ceremony.

Vice Chancellor Carla Ho‘ā joins UH Hilo from the University of Colorado Boulder, where she served in various positions since 2013, most recently as vice chancellor and chief financial officer. Other positions at CU Boulder include associate vice chancellor and deputy chief financial officer, assistant vice chancellor for budget and fiscal planning, assistant vice chancellor for administration auxiliaries, and director of administrative projects.

Prior to CU Boulder, she was associate dean for finance and administration at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, College of Nursing (2007-2013), deputy budget director at Colorado Community College System (2006-2007), and senior budget analyst at the University of Colorado Denver and Health Sciences Center, Budget Office (2005-2006).

Some of Ho‘ā’s notable accomplishments during her tenure at CU Boulder are leadership of a new incentive-based campus budget model to align resources with campus priorities; development of a financial plan to address COVID-related enrollment declines without disrupting the academic and research missions of the university; development of tuition and aid strategies to attract and retain students, especially financially disadvantaged and underrepresented students; development of a long-range financial model to provide a roadmap that includes enrollment projections, capital planning, cash flow projections, endowments and investments and financial indicators to assess fiscal health and resilience; and development of a $25 million plan for financially sustainable, impactful, and transparent investments to support campus priorities for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Ho‘ā received her bachelor of science in finance and master of business administration from the University of Colorado – Denver.