Thank You, Christi Hartzler

We wish you the best in your retirement

Posted Friday, March 30, 2018 @ 12:19 PM

At UCF, we don’t say good bye. We say good Knight. For 35 years, this Knight’s armor shined exceedingly bright, but today, Christi Hartzler begins her next chapter as we wish her the best in her retirement.

Christi joined the University of Central Florida in 1982. At the time, UCF was home to 16,000 students, seven residence halls, and 10 Resident Assistants. Christi’s first UCF job was that of area administrator for the residence halls; responsible for 863 students living on campus.

During her tenure, Christi held multiple positions within UCF Housing; including Area Administrator, Associate Director, Director of Residence Life, Director of Housing, and her current role, Residence Life Executive Director, Housing and Residence Life.

We asked her co-workers to share their favorite memories of Christi. Meredith Varner recalls her 16 years working with Christi.

Christi has always been a wonderful person to work for. I have been here at UCF Housing and Residence Life for almost 16 years, and I can honestly say that she promotes such a caring and supportive atmosphere that folks want to stay a long, long time. In particular, I am thinking of one spring semester where we were really overbooked for incoming spring residents, and we were not going to have space to house them all. We had already confirmed them for housing, meaning that they were expecting to have a space, but we did not get the projected cancellations, as we had in years past. I was getting pretty anxious about what we were going to do with all of these extra residents, and brought the issue to Christi. She was so supportive in offering ideas, back-up plans, and reassuring me that we would find a solution. We did eventually find space for everyone, even though we used some unconventional approaches. While this is a small example, it is indicative of Christi’s leadership and supervisory style. She is a leader who serves behind the scenes by supporting staff and making sure that we have what we need to help make students successful. I want to wish Christi all the best with her new adventures in retirement! We will miss her so much here at UCF, but her impact on the institution will continue, even while she’s enjoying a New Hampshire sunset or relaxing in her Orlando garden.

Sandra Brasch will remember Christi for her selflessness.

Christi is the type of leader who always puts her people first—literally. She will be the last one in line for any meal or gathering. She always wants to make sure her staff are taken care of first. She genuinely gets to know people, asks questions and remembers the details of our families and lives. I remember when I worked in an office near Christi a few years ago, there was a period of a few months when things were very busy for my role. We were short-staffed in my area and I got into the habit of working extra hours in the evenings, here and there. Frequently, Christi and I would be the only two left in the building when I left. At some point, I realized that she was staying for me. She stayed late just so I wouldn’t have to work alone. That exemplifies my time working with Christi—she cares deeply and she quietly supports her people. I will miss Christi so much, but am so happy for her that she gets to enjoy her retirement. Christi, thank you for all you have done to make Housing the most amazing place to work. You created family here that I love to be a part of.

Peter Mitchell is thankful for the opportunities Christi provided him.

I had only been working with Housing and Residence Life for a couple years and Christi was tasked with developing new student housing. She brought me along for the adventure. She allowed me to assist with the financing, which gave me an opportunity to work with UCF Administration and Finance, private banks, and the Division of Bond Finance. I remember being invited on a trip to University of Florida’s campus to look at housing that had recently been completed. Ultimately, that housing project at UF would lead to what is now the Lake Claire Community at UCF. She invited me to meetings with the architect to rework the UF plans and make it a UCF project. I was invited to all of the constructions meetings and was allowed to be more than just a fly on the wall. Christi didn’t need me for the project. She allowed a relative newbie to student housing in his 20’s an opportunity to get his hands dirty and find out what it took to build student housing and for that I am grateful.

Richard Berwanger learned from Christi to see the big picture.

This is about an interaction I had with Christi very long ago when I was new to UCF—one that would define our working relationship, and in just a short time, allow me to understand how I would establish and set priorities. Most of us would be indifferent to a flower pot, and in most cases, not even take a moment to notice it. I was like that in some ways until I made the decision, on my own, early in my career, to remove several of them in AV. They were not very productive due to irrigation issues so plants in them did not survive, so as an unnoticed accent piece, I thought what the heck, get rid of them. Wrong! The reaction was swift and pointed and I quote, “don’t do that again. I picked those pots and they looked wonderful.” To most, that would be a boss that looked to be micromanaging, but for me, just starting out in Housing, I felt I needed to dwell on this and look past that to see what was valued in that encounter. Through the next year, what I learned was that it was not about the pots, but what they represented; a piece, a visual, a conscious decision to enhance a community. A piece of someone putting a part of themselves into the lives of others; an impact. A vision for what each carpet color, or window treatment did for a building, what impact a decision, without team input, had on a resident, what a potential resident’s parent would see when first coming to campus. Time and time coming back to the little things, the small things, those details that people in positons of managing the big picture so often take for granted. Christi taught me so much, most importantly to take time to see what a small piece does to the big picture puzzle. This attention to detail and care is what has made UCF Housing what it is today and is just one example of the respect, love, and appreciation of the people who have come to share in Christi’s days. I thank you for you mentoring, for caring, and for always taking the time to listen. Well done and God Bless you on your next chapter.

Tamara Jones recalls Christi’s passion for her work.

In 1990, after many attempts to secure avenues to build more needed housing on the UCF campus, Christi Hartzler reached out to a former colleague, the Director of Housing at the University of Florida, to obtain permission (at no charge) to use the floorplans that UF had just built from. Without her knowledge, connection and friendship with Mr. Jim Grimm from UF, UCF probably would not have received permission to build this 702-bed apartment facility. Christi worked diligently on this effort and was further able to seek approval from the architect (KBJ) in Jacksonville, to use their services at 50% their normal fee. She continued leading the charge and UCF Housing was eventually able to secure financing through the State Division of Bond Finance.
As a young coordinator, I remember watching how passionate she was about this project and how tireless her efforts were. After much study, evaluation, and a year of providing documentation, the Division of Bond Finance sold AAA rated tax exempt revenue bonds to fund the construction of the Lake Claire Apartments.
Her passion and relentless efforts exerted in order to secure this housing made such an impression on me. I don’t think the Lake Claire Apartments would have ever come to fruition without her.
I have always said that the Lake Claire Community Center should be called the Hartzler Community Center!

Veronica Livesay explains that Christi’s impact on UCF will always endure.

I first knew Christi as Associate Director of Housing when I worked for Vice President Lee Tubbs in Student Affairs back in the 80’s and 90’s. I believe we only had around 800 beds at the time. During the course of the next several years (actually many years), Christi was promoted to Director and became our go-to expert on developing and constructing new housing on campus. If you had to sum up Christi’s legacy, just look around you. Each housing community has her mark on it. She spent tireless hours on these projects being very hands-on, choosing every element and making sure the “i”s were dotted and the “t”s were crossed. Christi has always been a “can do” person and she is kind, caring and always willing to go the distance to see a project to completion. It’s been a pleasure to work with her these long years and she deserves only the best in her upcoming retirement!

Christi and her husband Mark raised their family in the UCF community. Their children, Jennifer and Jeff, both graduated from the UCF Creative School for Children, attended summer camps on campus, and selected UCF as their first choice for college. Jennifer graduated with an economics degree and Jeff obtained his degree in hospitality management.

Christi plans to split her time between Oviedo, Florida and Meredith, New Hampshire. Swimming laps will be one of her new priorities. Christi hopes to volunteer in both communities and help her neighbors where she can.

Thank you, Christi.