Staffer Prioritizes Building School Culture
Around a table at Paper and Clay, Georgia Tech’s on-campus pottery studio, the staff of the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy (SCP) gathered for one of its regular team-building exercises.
The outing, organized by Director of Research Operations Mary Helen Hayes, is one of a series of activities designed to bring the school’s staff together to foster close relationships between peers. Developing staff culture has been a priority for Hayes since she started at SCP in January 2024.
“These types of events build trust and remove perceptions,” she said. “It brings together leadership and employees to show that we are all rowing the boat together.”
Soon after she was hired, Hayes attended a meeting to help shape SCP's culture. The fledgling school and its new staff had yet to develop a culture of their own, and Hayes saw an opportunity to draw on her experience planning staff outings to bring people together early on.
It started with a staff retreat over lunch in 2024. Hayes built a playlist based on the staff’s favorite songs, and the group played icebreakers. From that point forward, SCP staff outings included ceramic pumpkin painting contests, holiday ornament decoration, and more.
The school also sponsors a welcome breakfast each fall for SCP students and, more recently, hosted a food drive. Both organized by Hayes.
“Mary Helen has the rare talent to bring process improvements to life while bringing people together, creating lasting improvements that benefit SCP, the College of Computing, and the Institute,” said School Administrative Officer Jan Morian.
While staff culture has become one of Hayes' most visible contributions, it is only part of her impact on SCP. In her two and a half years at the school, she has launched training on research proposals, travel, and expenses. She has also established regular meetings among faculty, administrative, and finance staff and created methods to expedite undergraduate hiring and research proposal intake.
“I have been at Georgia Tech for about 15 years now, and I looked back on my experience when coming up with new processes for the school,” she said.
Before joining SCP, Hayes was a financial manager and administrator at several Georgia Tech departments. In 2024 she was hired by SCP as the assistant director for financial operations.
Now as director of research operations, Hayes supports 26 school faculty and oversees a team of four research administrators. She oversees all financial operations for the school including proposal development, sponsor compliance, post-award administration, financial reporting, and award closeout activities.
Hayes runs a tight ship, a fact she will freely admit to. Her department is organized down to the filing system to keep everyone on the same page. Her team of four staff each bring their own strengths to the school’s finances, and Hayes has made sure they are cross trained so there is coverage if someone is out.
“I want to make sure my team can rely on each other,” she said. “I want them to be able to ask questions and admit if they don’t know something.”
Just as dedicated to the culture of her own team as she is with the overall, Hayes encourages her colleagues to engage in career development conferences and courses. She also was vocal in the job families effort to ensure her staff receive job titles that reflect their day-to-day responsibilities.
To develop her own career further, Hayes is currently enrolled in the MBA program at Georgia Southern University through the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) offered to full-time employees by the University System of Georgia. She also received the Outstanding Staff Leadership Award from the College of Computing.
Rather than waiting for challenges to arise, Hayes looks for opportunities to improve workflows before they become obstacles. She regularly gathers feedback from colleagues, refines procedures, and documents best practices to ensure knowledge is shared across the school instead of remaining with a single person.
