Council Members

Monica is a Colorado native who attended CU Denver and completed her BA in Sociology at CU Boulder. Although she is new to CLAS, she has been working with CU Denver since 2018. She is currently working in the Dean’s Office as the HR Professional. She is passionate about working in higher education and help the communities that she is involved in and enjoys building connections with those around her.

Jill joins her fellow Colorado natives in saying welcome to all of our transplants! She was born at Fitzsimons Hospital and lived in various places in the U.S. and Canada, always returning to the Denver Metro area. She attended public school in Denver, then went to the University of Northern Colorado for a BA in English with a history minor. After working at Auraria in the bookstore, AHEC Career Center,...

Michelle joined the Communication department at CU Denver in August 2010. Previously, she worked at the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) in Boulder, Colorado for eight years. She earned her MA in Education Policy from CU Boulder, and knew that she wanted to work on a university campus where she could make a difference for students and staff. Outside of work, Michelle is past president and current treasurer...

Kalena Peirce is a Colorado native, and started her college advising career in Southern California over 15 years ago. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology with a minor in family studies from the University of Arizona, and her Master of Arts degree in School Counseling from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Karen has worked at several colleges in California and Colorado, and has a background in...

Mika started as a Course and Curriculum Coordinator with CU Denver CLAS in May 2023, where she handles course scheduling and rooming coordination for CLAS, as well as curriculum management and catalog editing. She supports annual curriculum management and instructional budget meetings and helps manage data sets used for academic planning and analysis. Prior to that, she worked for 5.5 years at CU Boulder, starting out as a student assistant...

James started with CU Denver over 20 years ago. His position in the Integrative Biology department has given him a varied list of responsibilities that continues to grow as the department grows. Prior coming to CU Denver he received his M.S. and B.A. from the University of Northern Colorado and tutored students at AIMS Community college.

Kristen has worked in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) since September 2017. Prior to CU Denver, she worked at UCLA Extension and has over a decade of experience working with continuing education, extended studies, lifelong learning, custom/corporate training, and other non-traditional educational programs in a wide variety of modalities. She currently supports new program innovation and development, analyzes program vitality, encourages the creation of new microcredentials and...

Kayla was born and raised in Thornton, Colorado, and currently serves as the Business Services Professional for the Department of Political Science at the University of Colorado Denver, a role she began on July 1, 2025. Prior to this position, she worked as an Administrative Assistant in the Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences. She studied to be a Social Studies Teacher and, in the Fall of 2021, earned her...

Aman started his journey with CLAS as the Linux Systems Administrator for CLAS-IT in March 2023 before becoming the IT Operations Manager in May 2024. He's been with CU Denver since 2018 and obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science with a Minor in Photography, and currently finishing his Master of Science in Information Systems with a specialization in Cyber Security and Information Assurance. Before coming to CLAS, Aman...

Maya received her Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education at Elon University in 2020. She taught third and fifth grade before joining the Philosophy Department at CU Denver, where she works as their program assistant. Maya has brought her strengths from the classroom to the collegiate level where she strives to provide equitable opportunities for all who walk in the department and actively incorporates social emotional learning, nonviolent communication, and...

Miriam has worked for the CU System since 2019 and joined the Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences in August 2021. She also attended CU Denver and earned a BA in Public Health with the help of CU’s employee tuition assistance benefit. Miriam is excited for the opportunity to serve on CLAS staff council and advocate for the support that staff need to thrive including professional development opportunities and transparent...