Coleen was born in Heidelberg, Germany while her father was in the military. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Utah State University and took additional classes in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning. For the past sixteen years Coleen worked at USU. Her last position was Executive Secretary to the Director of the Ecology Center. When her husband accepted a position with the Weber School District they moved to Ogden and Coleen was hired as the Secretary for Services for Multicultural Students. WSU is the third university she has worked at. The University of Puget Sound in Washington State being the first. Coleen says that she really enjoys working with the students and staff at Weber State University.