Rick's higher education experience began at the University of Kansas from 2000-2003, where he was the Assistant Director of Financial Aid.  In his role as the Assistant Director, one of his areas of responsibility was support of athletics compliance.  He was the department liaison with the KU Athletic Department. During his tenure as the Assistant Director and athletics compliance liaison, Rick developed expertise in athletics compliance as well as the role of student support programs on student success.  Additionally, during his time at KU, he demonstrated his passion for community and sports by coaching.  He coached a competitive Lawrence youth baseball team to the 2001 Douglas County Houk-Ice League Championship and a travel youth baseball team to the USSSA Kansas State quarterfinals in 2002.

After completing his master's degree, Rick launched his community college career in Southern California when he became the Financial Aid Director at Golden West College in Huntington Beach (2003). Because of his desire to connect with the diverse student body at California community colleges and hone his teaching skills, he also taught as an adjunct faculty member.  During 2004-2005, Rick was elected to serve as the Vice President of the California Community Colleges Student Financial Aid Administrators Association (CCCSFAAA). As the Vice President, he also served as the Chair of the CCCSFAAA Federal Issues committee. The CCCSFAAA body acknowledged Rick's contributions to the association and Financial Aid profession by awarding him the President's Award in December 2005 at the 36th Annual Conference in Sacramento, California. 

Rick became the Dean of Student Support Services at Cypress College in 2006.  As the dean, he was also the Director of the Extended Opportunity Programs & Services (EOPS).  His other areas of responsibility included Financial Aid, CARE/CalWORKs, the Veterans Resource Center, and Student Activities.  Under Dean Rams' leadership, the departments have thrived and grown to, not only serve more students, but to offer more services to the ever-increasing program populations. For example, the EOPS program has doubled the student intake and now provides support services to over 1,200 students.  The increase in students has resulted in a corresponding increase in funding, and consequently an increase in services.  Newly implemented to the EOPS program since Rick's arrival are: (2) full time tenured counselors to provide high-touch counseling services, free bus trips to northern and southern California colleges where transfer students can explore the campuses, a Grads-to-Be program which serves undocumented students and connects them to the services they need for success, a robust Guardian Scholars Program which grew from a handful of students to its current at-capacity enrollment, and additional services too numerous to mention.

When Rick arrived at Cypress College the Veterans Resource Center (VRC) was staffed by one part-time Classified employee and offered part-time counseling services to the few veterans that took advantage of the program and benefits.  Rick lobbied for and hired a full time VRC Counselor/ Coordinator to grow the program and provide the services veteran-students deserve.  The VRC program has become a flagship among California community colleges with its cutting-edge services.  The veteran-students were the driving force behind the successful bond measure which mandated funds for a new $16 million Veterans Resource Center which is scheduled to open soon along with the renovated Student Activities Center (SAC).  Rick led the implementation of the VRC and SAC by soliciting input from students to design a building that would be responsive to their needs.  The new SAC will house the newly-implemented Food Pantry which provides services to Cypress College's most vulnerable student population.  Students receive groceries as well as clothing and other basic needs requirements.  Additionally, they are connected to partner organizations to address their housing, mental health, and other needs not met on campus.  Under Rick's watchful eye and because of his experience and dedication to students, the Student Support Services programs have flourished and grown to accommodate more students and provide them with more services uniquely created to support their success.

As one who believes in lifelong learning, Rick enrolled in the University of California, Irvine doctoral program and received his Ed.D. in 2009.  As a graduate student, Rick was disturbed by the media and numerous scholarly reports documenting the "failure" of African American students across all segments of higher education.  He conducted one of the first studies in a California student support program to explore the factors that contribute to African American students' success rather than failure.  The study focused on how African American EOPS students view their experiences at California Community Colleges.  As a scholar-practitioner, Rick believed his study could inform the development of a model to help other educators promote student success, particularly among African American males, who were and continue to become, less visible on campuses in California's higher education system.  Dr. Rams' race-conscious model of success has informed the planning, implementation and ultimately historical success and completion rates, not only for African American students under his leadership, but all of the students served by the programs under his direction at Cypress College. 

As the new dean, Rick served as the President of the Orange Empire Conference (OEC) from 2015-2017 where his responsibilities included the coordination and facilitation of administrative meetings, legislation, and policy issues among member institutions.  As part of his continued service to the OEC, Rick has served as the Orange Empire Representative for Men's & Women's Golf since May 2013.   He hired new Kinesiology instructors to transition the division from Physical Education to Kinesiology, which is a more competitive program in the local community. The division also added an Associates Degree in Public Health to complement our offerings. He continues to work collaboratively with Athletics staff to secure funding and prioritize the renovation ​of several facilities. To date, Rick has been instrumental in leading improvements to the Soccer Field, Baseball Field, Gym I and II floors, acquisition of industry-standard equipment and supplies, upgrades to the conference-mandated facilities requirements, new media and sound technology, and championship recognition signage and aesthetics.  He fought to modernize the outdated Fitness Lab equipment as well as to add Beach Volleyball in 2014 and Men's Water Polo in 2019 to the curriculum.  Because of his experience in support services, Rick understands that for many underserved students, athletics is their gateway to a higher education, and for some their scholarship ticket to a transfer university.

Rick cites the creation, funding and launch of the Student Athlete Success Center (2016) as one of his greatest accomplishments at Cypress College.  Due to the tireless efforts of the faculty and staff athletics team, the Student Athlete Success Center has elevated success, retention, and graduation/transfer rates, particularly for Latinx and African-American student athletes.​ Additionally, the highest historical cumulative Athletics department GPA was achieved in Spring 2020. The Athletics department at Cypress College has been lauded as a "model Guided Pathways program" by Cypress College President, Dr. JoAnna Schilling. Moreover, during our 2017 WASC Accreditation Site Visit, student surveys concurred that Athletics was a campus community strength, based on the results of the surveys sent to all students about the campus climate. 

Cypress College Athletics has been a beacon in the community since our founding in 1966. Under Rick's leadership, the Cypress Athletics Hall of Fame was reinvented and reinvigorated.  Past Hall of Fame members are remembered and celebrated in a new display created in the Gym II lobby (2017).  Newly inducted members are recognized bi-annually with a celebratory reception and awards ceremony.  In 2018, Cypress College Athletic marketing and sports information was cited as a model program and "best practice" by the California Community College Athletic Directors Association (CCCADA) and their marketing affiliates.  The recognition came as a result of Dean Rams' efforts to present a more cohesive branding, social media, media, and student athlete storytelling campaign which included the team mascot "Charlie the Charger", which had long-since been retired.

Dean Rams' dedication to student success in his roles as administrator and adjunct faculty member have demonstrated his value to the students he serves and to the college.  Because of the depth and breadth of his experience he has an intimate understanding of the learning and support needs of the students.  His mission has always been and remains, to help students prepare for success in their postsecondary goals and to succeed in their personal lives as well.  Each year at graduation, the thousands of students Rick and his teams have helped, give testimony to the influence the Cypress College staff have had in their lives.  His team is rewarded as each student steps up to receive their diploma.  

In 2007, Rick was named by OC Metro Magazine as one of the "Top 40 under 40" entrepreneurs and young executives in Orange County for reaching and excelling in higher education. As part of his service to the local community, in November 2018, Rick was elected as the Buena Park Library Trustee during the California General Election and serves a term through 2022. As of December 2020, Rick serves as the elected President of the Board of Trustees.