Mozley-Bryan to receive 2019 Award for Administrative Excellence

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Karen Mozley-Bryan, manager of facilities in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, has been honored with Penn State's 2019 Award for Administrative Excellence.

The award, established in 1970, is given to a faculty or staff member whose performance, methods and achievements exemplify the highest standards of administrative excellence.

Colleagues say Mozley-Bryan is a master planner who manages buildings, equipment and technology at several locations across campus. Because communications technology is ever-evolving, colleagues said she’s tasked with keeping pace with the technology while ensuring its availability and reliability for both faculty and students.

She manages the largest budget in the college and oversees the most staff members. She’s also the college’s liaison with the Office of Physical Plant (OPP) for maintenance, construction and repairs.

“This combination of responsibilities means that in a single day she may be meeting with administrators about large purchasing decisions, fielding complaints or requests from faculty members, driving out to the television studios or equipment room at Innovation Park to help staff tackle a challenge or plan for space needs, placing work orders with OPP for any number of maintenance and repairs, huddling over blueprints to solve a location challenge, filing an audit report or reviewing a policy proposal or walking to our research lab downtown to meet with faculty members about their needs,” a nominator said.

Mozley-Bryan’s other duties include:

• Assisting with the selection and coordination of internal and external engineering and architectural resources and other professionals for project development throughout the design and construction process
• Serving as department, college or unit representative for ongoing initiatives and committees
• Hiring, training, supervising and evaluating staff and technical service employees
• Evaluating proposed changes and enhancements to quality improvement practices