The Civil Service Council will feature a civil service employee at Illinois State University each month to highlight an exceptional colleague and the outstanding work being done on campus! This month get a chance to learn about and applaud Andy Reilly from Facilities Management.
What is your position on campus and how long have you been with the University?
I am the maintenance coordinator in Facilities Management. While I have been with the University now for almost 15 months, I have only been in my current role for five months, so I am still learning the ropes. Prior to my time in Facilities Management, I served as the assistant athletic director of facilities and operations with the Athletics Department.
What do you find most rewarding about your work?
I love the work we are currently doing around campus, as not only are we doing our best to maintain our facilities, but our team is always looking for ways to enhance our spaces to improve the experience of our students, faculty, and staff and provide them with the best opportunity for success. I also love working with our team within Facilities Management, especially our trades, and collaborating with our campus partners. But I think the most rewarding part of my role is the opportunity to make a difference and have an impact on the success of our students. When I first began my career, one of the driving factors for me to want to be in college athletics was I wanted to make a difference and do everything possible to help our student-athletes be successful. While I may have pivoted from my initial plan, I now have an opportunity to have an impact on our entire student body by playing a small part in enhancing their learning environment.
What are your hobbies or favorite pastimes?
I am definitely an outdoor enthusiast. I love going on road trips/adventures, hiking through our state and national parks, discing, camping, running, playing pickleball, and hanging out with my dog, a seven-year-old Brittany Spaniel/Australian Shepherd named Sophie. I am also a Peloton enthusiast and sports fanatic, and you can always catch me cheering on my Brewers!
What else would you like others to know about you or your time at Illinois State?
Illinois State University has really grown on me in my short time here and I feel fortunate to be in the position I am today. I love my new role here on campus, the team around me has been nothing but supportive, and I am excited for the opportunity to continue to learn and grow. I’ve actually been inspired to the point that I recently applied to the graduate program here at ISU, and this semester I start class as a graduate student in the project management program.
More about Andy from Preston Sweeney, assistant superintendent of building maintenance:
Andy comes to us from our campus partners at Athletics. Andy has a background in athletics and has worked many places in a facilities capacity. He joined our team recently and brings a fresh perspective and healthy appetite to learn. As the maintenance coordinator, he is responsible for the coordination of maintenance work on our academic buildings and supervision of maintenance projects around campus. He serves as a liaison between Facilities Management and our campus partners to make sure our buildings are maintained and prepared to ensure our students have an enjoyable learning experience. Andy is a quick learner and not afraid to dive headfirst into the unknown. He has a natural eye for detail and is learning our construction process along with our vast amount of campus infrastructure faster than anticipated. It takes a lot of work to keep this guy busy and he is always looking for additional ways to help. On a personal note, Andy possesses a dry sense of humor in my opinion and has blended right into our “work family.” When Andy joined our team, I was unsure of how much experience he was bringing to the table. I decided to throw him into a few projects of different levels of complexity knowing I would be there for any questions and guidance he would possibly need. He surprised me! He adapted quickly to our process and continues to learn at a rapid pace. Our team has high hopes for Andy and are very excited to have him as an addition to our team.
