Mary Lynn Readey was not on the job long before she was put to the test.
Readey, who has been the associate vice president of Ohio State Facilities Operations and Development since October, had a lot on her plate throughout the first weeks of February, due to the near-record snowfall.
“The challenge is the urgency of things that come up and dealing with the issues that are important but are not as urgent at the same time,” Readey said. “There is a balance you have to find.”
Over a three-day period of heavy snowfall last week, Facilities Operations and Development employed 175 of its workers to clear snow from roads and sidewalks. The department has amassed more than 4,300 work hours and used more than 1,000 tons of salt this season.
Readey’s job includes a focus on supporting OSU’s environment and managing the department’s budget. Despite this winter’s heavy snowfall, Readey said she doesn’t expect the department to exceed its annual budget of about $42 million, with $20 million allocated for maintenance, $16.5 million for custodial costs and $5.5 million for landscaping grounds.
Readey was hired full-time after working during the summer on an interim basis in her present position. She refers to the hire as “an unexpected opportunity,” but knew she was prepared.
Once voted in a peer-rated review as one of central Ohio’s top lawyers, she has had opportunities to experience an array of occupations that led her job with Facilities Operations and Development.
After receiving her juris doctor from the University of Dayton, she began her career as a trial lawyer. She subsequently worked in education law and construction law.
Her position as an executive director of a state agency devoted to the construction of K-12 school buildings has aided Readey’s knowledge about public construction, which is pertinent to her job at OSU.
The skill set that Readey has acquired throughout her career is especially useful to her job at OSU, Ready said.
For example, “being a lawyer involves a lot of problem solving, a skill I can always use,” she said.
Her motivation to improve campus came from walking around university grounds and viewing photographs from the OSU Archives.
“I gain a sense of the history that we want to add too,” she said. “We are stewards for a short period of time in the long history of OSU.”
To ensure there is a vision for the future, OSU is developing a comprehensive framework based on President E. Gordon Gee’s six strategic goals. The framework will help establish a 20- to 50-year vision for the campus and provides a context for smarter decisions about capital expenditures, she said.
Upcoming plans include work on the Olentangy Greenway, the trail that runs alongside the Olentangy River. There are plans to construct a path behind the Drake Performance and Event Center that will connect to a reconstructed path south of John H. Herrick Drive.
She is also working with plans to renovate Park, Smith, Steeb, Siebert and Stradley halls and construct additions between Stradley and Park, and between Smith and Steeb. The first phase is scheduled to be completed for Autumn Semester 2012 and the second phase will be completed in Autumn Semester 2013.
When she isn’t focusing on OSU, Readey enjoys physical challenges. She has climbed two mountains, Mount Rainier and Mount Kilimanjaro. She has also run marathons and cycled in last year’s Pelotonia bike tour fundraiser.
