Staff
Deputy Director of Admissions – Jordan Austria Verador
Jordan is the Deputy Director of Admissions for Virscend University. He graduated from Chapman University, where he majored in Business Administration, with an emphasis on Entrepreneurship, and minored in Data Analytics.
Chief Financial Officer – Lesley Chen
Lesley Chen, the CFO of Virscend University, has an MBA with a concentration in Finance and an MS Accounting degree from CSULB. Her work includes four years as an Accounting Associate for CSULB and seven years as a Senior Accountant for a large technology company in California. She works in conjunction with the CPA, auditor, administrators, faculty, and board members to develop income statements, balance sheets, cash flow analysis, and manages the budget. She is a skilled presenter that is able to share the needed information with all stakeholders so that they can make data-based decisions.
Provost - Dr. Melody Kiang
Dr. Kiang is a Professor of Computer Information Systems. She received her M.S. in MIS from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and a Ph.D. in Management Science and Information Systems (MSIS) from the University of Texas at Austin. She has 29 years of teaching experience at California State University Long Beach and Arizona State University. Her research has been published in top journals such as Management Science, Information Systems Research (ISR), Journal of Management Information Systems (JMIS), and other professional journals. She is the Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Electronic Commerce Research since 2000 (SSCI Impact Factor 1.875) and a member of the Distinguished Editorial Advisory Board of International Journal of Information Management (SSCI Impact Factor 8.210).
Director of Student Success – Ryan Swindell
Ryan Swindell graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a BA in Film and Media Studies and has worked in education for the past seven years. He is responsible for the academic success of current students, through academic advising and registrar services. He is also responsible for the institutional research at Virscend University, which includes data collection, analysis, and storage. He works with faculty to ensure that they have the tools they need to complete assessment.
Director of International Recruitment and Operations – Krystal Yu
Krystal Yu, graduated from Les Roches International School of Hotel Management in Switzerland. She has extensive experience in management, serving as the sales manager of wholesale, OTA at a large, five-star hotel, and the account director for all global accounts. Additionally, she was the Employee of the Year at an academic institution in Irvine, CA before joining the Virscend team in late 2021. Her responsibilities include managing the day-to-day spending of the University, managing the operations and facilities on campus, and human resources activities. She also works as the Strategic Lead for the marketing team at Virscend, which includes planning and executing large-scale marketing objectives for the benefit of the University. Her goal is to increase the interactions between the University and the surrounding community through rapport-building and engagement events.
