President's Appreciation Award Nomination Letter
Kevin is recognized throughout the BYU and higher education communities as a tax and regulatory accounting expert. He is an adept counselor who applies his deep technical knowledge to craft practical processes and policies. These processes and polices serve the students, employees, and business partners while complying with the appropriate laws and regulations. His clear communication skills effectively inform on complex matters in a way that allows decisions to made efficiently.
Kevin has served as a key member of the Financial Services Directors Counsel for more than 20 years. In that capacity, he has significantly influenced and guided university policies and administrative operations. For a similar period, Kevin has been a diligent servant-counselor as a liaison to several campus controllers. In this role, he trains, provides technical and operational guidance, and counsels on administrative relationship matters.
Early in Kevin’s BYU experience, he was a key member of the team to install the current enterprise resource planning system, which was successfully implemented on a very compressed timeline. The team’s work provided the backbone of BYU’s financial and human resource systems, which has been in place for more than 20 years.
Serving for almost 10 years as the controller of the Jerusalem Center and a member of the management committee, Kevin’s insightful support has helped guide the Center’s operations and programs to bless the lives of students and positively affect the reputation of BYU and the Church in that very sensitive part of the world.
With the Israeli government’s efforts to contain COVID-19 and BYU’s focus on student and faculty safety, the Jerusalem Center was effectively closed in March 2020. Together with the Center’s management team, Kevin adapted quickly to those changes. He provided sound financial counsel to support needed decisions to set staffing levels, accelerated CNA projects while the Center was closed, and frequently updated budgets to adapt to the changing environment.
During the remote COVID environment, some faculty and other employees moved or were considering moving to different states or countries. These situations exposed BYU to significant compliance risk and potential administrative burden. Kevin co-led a team with the Office of General Counsel (OGC) to address the situation. In a short period, they proposed the now out-of-state work policy which, after careful consideration, was accepted by the President’s Council. He also was a careful listener when the academic areas were concerned that the policy would limit the available pool of adjunct faculty. Kevin and the OGC again collaborated to identify and implement a solution that met the teaching and compliance requirements.
Kevin is a trusted, informal mentor from whom several individuals know they would find an understanding ear, a straight answer, and helpful advice.