Sarah Varnadoe, staff writer
On June 30, Director of Employer Engagement Mark Kozera will retire. Kozera graduated from Berry in 1979 with the titles of student government president and Mr. Berry before returning as faculty. He dedicated 11 years and 11 months of his life to working at his alma mater.
Kozera has helped shape programs that current students use like Viking Connections and Handshake. Kozera also fostered relationships with the Rome community through the Community and Industry Jobs Program (C&I Program).
Dean of Personal and Professional Development and Kozera’s current boss, Marc Hunsaker said that Kozera was influential in creating numerous professional relationships outside of the “Berry Bubble”.
“Mark has done a really fantastic job of building up and building out the C&I Program, he has built really great relationships with a number of community partners and employers in the Rome community over the past decade,” Hunsaker said.
Team members at the Center for Personal and Professional Development (CPPD) agree that the relationships Kozera has formed with the Rome community, Berry alumni and current students are invaluable.
Heading the replacement search commitee, Director of Career Development Nancy Burkett will meet with the other committee members on Feb. 25 to review applications. The next person in Kozera’s role will report to Burkett rather than Hunsaker as the current situation is. Hunsaker said that whoever fills the role is expected to continue to strengthen the relationships Kozera has formed and utilize a virtual space. Virtual spaces would include online career fairs, as events continue to move online.
Kozera has worked to mentor many of his coworkers, a factor that will keep his knowledge within Berry. Kozera is also willing to pass on his knowledge to the candidate who gets the job.
“Mark has offered to stay in touch, [to] continue supporting our office and students,” Burkett said. “He’s offered to help train his replacement.”
There are still bittersweet emotions revolving around his retirement, especially within the CPPD. All of his coworkers described a feeling of sadness about his leaving. His impact was on past and present Berry students, as well as the members of the CPPD. Abby Mayne, CPPD’s graduate assistant office and events manager, had a special relationship with Kozera as both his mentee and colleague.
“He has mentored me and connected me to multiple internships,” Mayne said. “Even [in] my own professional journey working alongside him, I’ve learned from him, but I was also that student that he connected”
Still, the CCPD expressed excitement about Kozera’s future. Kozera wants to use his future to continue to aid others as well as to travel with his fellow Berry alumna and wife, Holly.
“I want to volunteer,” Kozera said. “[I’m] thinking about getting into grant writing for nonprofits. [I’m] going to the Bahamas and swimming with the fishies for a couple of weeks immediately after retirement. We’re gonna travel and take the slow road out West.”
Even with the excitement, Kozera is still sad at the thought of leaving the school he has been a part of for so long.
“I’ll miss working with the students, Berry is a community I want to stay involved [in]. I’ll miss many of the professionals, staff [and] faculty that were here” he said. “I just feel really fortunate.”