Conversation with Mario Pierce

A conversation with Mario Pierce

Associate Dean of Campus Operations

With only a couple of months under his belt at HCC, Associate Dean of Campus Operations Mario Pierce is already feeling at home here and is excited to make a real impact on campus.

Mario comes to Housatonic with master’s degrees in both industrial psychology and occupational health & safety management. He received the two degrees from the University of New Haven (UNH), while serving as a Resident Director in the Residential Life department, and then went on to build a career. Mario spent 15 years at UNH in a number of positions, starting in Student Affairs and ending in Facilities as Senior Director of Space Management and Technical Services. He spent seven years in that position, responsible for university scheduling and events, energy and sustainability, residential facilities, small projects/renovations and moves.

“If you shook a house upside down, everything that fell out of it was mine to manage,” said Mario. “People assignments, things being done inside, interior renovations and aesthetic-based items such as signage and painting.”

In comparison to Housatonic, UNH is a mid-sized private school, and Mario is already feeling like he can relate to our students because of his own background. To be able to attend UCONN for his undergraduate studies and UNH, Mario applied for scores of scholarships and took the leadership positions of RA and RD to pay for his schooling and housing.

“Having had to really work hard to go to school and have that opportunity, I relate to HCC students a bit more. In this position, I think I’m able to reach the community more than I was able to at a mid-sized private school that costs a lot of money to go to.”

For the last couple of months, Mario has been diving in, learning how HCC fits into the CSCU Students First initiative.

“My primary goal is to understand all the changes that are going to occur, and understand how I can provide stability in our campus operations as we navigate through all of these changes. Also, we need to map out where we need to go and how we need to adjust so that we remain fluid and operational through all of that. Additionally, with Dr. Smith coming in and having a great vision on where he wants to take Housatonic, I want to make sure I align operationally in support of that.”

Investing in our infrastructure is top of mind for Mario.

“I’m working to make sure we have the basic infrastructures in place – emergency procedures, committees and policies, and all that sort of stuff. I’m working on getting a lot of those things lined up so we’re on solid footing, so it’s more about growing than it is about making sure we have the necessary structural components already in place.”

Additionally, Mario is implementing a Call For Projects program, whereby every HCC team member has an opportunity to provide input into what we need for space. He wants to know the things you’ve been thinking about, what existing spaces you think need renovation or simply paid more attention to. From that input, a comprehensive list that gets vetted, prioritized and becomes the ask that he’ll make for our capital program.

“Not everything will move forward, but we do want to give everyone at the table a voice and capture all of the requests. Nothing falls off the list, I keep that list, refer to it, and every year update and add to it. That becomes a key component of future master plans.”

What’s his favorite part of the job? Being involved.

“What always energized me about operations is that you play a part in everything. You’re involved in all aspects of what goes on in the college. I get to be involved in everybody’s stuff, they need bits and parts of the services that we provide to do their things, so I feel like I get to be part of everybody’s action and I love it. My goal is to help them accomplish what they set out to do and how I can best help them do that. That’s the part I love most about the job; that it touches every part of the college.”

Final comments:

“I’ve been really touched at how welcoming everybody at HCC has been. I know things are a bit different now because of COVID, but I’m really excited to get to meet and know each member better and find out what their needs are and how we can help them. I know there has been a lot of transition in this area at HCC, and want to let everyone know that I held my last position for 16 years. To me, this is not a stepping stone to something else. I plan to be here for a while and I want to provide some stability and growth to help meet their needs.”

Mario lives with his wife, Heather, sons Brayden (6) and Connor (4), dog Riley and bearded dragon Mushu. Mario and Heather are expecting a daughter in February.