Each year, the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) is required by federal law to produce the Annual Security and Fire Safety Report, aka Clery Report, which includes on-campus crime, arrest, and fire safety statistics for the previous three years and features University policies and practices intended to promote safety and security.

The UMB Police Department (UMBPD), Office of Accountability and Compliance (OAC), and Office of Communications and Public Affairs (OCPA) contribute to producing the Clery Report, which involves numerous updates and edits and spans 180 pages, making for a laborious process. For one UMB employee integral to the Clery Report’s production, however, it’s a labor of love.

“I enjoy having a big project to get into the zone with,” said Ananda La Vita, graphic designer, OCPA, who has designed the Clery Report booklet/PDF since 2019. “It’s oddly enjoyable to organize a mass of material into a coherent structure.”

La Vita’s work on the Clery Report and other projects was highlighted Jan. 13 in a videoconference where she was surprised with news that she had been named UMB’s Employee of the Month for January. President Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS, and staff members from UMBPD, OAC, and OCPA were on hand to celebrate La Vita, who thought she was attending a meeting to discuss producing the 2023 Clery Report and was stunned at the announcement of her award.

“Ananda, you have a look of amazement on your face,” Jarrell said with a smile. “But we really are here today to celebrate you. You are the first Employee of the Month of 2023, so congratulations on this great accomplishment. Your colleagues wrote a glowing report about all of your hard work, particularly on the Clery Report, so I know this is a well-deserved recognition.”

Dana Rampolla, director of integrated marketing, who manages the Clery project for OCPA, nominated La Vita for the award, noting her organizational skills in gathering updates from the offices involved in producing the report, which was revamped and redesigned in 2019 to make it easier to read and more aesthetically appealing.

“Ananda has worked tirelessly on the Clery Report the past few years and navigated a lot of changes and requests — many times last-minute requests — for this very long, deadline-driven project,” Rampolla said. “The report has evolved tremendously over the last two years especially, and it has become better aligned with the Clery committee’s goal of generating a solid marketing piece while meeting the Oct. 1 deadline each year.

“Ananda shows great attention to detail, patience for those around her and their varying communication styles, and an ability to meet the deadline with changing and challenging obstacles. I value her involvement when working on a project together because, with these traits, she truly demonstrates what being a team player means.”

Julie Bower, who is assistant director of design services for OCPA and La Vita’s supervisor, agreed.

“Everyone recognizes the improvement in the Clery Report since Ananda has taken it on from a design standpoint and just how organized she’s been in producing it,” Bower said. “I’ve worked on the Clery Report in the past, and it’s a very big project. Ananda has definitely taken a leadership role on this project that is much appreciated.”

Laura Kozak, MA, senior associate vice president, OCPA, said, “The Clery Report is an important project because it helps UMB promote a safe and secure campus for our students, faculty, staff, and visitors. I appreciate Ananda’s hard work and dedication to this report and all of her projects.”

Vanessa Harrington, director of security and compliance, UMBPD, added to the praise.

“I joined in the middle of the Clery Report process last year, and I had 8 million questions and 8 million ideas,” Harrington said. “Every time I wanted to thank someone for their efforts, they kept saying, ‘Thank Ananda.’ So I appreciate Ananda’s patience with the process, and I appreciate that she made everything look good.”

La Vita says her efforts on the Clery Report are motivated in part by her appreciation for Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs and activities. The law overlaps with the Clery Report in relation to institutional response to incidents of dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

“I care about Title IX,” said La Vita, who joined UMB in 2017. “I think it’s an important law, and Clery is an important report. I value the transparency that this report offers to UMB students and employees around crime and how to avoid potential crime.”

In addition to the Clery Report, La Vita designs the UMB President’s Message newsletter each month as well as flyers, digital displays, brochures, and other marketing material for UMB schools, offices, and initiatives such as Launch Your Life, the UMBrella Group, and the Donaldson Brown Riverfront Event Center. She also is OCPA’s go-to person for Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Section 508 compliance on such materials.

Rampolla also praised La Vita’s commitment to accessibility.

“Ananda wears many hats on the OCPA design team, and she is responsible for ensuring the ADA compliance of a large number of digital documents produced by our office,” Rampolla said. “This is a detail-oriented task, and she continuously looks for ways to improve her knowledge and skills in this area to generate top-notch products.”

La Vita, who will receive a plaque, letter of commendation, and a $250 bonus as Employee of the Month rewards, said, “I appreciate the freedom I have to take initiative around accessibility, specifically making PDFs accessible, and to learn more about it.

“I support the concept of universal design — making graphically designed items as easy and understandable to use as possible for everyone,” added La Vita, who said the surprise of winning the award left her at a loss for words during the teleconference.

“I was expecting to be in the background of that meeting, taking notes, and all of a sudden President Jarrell shows up on the screen and he’s addressing me directly, so I was a little shocked by that,” she said. “I’m still a little shocked five days later. But it’s so gratifying to be recognized like that, and I really appreciate Dana, Julie, and all of my colleagues for their support.”

— Lou Cortina