Meet Your Fostering Success Team!

Foster Care Liaison, Committee Chair & Financial Aid Advisor

Susan Karlsen         Email Susan at: skarlsen@collin.edu          972-881-5750           Plano Campus - G117                       

 

Susan Karlsen completed a program at the Utah College of Massage Therapy and holds a Bachelor of Science in Business with a concentration in Human Resource Management from the University of Phoenix. Susan felt a strong connection to healing as well as higher education, so she worked part time as a massage therapist and full time at the Steiner Education Group in administration, where she was able to open new campuses in Arizona, Colorado and finally in Texas. Susan ultimately decided to resign from her position as Campus Director in February 2013 to become a foster parent. After completing the foster parent licensing and certification process, Susan started working at Collin College in February 2014 in the Financial Aid department, where she is able to help students attain the funding and benefits needed to complete their educational goals. Susan and her husband fostered 16 children over a period of 8 years and ultimately stopped fostering upon the adoption of their son and daughter in April 2021. Susan is on the Empowering Youth Aging out of Foster Care Task Force which is helping to create a mobile application (Empowering Youth) for Texas' foster youth to have all resources in one place. Susan was selected to be the Foster Care Liaison for Collin College in February of 2020 because of her extreme passion for continuing to help this particular group of students, and their supporting community, by sharing knowledge of the available resources, being a guide in their utilization of these resources to achieve their life and educational goals, and to instill fostering success for their future.

Staff Committee Members

Sammi Woodyard - Director of Student Financials

                         Email: swoodyard@collin.edu           972-985-3716                   CHEC- Room 324

 

Jill Lyons - District College & Career Counselor

                         Email: jlyons@collin.edu                   972-578-5506                   Plano Campus, Room G115

 

John Guillory - Associate Dean Student & Enrollment Services

                         Email: jguillory@collin.edu                972-377-1521                   Frisco Campus, Room F109-I

 

Tanya Schildknecht - Disability Advisor, NAD IV

                         Email: tschildknecht@collin.edu        972-516-5056                  Plano Campus, Room D140

 

Patsy Tomlin - Financial Aid Specialist
                         Email: ptomlin@collin.edu                 972-881-5761                  Plano Campus, Room G103

               

Smriti Singh - Workforce Recruiting Specialist           972-553-1178                  Technical Campus, Room B-216C

                         Email: smritisingh@collin.edu