Previous Volunteer Spotlight

Arch Asawa

Arch Asawa has been Soka's Chief Business Officer since 1998. He also serves as the University's Chief Investment Officer, managing a $1.2 billion endowment. Arch began volunteering for WACUBO in 2009, starting with the Host Committee for the 2010 Annual Conference in Anaheim. He subsequently served on WACUBO's Program Committees for the 2013 Anchorage, 2015 Tucson and 2016 San Francisco Annual Conferences and is currently the Program Committee chair for the 2017 Seattle Annual Conference. He is active in the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), having served as the past Chairs of NACUBO's Small Institutions Council and Awards Committee, and is currently serving on the Board of Directors for WACUBO. Coming from the private sector, Arch greatly appreciated his WACUBO and NACUBO colleagues and friends who helped him understand the unique world of higher education, so much that he wanted to give back to the field through volunteer service. In his spare time, Arch enjoys fishing, traveling and is a foodie at heart.

Brad Baca

Brad Baca is the Executive Vice President / Chief Operating Officer at Western Colorado University. He began his service with WACUBO in 2012 as a member of the Small Institutions Committee. In 2015 Brad was appointed as interim chair of the Committee and volunteered to serve on the Program Committee for the 2016 Annual Conference in San Francisco. As interim chair of the Small Institutions Committee and a member of the WACUBO Board of Directors, he was responsible for the development and organization of the pre-conference workshop, "New to Higher Education" for the 2016 Annual Conference. Brad also serves as a member of the Volunteer Engagement Committee. "I wish I would have become engaged in WACUBO many years ago. The organization does a tremendous job in connecting people and providing excellent professional development opportunities for our members."

Dean Calvo

Dean Calvo, recently appointed the Vice President for Business Affairs and Treasurer at Scripps College, has served as Information Exchange Program (IEP) Chairperson since the 2011 Portland Annual Conference.

As IEP Chair Dean is responsible for business partner relationships and engages firms in the higher education industry space as sponsors and exhibitors at WACUBO's Annual Conference. In other words, Dean's efforts are essential for underwriting and delivering Annual Conference programs and activities. Dean also serves as co-chair of WACUBO's CDRIC Committee.

Dean is a member of WACUBO's Board of Directors, where he participates in the leadership of all of WACUBO's activities.

Carina Celesia Moore

Director, Talent Management Center of Expertise
University of California, Davis

Carina Celesia Moore is the Director of the UC Davis Talent Management Center of Expertise, where she oversees comprehensive programs and resources in learning and development, leadership development, work-life and wellness, and career counseling and coaching, at both the Davis and Sacramento campuses. Carina has over 20 years of experience in higher education human resources and she promotes integrated talent strategies through developing, engaging and retaining employees. She has been involved in WACUBO since 2004 and has enjoyed serving in many roles including Business Management Institute faculty, Annual Conference speaker, workshop instructor, Professional Development Steering Committee member, Annual Conference Program Committee member (Monterey, Portland, Anchorage, Seattle), Mentoring Program chair, and professional coach. She appreciates that WACUBO is all about developing and maximizing the professional potential of its higher education membership, and that is why she gladly serves as a volunteer. In her spare time, Carina enjoys playing flute in a 20-member flute choir that performs regularly in northern California.

Teresa Costantinidis

Teresa Costantinidis has been an active volunteer for WACUBO since first participating on the Portland Annual Conference Program Committee in 2010. Since then she has served in several roles, including membership on the Program Committees for the Denver, Anchorage, and Las Vegas conferences, and as Host Committee Chair for the 2016 Annual Conference in San Francisco. She also serves as WACUBO instructor for Budgeting and Financial Management workshops and for the annual Business Management Institute in Santa Barbara, a program that she herself graduated from in 1995. Teresa is quick to point out how rewarding it has been for her to volunteer for WACUBO saying it has "expanded both her personal skillset and her network of friends and colleagues." She is currently the Interim Senior Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration at the University of California San Francisco having enjoyed a career in finance and administration that has spanned almost thirty years at the UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley campuses.

