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The College of New Jersey Magazine
No one was more prepared to take on the challenge of cataloguing and storing the college's
supply of personal protective equipment than the athletics department.
Already equipped with an inventory system that tracks every item administered to the
college's student athletes, Liz Shatkus, senior associate director of athletics for facilities and
operations, and her team flipped the algorithm on its head. Instead of jerseys, football pads,
and soccer balls, Shatkus, Matt Beym, and Casey Saverio were now itemizing face masks,
hand sanitizer, and gloves.
"We had the tools to do it, so it seemed natural to try and get everyone what they needed,"
she says. "We're in a pandemic. The best thing you can do is be helpful where you can."
Working with the college's PPE task forces, the team coordinated with the mail room to
collect, categorize, and distribute the supplies across campus. "We were joking that we
created a PPE headquarters in the racquetball court," Shatkus says. "A tiny Amazon."
Front: Liz Shatkus
Back: Casey Saverio (left),
Matt Beym
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