There’s retirement, and then there’s what Doris Ching does. Almost a decade into the official end of her career, she still seems to be the go-to person for University of Hawaii administrators.

The latest is a recommendation by UH President David Lassner that Ching take over as chancellor of UH-West Oahu.

Ching spent most of her career in many roles on the higher-ed administrative track, which ultimately led to retirement as vice president for student affairs of the UH system. But earlier this year, she was hired as interim vice chancellor for academic affairs at UH-West Oahu, and now she’s up before the Board of Regents for that campus’ top job on an interim basis.

They don’t want to let her go. That’s a nice compliment.

Failed DLNR nominee seems to find his groove

Meanwhile, another high-profile Ching also will be joining the University of Hawaii’s top tier: Carleton Ching, as the UH system’s new director of land development.

This sounds like a better fit for Ching than state Land and Natural Resources director, a job for which he was heavily opposed due to his employment as development lobbyist for Castle & Cooke. The controversy this past spring forced Gov. David Ige to withdraw the nominee. Ching’s public-hearing grilling was at times painful to watch, but landing this UH gig can certainly be viewed as his silver lining.