Craig Zaccaro is January Employee of the Month

According to Alecia Bryan, director of advancement communication for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS), Craig Zaccaro “will likely be horrified we’ve all banded together in support of him for Employee of the Month. And to that, I say, too bad.”

It’s a funny quip, written in bold, in Bryan’s nomination letter for Zaccaro. But it is a sentiment echoed in all the nominations: Among his many accolades and exceptional qualities, it is Craig Zaccaro’s humility that perhaps best demonstrates why he was named January Employee of the Month.

Zaccaro, associate director of IT and application development for CHSS, likes to say that he’s been at Mason since he was two years old. “I learned to walk in the hallways of the Psychology Department,” he jokes; his father, Stephen Zaccaro, has been a professor of psychology at Mason for more than 30 years. After graduating with his BS in marketing from Mason, he returned for an information technology certificate. He took a part-time job as a web designer for the School of Integrative Studies (SIS), which turned into a full-time role. 

“I’ve been at Mason ever since,” he said.

Zaccaro is now in the dean’s office of CHSS. Much of Zaccaro’s work, according to his nominators, is behind the scenes. He is responsible for the college’s web system—CHSSweb—which hosts more than 70 websites representing CHSS departments, programs, and centers, as well as Mason Korea’s site. He oversees new web editor trainings, server maintenance and protection, application development, and more. After the departure of his senior director, Zaccaro has also taken on the technical project management of the CHSSweb visual redesign and serving as supervisor for his two colleagues.

His nominators describe his work as “innovative,” “focused on accessibility and inclusivity,” and a “proactive approach to improvements and maintenance.”

One theme in Zaccaro’s nominations is his admirable focus on finding solutions. When you come to Craig with a question, his nominators explain, he rarely says “no”; instead, he gets to the core of your goal and your purpose to find a solution that both meets your needs and fits within the systems and structures in place.

“He is currently doing double the workload and still makes time to dedicate to your question or problem,” explained Stephanie Sheridan, visual resources curator in the Department of History and Art History. “He never makes you feel rushed for time, or like a burden on his schedule.”

“Beyond his technical skills, Craig’s commitment to helping faculty and staff with software installations and troubleshooting issues was invaluable,” said Fu Zhao, senior budget analyst for SIS. “Throughout his time with us, Craig’s professionalism, expertise, and exceptional support undoubtedly had a positive impact on our department’s overall performance.”

Troy Lowery, academic advisor in the College of Public Health, describes Craig as “one who acknowledges all people as both learners and knowers...he intuitively realizes that every person has something to give to and take away from the conversation.”

That sentiment is clear not only in Zaccaro's nomination, but in his responses to the Employee of the Month interview. When asked about his favorite part of working at Mason, he said, “the opportunity to work with and learn from so many great people. In each role I’ve had at Mason, I’ve learned so much from the people I’ve worked with.”

The feeling is mutual.

“Craig is without a doubt one of the most important individuals in the college. He is extremely talented, knowledgeable in many domains, generous with his time and expertise, and above all else, kind,” wrote Jenna McGwin, director of operations and initiatives for CHSS.

“Craig is one of the kindest, most patient, most humble employees I’ve ever worked with at Mason,” said Holly Mason Badra, associate director of Women and Gender Studies Program.

When not fortifying CHSSweb’s infrastructure and supporting his colleagues through IT challenges, you can find Zaccaro on the golf course, warily eyeing the campus geese, visiting his sister and baby nephew in London, England, or enjoying movies like Moulin Rouge!, which, insiders say, is his favorite.