Student Affairs

Landon Pirius, Vice Chancellor Academic & Student Affairs, Landon.Pirius@cccs.edu

Landon K. Pirius is the Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs for the Colorado Community College System (CCCS). Landon serves as the Chief Academic Officer for the Colorado Community College System providing strategic leadership related to all aspects of academic affairs, student affairs, and institutional research. Landon also provides leadership and coordination among college Presidents and college Vice Presidents, and works closely with other System and college staff to improve, expand, evaluate and promote academic and student affairs leadership resulting in excellence in teaching, learning, thinking, experiencing, and succeeding for all students. Landon leads diversity, equity, and inclusivity initiatives aimed at exceptional teaching and learning.

Prior to his current position, Landon was the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs at North Hennepin Community College in Minnesota where he was committed to building a collaborative culture of student success, data-driven decision-making, strategic planning, and continuous quality improvement. Landon also served in a variety of leadership roles at Inver Hills Community College, Minnesota State University, Mankato, and Walden University, and as an adjunct faculty member at different institutions. Landon completed his undergraduate degree in Russian Studies and Environmental Studies from Gustavus Adolphus College, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Administration from the University of Minnesota. His focus in graduate school was on comparative and international development education. In his free time, Landon enjoys spending time with his family, obstacle course racing, cooking, gardening, traveling, and playing video games.

Ryan Ross, Assoc Vice Chancellor Student, Equity & Inclusion, Ryan.Ross@cccs.edu

Dr. Ryan E. Ross is a sought after speaker, educator, leadership coach, and servant leader committed to equity and inclusion, educational access, and the development of leaders.

Ryan’s professional, community, and social contributions have afforded the opportunity to be coined “Denver’s role Model for Inclusiveness, as well as land him recognitions such as:

• The Denver Business Journal’s prestigious 40 under Forty Award,
• The City of Denver’s Mayoral Diversity award,
• Being named as an African American who make a difference by the Denver Urban Spectrum,
• Receiving Colorado’s M.O.D.E.L (Man of Distinction Excellence, and Leadership) award,
• Receiving the 2013 MLK Humanitarian award from Colorado’s Martin Luther King Jr. Commission,
• Being named as one of Colorado’s top five most influential young professionals by COBIZ magazine, and
• Being recognized as the 2016 Colorado 9 News leader of the year.

Ryan’s passion for community, leadership, and education is directly related to his experiences growing up and desire to pay it forward to the community that afforded him many opportunities. Ryan’s innovative work can be witnessed through his leadership in programs such as the Kappa League Leadership development program, the Urban Male Initiative, the Urban Leadership Foundation of Colorado, and in collaboration with many community partners such as Denver Public Schools, the Ethnic College Counseling Center, Gilliam Youth Services, Jack and Jill of America Denver Chapter, Colorado Beautillion Inc., and the Center for Multicultural Excellence centers at the University of Denver and Colorado State University to name a few.
Professionally, Ryan serves as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Equity, and Inclusion for the Colorado Community College System, owns a boutique speaking and consulting firm called Stirred UP Enterprises, and serves as the President of the Urban Leadership Foundation of Colorado. In the community you will find him serving organizations such as the Denver Botanic Gardens, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc., and the National Western Denver Scholarship Advisory Board.

Dr. Ryan E. Ross continues to live by his own words…“Achievement waits ahead so never look back besides why settle on being Good when we are designed to great!”

Michael Schulman, Dir. of Student Affairs, Michael.Schulman@cccs.edu

Dr. Schulman has a Doctorate in Education with a focus on Leadership for Educational Equity from the University of Colorado Denver, a Master’s of Science in Student Affairs Administration from Indiana University, and a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration from Colorado State University. Dr. Schulman’s dissertation focused on how Historically Marginalized Students who stop-out experienced campus environments though a lens of cultural engagement.

Michael has worked in various aspects of higher education administration for over 20 years and his previous experiences include managing student finance, enrollment services, financial aid, auxiliary services, and information technology.

Before joining the Colorado Community College System, Dr. Schulman worked as a higher education consultant helping colleges and systems across the country leverage new technology and best practices in the areas of student finance, records, and financial aid. He then spent five years working in Information Technology at CCCS, primarily supporting Student Affairs, before being promoted into his current role as Director of Student Affairs.

Dr. Schulman’s main duties at CCCS include providing strategic leadership for the system while collaborating with System Office Staff across all divisions as well as staff at the 13 colleges in the Colorado Community College System including Presidents, Vice Presidents, Deans and Directors to develop and implement strategic goals, system policies, and enrollment strategy related to student affairs, student success, and enrollment management. In addition, Dr. Schulman represents the Student Affairs related functional groups (excluding Financial Aid) at the system level in regard to the support and use of technologies, strategies, and procedures that support student success and is the decision maker and product owner of said technology. In addition, he serves as a leader to the Student Affairs functional areas at the system level and works with the functional groups to self-govern, share knowledge, and build synergy with a focus on equity and student success. Dr. Schulman currently co-chairs the system Data Governance Committee.

