Meet the Student Success Team
David Lerman
Senior Director, Student Success and Support
dlerman@pvcc.edu || 434.961.5430 || B215
David enjoys working with students to help them reach their full potential through personal growth, development and the accomplishment of acquiring an excellent education. He has run the PVCC community garden since 2007 and enjoys talking about books, hiking, plants, and cooking. Once upon a time he dropped out of college to sell used cars during a recession - so he's very passionate about you staying in school!
Bill Edwards
College Success Coach
wedwards@pvcc.edu || 434.961.5497 || B227
Bill Edwards is a College Success Navigator for the PVCC Student Success Office. Bill is eager to meet with students to help them plan for success in college and find the resources they need to succeed. He has 14 years of experience as an English professor at PVCC and other Virginia community colleges, and greatly appreciates the interactions he has had with students. In his free time, Bill likes to spend time outdoors observing birds and other wildlife. He is an avid woodworker.
Debbie Ashby
Student Success Coach
dashby@pvcc.edu || 434.245.2637 || B207
Debbie has worked as a counselor in many different capacities from the West Coast to the East Coast, from high school to higher education. She is passionate about helping students find their goals and explore options to achieve them. Debbie is in her 10th year working at PVCC, including her time as a Career Coach in Charlottesville High School. Being a first-generation student raised by single mother with limited income, Debbie is in touch with many of the issues students face at PVCC. She loves helping others! Outside of work, Debbie is active in the community, enjoys local adventures, and spends much of her time exercising, reading, and playing with her dog, Boomer!
Jhen Sullivan
Student Success Coach
jsvullivan@pvcc.edu || 434.961.5497 || B227
Jhen is a long time PVCC Panther who knows first-hand the journey of getting back on track in school after getting tripped up by life. After a few years of figuring things out and finding support from PVCC's awesome faculty and staff, she graduated with her Associate of Science and a Career Studies Certificate in Graphic and Media Arts. Since 2021, she has worked in various jobs at PVCC, such as a security guard and a graphic designer. Now in her role as a College Success Navigator, she loves being able to meet with students and support them in achieving their goals. Outside of PVCC, she enjoys video games, creating art and doing Wikipedia deep-dives about whatever topic has caught her interest in the moment.
Chris Allard
Student Success Coach - Workforce Development
callard@pvcc.edu || 434.961.6527 || B261
Chris has served for several years as a Network2Work@PVCC Coach, helping those in our community who are not making life-sustaining wages enroll in short-term training classes at PVCC to help them move forward onto a career path that will lead to much better wages and opportunities to better provide for themselves and their families, while addressing whatever barriers they face that have held them back from moving forward. Chris recently joined PVCC’s Student Success team as well, furthering her reach in helping more people in our community unleash their potential by enrolling and succeeding in the vast selection of classes that PVCC offers, leading to real jobs. One of Chris’s greatest inspirations in life, always helping to guide her toward compassion, acceptance and hope, has been the countless pets she’s loved and shared her life with.
Sandra Bullins
Assistant Director of Student Accessibility & Accommodations
sbullins@pvcc.edu || 434.961.5285 || B214
Sandra has a unique perspective when it comes to academics and how a person defines success. She took on college being completely blind, working full-time, and raising a family. Sandra enjoys working with students, supporting them along their own unique journeys, and understands firsthand the barriers that could be in place, slowing their pursuit to their goals. Sandra co-advises the Strings and Things Student Club and can often be found with a yarn and hook not too far away. When she is not at work, Sandra loves crocheting special things for friends and co-workers, playing trivia games of all kinds, cooking, and pushing the boundaries. If you stop by her office on campus, you will always be welcomed with a warm smile and “Hello”, a basket full of sweet goodies and treats, and if you’re lucky…an introduction to her 4-legged office mate.