Joseph Kovolyan Will Not Settle in Order to Make a Difference

10/14/2024

Joe Kovolyan’s journey in grounds management has included collaboration, relationship building and networking to establish his career, and the process has taken him from New England to the Pacific Northwest to Tennessee. Now at the University of Missouri, he is taking on his latest challenge.

FacilitiesNet: What was your first facilities-related job? 

Joseph Kovolyan:It was Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire. It has 1,300 acres and was connected to Harvard University as a prep school for their future students before becoming recognized for its own academic excellence. 

I was the turf and landscape manager for the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and we had built up a great reputation for our public parks, gardens and athletic fields. Many times, I worked on projects that interacted with Harvard and MIT, since both campuses were in the city limits. 

I oversaw a large park renovation project that included play structures, athletic fields, play showers, lighting and irrigation. The contractor, landscape architect and I developed a good working relationship, and they both asked me to provide input on other projects. They knew their grounds and automotive manager was retiring, and they were looking for a replacement. They told me about the Phillips Exeter job, and they told Exeter’s director about me. He came from Harvard and reached out to his connections to follow up on me even before I applied. 

My experience and work ethic, combined with the mutual connections and endorsements, helped in a very competitive application and interview process.That partnership worked so well that six years later, I was asked to rejoin that director at another university 3,000 miles away. 

FacilitiesNet: What led you from that job to your current position? 

Kovolyan: My current jobhas been driven by many factors, both personal and professional. My wife and I left the Pacific Northwest 2.5 years ago when I had an opportunity to join Vanderbilt University. It's an amazing university, but last Christmas, I received an email through LinkedIn from a recruiter at Missouri. I almost deleted it but for some reason saved it and read it later. The job description was extremely intriguing, and after reaching out to talk with the recruiter, I was very interested. My wife and I drove six hours to the campus, and I was so impressed with the campus and the area that I applied and was offered the job. 

FacilitiesNet: What accomplishments in your career are you proudest of? 

Kovolyan: It’s a mixed bag of accomplishments for different reasons. I became heavily involved with the Professional Grounds Management Society (PGMS), which eventually led to me being the organization’s 100thnational president. It’s the oldest and largest society of grounds professionals in the country. Many of its members work at colleges and universities. I formed its first branch in the Pacific Northwest, and we held a national summer conference in that area. 

During my time at PGMS, I became more aware of national recognition for beautiful campus landscapes by organizations such as The Princeton Review. I was at a small private liberal arts university (was this Vanderbilt?) but always thought we could compete with the big guys. When we were named one of the top 10 most beautiful schools by The Princeton Review, I felt I had accomplished my biggest personal goal. 

I’ve reached that time in my career where I get more joy from helping my current and past teams reach their own goals and objectives. To see them be promoted or move to other institutions and carry on some of the ideas, teamwork attitude and attention to details they experienced with me in their new management positions, it’s the same feeling when you plant a tree knowing its full impact won’t be felt until after you’re gone and knowing that you have left a legacy and positive impact. 

FacilitiesNet: What has surprised you the most about facilities management? 

Kovolyan: Two things come to mind. The first is the impact you make on others. At a university, it’s the students, staff, faculty, alumni and local community. The other is the feeling of being part of a team with people that may have different roles but work together to meet the goals and objectives of facilities operations. 

For example, the way an underground utility project can combine the arborist for tree protection, electricians, IT and plumbers for infrastructure, construction for concrete and asphalt, landscape services for irrigation turf and plant repairs, along with administration to track, process and document and marketing, which uses signage and social media to inform and update the community. 

FacilitiesNet: What is one thing you would change about your career if you could? 

Kovolyan: Many over the years have questioned why I would trek across the country and try so many different opportunities. It's because I never wanted to have to answer this question with regret or what ifs. I always want to be challenged and not just settle, to continually learn and teach others, make a difference, enjoy what I do and be a positive influence for others, and to have taken more time to step back and appreciate what I had accomplished instead of just plowing forward to the next project, goal or issue. 

Dan Hounsell is senior editor for the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.