When Dr. Schulman is not at work, he enjoys spending time with his two young children, cooking, eating, and traveling.

Caitlan Cameron, Asst. Dir. of Student Business Services, Caitlan.Cameron@cccs.edu

Caitlan has a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Biology from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. She started her career working for the Wyoming Game & Fish Department before transitioning to higher education. Caitlan spent the next ten years at Colorado Northwestern Community College where she started as a front desk worker before moving into Recruiting, Advising, and ultimately served as the Director of Student Support. Most recently, she was responsible for disability services, academic advising, testing and placement, and the implementation and utilization of an early alert intervention program designed to provide just-in-time support to struggling students.

When not working, Caitlan enjoys camping, mountain biking, road cycling, skiing, horseback riding, and trying to keep up with her two young kids.

Katie has a Master of Science in Library Science from Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas and a Bachelor of Arts in Exercise and Sport Science from Concordia University-Portland. After receiving her bachelor’s degree, Katie returned to her local community college to earn workforce-ready credentials as a Certified Nurse Aide and Phlebotomist. Katie started her higher education career as an Admissions Representative and a Recruiter before moving into Academic Advising and Student Support. She is joining the System office with nearly a decade of experience in higher education and has successfully developed, redesigned, and launched several student programs designed to promote student leadership, foster a sense of belonging, and equip students for college success. Outside of work, you can find Katie tending to feral cat colonies, trying new food, reading, binge-watching her favorite murder mystery shows, exploring, camping, and visiting National Parks (she only has 15 of 63 left to see!).

During her first 90 days, Katie will focus on getting up to speed with CRM Recruit, determining training needs and their priorities, looking into technology solutions to deliver training, and meeting staff across the system.  Over the course of her first year, she will focus on delivering CRM Recruit training for Recruiters, Banner on-boarding for new employees, and rolling out additional trainings as identified based on the information collected.

    Karla Nash, Dir. of Financial Aid, Karla.Nash@cccs.edu

As a proud second-generation Colorado native, Karla began her education in the Denver Public School system. After having 4 wonderful children, Karla sought out career opportunities and quickly realized the path to establish a workable-wage career involved higher education. As a non-traditional, first-generation college graduate, Karla began her higher education pursuit at Front Range Community College where she was extremely proud to earn her Associates of Arts.  Karla went on to earn her Bachelor of Science in Accounting at Metropolitan State University and has since earned her Masters of Science in Finance from the University of Colorado.

With over 20  years of working  with directly with students to help them fund and reach their education goals, Karla joined to the Colorado Community College System office to provide leadership for all 13 CCCS Financial Aid Offices .  Karla’s role at CCCS is to collaborate and work with areas across the system to ensure all students have access to higher education regardless of their economic status.

Rhonda Martinez, Asst. Dir. Financial Aid, Rhonda.Martinez@cccs.edu

Jose Espinoza, Financial Aid Specialist, Jose.Espinoza@cccs.edu

Michael Pearce, Financial Aid Specialist, Michael.Pearce@cccs.edu

 Michael Roberts, Dir. of Veterans Education, Michael.Roberts@cccs.edu

Michael Roberts retired from the United States Navy with 24 years of service. During his naval career, he had various shore and sea duty assignments with key stops at the White House and North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Upon his retirement, he accepted the position as Program Manager for Veteran Services at the University of Colorado – Boulder where implemented a program to support Veterans as they transitioned form the military to the academic arena. He joined the Colorado Office of Veterans Education and Training in December 2012 as an Education Specialist with a focus on compliance. In August 2019, he assumed the role of Director. Michael has direct oversight of 310 active academic programs to ensure approximately Colorado GI Bill® beneficiaries have access to variety of education platforms across the state.

Kenneth Berryman,  Education Specialist,  Kenneth.Berryman@cccs.edu

Myra Dollar,  Education Specialist,  Myra.Dollar@cccs.edu

Ted Jimenez,  Education Specialist,  Ted.Jimenez@cccs.edu

I want to introduce Ted Jimenez, who joined the Colorado State Approving Agency for Veterans Education and Training on Monday, January 3, 2022 as an Education Specialist.  Ted’s role will focus on federal approvals for 274 academic programs across the state of Colorado.

Ted previously served as Associate Director of Veteran and Military Student Services at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Ted was a VA School Certifying Official for 10 of his 15 years at MSU Denver. Ted brings a wealth of knowledge on veteran’s education programming from a higher education perspective and how local campus policies relate to federal approval law.  We are excited to have his talent in our office as we continue to work with approved programs across our state.