Linda Cordier

Linda’s first introduction to WACUBO was as a participant at the Business Management Institute. She became interested in being more involved in WACUBO after attending several WACUBO annual conferences. In 2011, Linda joined the Professional Development Workshops Committee, and her first assignment was to coordinate the Tales from the Front submission process for the 2012 Annual Conference. Now committed to volunteering, Linda joined the Community College Constitutes Committee, and for the next few years she continued to coordinate Tales from the Front, plan and host workshops, and engage in issues affecting higher education. In 2014, Linda became vice-chair of the PDWC, joined the newly formed Marketing and Communications Committee, became a liaison member to the Research Committee, and served on the Host Committee for the 2015 Annual Conference in Tucson. She continues to serve on the Workshops, Community College, and the Volunteer Engagement Committees. Linda believes that being a WACUBO volunteer has provided her with valuable professional growth opportunities and exponentially expanded her leadership skills.

Lauralea Edwards

Management Analyst, Finance and Administration
Washington State University

Lauralea Edwards is a management analyst who works at the intersection of business and technology at Washington State University. She works to manage communications between university administration and academic departments in order to save university and public money. She has received awards and public recognition for securing resources in austere environments to integrate people and systems. When she is not at work Ms. Edwards sews Kofi hats; does Bayesian machine learning exercises; entertains cats; and explores the world with her partner and son. Ms. Edwards was a founding member of the WACUBO Data Analysis Committee (DAC) in 2014 and took over as Chair of the committee in 2017. She is also the instructor for WACUBO’s Communicating with Data Visualization workshop. Her volunteer activities have been instrumental in building Ms. Edwards’ professional network and has resulted in a NACUBO podcast, a spotlight in Business Officer magazine, and speaking invitations to several professional conferences.

Lisa Frace

Lisa Frace has been the Associate Vice President, Planning and Budget for Arizona State University since 2005 and began her WACUBO volunteer service in 2011. She first served on the WACUBO Comprehensive/Doctoral Institutions and Research Institutions Committee (CDRIC), as well as on the 2013 and 2014 Program Committees for the Annual Conference as the CDRIC liaison. Lisa is currently serving on the 2015 Program and Host Committees for the Annual Conference. In 2013 Lisa joined the Professional Development Workshop Committee as liaison to the CDRIC committee, before becoming committee chair in 2014. During 2014-15, Lisa led a year of innovation and growth of the Professional Development Workshops Committee. Hawaii Pacific Rim series, Predictive Analytics and Data Mining for Business Officers, and other groundbreaking workshops are the testaments of her leadership and contributions. Lisa also serves as an instructor for the 3C's of Budgeting workshop.

Cheryl Heath

Cheryl Heath, CPA, is the Vice President for Administration and CFO at the Northern Wyoming Community College District since 2005. She began her WACUBO service joining the community college constituency committee shortly after the 2008 annual conference. She currently serves on this committee and as the Treasurer of the organization. Being involved in the board of directors as Treasurer and with the community college committee has provided new personal and professional relationships, networking, and professional growth. Cheryl knows she can always reach out to any board or committee member as a sounding board for work related issues. Being a WACUBO volunteer has made participation in the annual conference much more rewarding.

Robert G. Moore

Robert G. Moore is the Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration at Colorado College. He previously held similar positions at the University of Colorado system office and at the Colorado School of Mines. Robert began his WACUBO service as a member of the Host Committee for the 2011 Conference in Portland and served as the Co-chair of the Host Committee for the 2012 Conference in Denver. Since that time Robert has served WACUBO as chair of the Small Institutions Committee and as a member of the Anchorage 2013 Host Committee, the Finance Committee, the Audit Committee, and the Volunteer Engagement Committee. Robert is currently serving WACUBO as the 2nd Vice President and is chairing the Program Committee for the 2016 San Francisco Conference. Service with WACUBO has given him the opportunity to greatly expand his network of friends and colleagues in both public and private higher education throughout the western states.

