UPPS Spotlight: Kristen Croyle

As a safety and security specialist, Kristen Croyle has discovered the impact that building compliance has on the safety and security of everyone at the University Park and Commonwealth campuses. 

In her position, Croyle helps to monitor the 3,471 swipe card readers, key access, and over 6,000 cameras that are located at the University Park and Commonwealth campuses.  It is also her responsibility to maintain access control into all buildings that have card swipe and key access. 

Croyle and her team also aid police in investigations that involve cameras on campus, and/or swipe card access records. She often assists in maintaining audits to ensure that each building is compliant with regulations and policies.

When asked what she enjoys most about her position, Croyle explained that she enjoys working in a team setting.

“It’s not an ‘I’ situation, it’s definitely a team aspect,” Croyle said.  “I could not do what I do on a daily basis without the Physical Security team, and we all work together so well.”

Croyle began her career at Penn State in 2016, but she is no stranger to working with law enforcement and other public safety officials. At 19, Croyle applied for the police academy, which led to a 27-year career as a police officer. Throughout those years, Croyle served with three different police departments in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania. 

As a police officer, Croyle was a certified instructor on homeland security, defensive tactics, defensive driving, and hostage negotiations. She also served as a senior police officer and a field training officer before retiring in 2016. 

When not at work at Penn State, Croyle also serves as the deputy coroner in Huntingdon County, where her family resides. 

With her busy schedule, Croyle does not have much free time, but when she is not working, she enjoys making wood-burning crafts that are sold as Christmas ornaments, magnets, coat racks and wilderness scenes on slabs of wood. She also enjoys watching her 16-year-old daughter play soccer for the high school team and for a traveling club team.