SSU Spotlight: Constance Leyland, Dean of Undergraduate Studies
SSU Spotlight: Constance Leyland, Dean of Undergraduate Studies
At Southern States University, we understand that our staff are an important part of our student experience. We pride ourselves on hiring a diverse faculty of varying backgrounds, ages, and experiences. Thus, we are extremely excited to spotlight Dr. Constance “C.J.” Leyland, our new Dean of Undergraduate Studies.
Dean Leyland joined SSU in April of 2021. She brings extensive experience working in management, sales, insurance, staffing, and higher education. Having both on-the-ground professional experience, as well as years working in the higher education space, she is uniquely positioned to support our university and students to be leaders in the business community.
Prior to SSU, she held the position of team lead of faculty, as well as served as a graduate business adjunct faculty at Southern New Hampshire University. She also was an adjunct business faculty member at American National University and California International Business University. Outside of academia, she served roles in business and management, including business consultant and account manager at ACL Business Solutions, LLC, business owner at Anime Collectibles, and manager at GEICO Insurance.
Her past experiences have primed her to dive right in. In her role at SSU, she will bring her experience teaching over 16 various marketing and business courses to help map and redesign the undergraduate curriculum across all of our campuses, including for distance education courses. As an educator, she strived to ensure her classroom experiences were creative and engaging and primed her students to enter the workforce and this background will ensure our classes continue to be aligned with the current business needs in the market through signature assignments and milestones.
She will also play an integral part in creating and maintaining committees and building relationships with the local communities to grow networking opportunities for all our students. Her goal is to create a hub where students can access and participate in monthly networking opportunities. This supports our university’s goal to prepare our students with the skills and connections to achieve success after graduation in today’s competitive marketplace.
In addition, Dean Leyland will be focused on hiring and training new faculty to uphold our culture and student engagement efforts. A primary focus will be on ensuring that all faculty complete a diversity, equity, and inclusion training, as well as build online and on-ground community gatherings for all faculty, administrators, and staff. She will also focus on creating and maintaining activities for student engagement.
We are excited to welcome Dean Leyland to the SSU family. To learn more about her past experiences or get in touch with her visit: https://ssu.edu/member/constance-leyland-d-b-a-dean-of-undergraduate-studies/
Claudia Araiza, PhD
Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs/Chief Academic Officer
Southern States University