Jan Parten

Jan Parten first volunteered for WACUBO in 1997 when she served on the Host Committee for Anchorage Annual Conference. At the time, she was working at the University of Alaska Anchorage as their Human Resources Director. Jan noted that her biggest contribution that year was to sell an excess number of WACUBO t-shirts to complete strangers staying at the Anchorage Hilton. Apparently, the purchasers thought WACUBO was some type of Alaska Native Tribe! Beginning with the 2007 Annual Conference in Reno through 2014 Annual Conference in Las Vegas, Jan has served on the Program Committee for each year. Watching the Annual Conference Program evolve over the past 8 years has been a "labor of love" for her. With the inclusion of Jim Collins on the Program for the 2015 Annual Conference in Tucson is her dream come true. She stated that "the camaraderie built over the years with so many wonderful past Program Committee Members makes all the hours volunteered so very worth it. Who would imagine an organization called WACUBO could be such a great place to be a volunteer over and over again?" Jan currently serves on the WACUBO Professional Development Steering Committee. She is also a Program Committee member once again for the 2016 Annual Conference in San Francisco.

Patricia Putnam

Patricia Putnam, who recently retired from the position of Associate Vice President, Business Services at the University of San Diego has been volunteering at WACUBO since 1990. She has been on the last 21 Host Committees (since 1993) with two stints as Chair of the Information Exchange Committee from 1998-2000 and 2008-2010. Pat held the position of President of WACUBO in 2002-03 and was on the NACUBO Board of Directors from 2002-2004. Even in retirement she tirelessly continues to volunteer to help organize the annual meeting.

Stuart Roberts

Stuart retired a couple of years ago as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Financial Services at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, but his retirement then did not include stepping away from WACUBO until now. For seven years Stuart filled the demanding role of Communications Director. This has meant that Stuart managed the website, edited newsletters, distributed emails to WACUBO's membership, served as database manager and information advisor, designed and distributed surveys, participated in Board meetings, and each year at the Annual Conference did any job that needed to be done, usually before anyone could ask. Stuart's calm demeanor and "can do" attitude will be sorely missed.

Mike Unebasami

Mike Unebasami has been a WACUBO volunteer since 1983. He has held various positions on the Board of Directors, including serving as Secretary and, in 2007-08, as President. Mike has been the Assistant Chair for the Host Committee (1984), the Chair of the Host Committee (2004), and for both 2014 and 2015 is a member of the Annual Conference Host Committee. Mike has served on various committees of the Board, including the 2013 Program Committee and the 2013-14 Volunteer Engagement Committee.

Jean Vock

Jean Vock has been a volunteer and leader since 2001. She served as WACUBO's Treasurer from 2009-14, when she was responsible to prepare financial statements, issue checks, maintain the general ledger, and ensure proper controls and procedures. The role of Treasurer has been one of WACUBO's very most demanding; the Board recently decided to outsource many of the functions Jean performed.

Jean also has served WACUBO as a member of the Board (ongoing), Chair of the Audit Committee (2006-07), and is currently the 2015 Program Committee Chair and 2nd Vice President. In this role, Jean is on track to become President in 2016-17.

Jeff West

Jeffrey West is Associate VP for Finance at the University of Utah - the 4th WACUBO institution he has served over his career in higher education. He has been a WACUBO volunteer consistently since 1998 when he was a member of the Professional Development Workshops Committee until 2004. During that time he began teaching the "Basic Fund Accounting" workshop, and later "Intermediate Fund Accounting". Currently, he teaches "Academic & Unit Business Officers" (since 2008), and "Accounting & Reporting: Beyond the Basics" (since 2012). Jeff remains active in NACUBO, serving on several committees and teaching workshops. In 2009, he was the recipient of NACUBO's Professional Development Award. After his stint on the WACUBO PDC, he served on the Board of Directors for three years and was the Host Chair for WACUBO's Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City in 2009. Since then he has served on three Program Committees. During his years on the Board, Jeff took a personal interest in getting more academic and unit business officers involved in WACUBO. Jeff enjoys his association with WACUBO and has made many friends as a result of his volunteer activities.

Nicholle Zarkower

Nicholle Zarkower began her stint as a WACUBO volunteer on the Comprehensive/Doctoral/Research Institutions Committee (CDRIC) in 2010. She then joined the Professional Development Committee, affectionately known as WACUBO's workhorse committee, as the CDRIC liaison for two years before becoming the co-chair of the Professional Development Workshops Committee in 2013. Now, Nicholle is the inaugural chair of the Research Committee, whose mission is to catalyze WACUBO's effort to become a data-driven organization. This role is perfect for Nicholle, who is a "data geek" at heart!