CSU Office of Engagement
& Extension Leadership

Paula Mills

Chief of Staff and Assistant Vice President for Strategic Partnerships

Paula Mills serves as Chief of Staff and Assistant Vice President for Strategic Partnerships in the Office of Engagement and Extension at Colorado State University. In this role, Paula serves as OEE’s foremost strategy officer, oversees a team responsible for linking campus-based resources to community partners, and acts as the primary liaison for intra-university initiatives and collaborations in response to critical community issues.

Paula’s career at CSU has been characterized by leading and collaborating across institutional boundaries to mobilize big ideas in service of the land-grant mission. Most recently, Paula served as Chief of Staff and Operations for the College of Agricultural Sciences, where she stewarded effective strategy development, implementation, and investment and guided efforts in information technology, communications, and strategic partnerships in alignment with the college mission. Paula’s private sector background in consumer packaged goods and small entrepreneurial ventures informs and motivates her interest in working horizontally to maximize innovation and collective impact.

She earned an Honors B.A. in business administration from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario and Master of Business Administration from Colorado State University.

Read the full announcement.

Shannon Archibeque-Engle

Associate Vice President for Organizational Access

Shannon Archibeque-Engle serves Colorado State University as Associate Vice President for Organizational Access. A three-time alum, Shannon is responsible for anticipating opportunities and adapting OEE’s strategy to a changing external environment and an evolving workplace.  Dr. Archibeque-Engle’s portfolio is centered on CSU’s access mission, including defining metrics of success and assessing performance; developing training programs; mentoring employees in improving program access; and representing OEE on issues related to organizational success. 

Born and raised in Colorado, she holds bachelor’s, master’s, and a Doctor of Philosophy, all from CSU. She serves as an ex officio member of CSU’s Provost’s Council for Engagement and was recognized in 2024 with CSU’s Oliver P. Pennock Distinguished Service Award.  

Karen Schlatter

Director, Colorado Water Center

Karen Schlatter was appointed director of the Colorado Water Center in 2025, after joining the Center as associate director in January 2023. Schlatter brings academic, nonprofit, and public sector experiences in managing complex water challenges with a deep commitment to building partnerships and the ability to engage in conversations across Colorado’s water community.

Schlatter joined CSU from the University of Florida Water Institute where her work included facilitating multi-stakeholder/academic teams to achieve shared goals around water management through collaborative, interdisciplinary research. Prior to her role at UF, she served as associate director of the Colorado River Delta Program at the Sonoran Institute, where she focused on building cross-sector and international partnerships to support large-scale ecological restoration, effective binational water management, and community engagement in the Colorado River Delta region.

She earned a Bachelor of Science in biology from McGill University and a Master of Science in environmental studies from the University of Colorado Boulder. She served as an agricultural extension volunteer in the Peace Corps in Paraguay.

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Matt McCombs

Director, Colorado State Forest Service and State Forester

Matt McCombs serves as Colorado’s State Forester and the director of the Colorado State Forest Service. Prior to that role, he served in a variety of leadership roles in Washington, Colorado, and North Carolina for the USDA Forest Service, beginning as a Presidential Management Fellow in 2008. His career has spanned both natural resources and forest management, as well as other government work, having served as an aide to members of Congress in both Colorado and Montana.

McCombs is also a veteran, having deployed to Iraq in 2003 as a combat medic with the Colorado Army National Guard and serving as a Medical Service Officer in the Montana Air National Guard, where he achieved the rank of captain before leaving the service in 2012.

Learn more about the Colorado State Forest Service

Eric McPhail

Field Director and Assistant Vice President for Extension

Eric McPhail serves Colorado State University’s Office of Engagement and Extension as the Field Director and Assistant Vice President for Extension. In this role he guides the success of Extension in developing and championing initiatives across CSU’s network of regional and county offices that advance our land-grant mission of access and service to communities across Colorado. 

With a deep appreciation for the mission and people of Extension, Eric has served Colorado as a 4-H youth development and agricultural agent, Gunnison County director, and Western region director. His approach to the work is centered in collaboration, partnership, and teamwork. Prior to joining CSU in 2006, Eric managed a large cow-calf and farming operation in Texas, and served as a graduate research and teaching assistant in Animal Science at Texas A&M. He holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Texas A&M University. 

Michelle Stanley

Chief Academic Officer for CSU Spur

Michelle Stanley serves as the Chief Academic Officer for the CSU Spur campus where her responsibilities include overseeing the K-12 and visitor engagement mission, academic programs and the research portfolio at Spur. 

Previously to this role, she was interim vice provost of undergraduate affairs at the Fort Collins campus, associate dean of undergraduate studies for the College of Liberal Arts, and chair of both the Department of Music and the arts management program. As a faculty member since 2006 at CSU, she was professor of Music, where she taught flute studies. As a performing artist, she has been both an active orchestral flutist as well as a soloist, performing both nationally and internationally. Her recordings can be found on all platforms on the Navona record label.

Michelle spends her free time gardening in the summers, going to all kinds of concerts year-round, and trying lots of new recipes in the kitchen.

Michael Compton

Colorado 4-H Youth Development State Director

Michael Compton joined Colorado State University’s Office of Engagement and Extension in 2023 as the Colorado 4-H Youth Development State Director. He brings over 20 years of experience working in the higher education and nonprofit sectors and is committed to serving as a youth development leader, educator and advocate. 

Prior to joining CSU, Michael worked in progressively responsible roles within the 4-H land-grant university extension system, including at the county level for Iowa State Extension and Outreach, the regional and state levels for the University of Minnesota Extension’s Center for Youth Development, and most recently for National 4-H Council. In this role he focuses on growing an innovative statewide 4-H program that provides accessible, quality and impactful learning experiences to all young people in Colorado. He holds a bachelor’s degree from St. Cloud State University and a master’s degree from Morningside University. 

Dezarai Brubaker

Senior Director, Operations

Dezarai Brubaker serves as the Senior Director of Operations for CSU’s Office of Engagement and Extension with a focus on finance. In this role, she provides strategic leadership for the division’s financial planning, budgeting, and fiscal management, ensuring resources are aligned with organizational priorities and support the division’s mission of outreach and community engagement.

With more than twenty years of experience at CSU, Dezarai brings extensive expertise in financial stewardship, budget development, and resource allocation. Throughout her tenure, she has played a key role in strengthening financial processes, supporting responsible fiscal decision-making, and advancing the division’s long-term financial sustainability.

Originally from Wyoming, she holds both a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Business Administration from CSU.

Julee Stephenson

Senior Director, Marketing, Communications & External Relations

Julee Stephenson serves as senior director of marketing, communications & external relations for the Office of Engagement and Extension at Colorado State University. In this role, she leads efforts to increase awareness, reach, and engagement with the division’s programs, events and resources, and impact of the division’s work around the state.  

Julee brings over twenty-five years of experience across industries leading organizations and programs, including work in corporate affairs, employee and customer communications, federal/state government affairs, and reputation/brand management. This deep background has fostered her approach to discovering what’s possible in developing people and system-wide processes that enable organization success. She holds an MBA from Johns Hopkins University, a bachelor’s degree from Boston University, and a master’s certificate in project management. She serves on the board of directors for the Association for Communication Excellence (ACE).