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It’s no surprise, justice and respect are two of the Our Common Ground tenets that resonate most for Kelly Riel. The �պ����� alum and staff member since 2009 said, “for me, I feel like it all comes back to justice and respect – especially in my work.” She's not wrong.

As the Clery Act Coordinator, a position situated within Police Services, Riel’s work dictates both discretion and sensitivity given the serious nature of reporting and investigating campus crimes. According to Riel, it’s a job that requires the ability to balance privacy, with what the campus community and greater community need to know, and the Clery Act, a federal statute that dictates what universities must disclose including their security policies and crime statistics.

Finding a balance between keeping information private vs. communicating to the community and the government, is a challenge and a process Riel respects. “Sometimes I wish I could share more information, but it’s important to understand that we can’t because we need to protect the privacy of the person who experienced that incident,” said Riel who acknowledges that preserving the integrity of the investigation can be at odds with the public’s demand for details.

Confidentiality is imperative according to Riel who understands the community’s desire for more information about cases of alleged crimes on campus. A strong proponent of transparency, Riel has witnessed the university taking a more open and thoughtful approach over the past few years.

“Public transparency is really important around public safety stuff and it’s one of the things that I have worked really hard to do with Police Services,” said Riel. She credits the leadership of �պ����� Police Chief Tim Bilodeau, campus partners in the Office of Equal Opportunity, and the partnerships throughout campus for their cooperation and sensitivity during the investigatory and reporting processes, and for talking more openly about crime, how to report a crime,  prevention, and resources and recovery options for students, faculty and staff.  

For Riel, job priorities focus on being mindful about the privacy of involved parties, maintaining the integrity of the cases, and communication. “I'm kind of uniquely situated to always try to push to make sure we’re on the leading edge of transparency, making sure we’re disclosing everything we can to the public,” said Riel. “I think that’s not only good for our Police Department, but it’s good for the �պ����� community too, to be able to say, oh, this is what the Police are doing,” said Riel.

Like many staff at �պ�����, the nature of Riel’s work is chiefly “behind-the-scenes.” Given the private nature of the work, and the fact she works remotely much of the time, being nominated for the Our Common Ground Staff Award was a bit unexpected. “I feel like I’m often kind of in my own little corner,” she said continuing, “I work with people all across campus, but I don’t really have a public role.”

Seen or not, her commitment to justice and respect were clearly visable, resulting in her nomination for the award.  “I always want to make sure that I am respecting folks that I’m working with and interacting with, and I always try to do my best to be good to other people and give them that respect,” said Riel who added, “and, I’m really passionate about justice.”

Aside from her job, Riel’s work in advocacy and justice on and off campus, including her involvement in laying some of the early groundwork for staff unionizing, is something she feels proud of. “It feels really nice to be acknowledged and recognized – it feels nice to be seen.”

Other proud moments include some of the innovations she has helped orchestrate including upgrading the crime tracking system from a manual tracking system to fully integrated system allowing for greater efficiency, integration of a daily crime report, and the ability to streamline data needed for compliance with the Clery Act.

Job aside, “the feeling of community and support to innovate and try new things” is a big benefit to being a part of the �պ����� community according to Riel. An example for Riel came in 2016, when after watching the Olympics she approached the personal training program through �պ����� Athletics about learning how to lift weights, “properly,” she said with a chuckle. Being able to access the gym as an employee is something she is grateful for and it’s something she has grown enthusiastic about. Her weightlifting hobby also just so happens to parallel her job as the Clery Act Coordinator which can be a heavy lift.

“The incremental nature of the progress and growth, you slowly improve, there’s a lot of satisfaction,” said Riel who sees her love of weightlifting and the systemic improvements she has made as the Clery Act Coordinator since 2016 as testament to her personality.

“It’s hard to describe or name it specifically, about the kind of growth where you grind away at something a little bit at a time and then suddenly one day you’re like, oh hey, I’m better at this thing than I used to be – You learn, you grow, and you improve. Maybe you’ll only lift one extra pound, but you still lifted one extra pound.”

“That feels really compelling,” concluded Riel.