By Kristina Michel
The accomplishments Sally Rowland-Ketley has made in her 18 years as director of Printing and Postal Services at the University of Houston are too numerous to count.
To name just a few, she drove the merging of the Printing and Postal departments, she defied outsourcing trends at the time and encouraged UH Postal Services to take on mail services for student residents, and she encouraged internal training and development of workers by becoming involved in local printing and postal professional organizations. She also spearheaded the modernization of UH Printing Services by adopting digital printing technology.
“We went from taking pictures in a dark room to using computerized plate systems,” said Rowland-Ketley. “Of course, you’ve got to keep up with the times, but at the end of the day, what’s most important is that we’re putting out a quality product.”
That quality shows in the numerous local, regional and state industry awards Printing Services has won since Rowland-Ketley became director. This year alone, Printing Services swept the Division I category – winning all four trophies in that category – of the Printing Industries of the Gulf Coast’s 2017 Graphic Excellence Awards. The department also won Best Implant Entry for an unprecedented fifth consecutive year.
Rowland-Ketley also oversaw the redevelopment of the University’s mailing address system. Beginning in 2015, UH Postal Services worked closely with the city of Houston and the United States Postal Service to assign every building on campus its own physical address.
Now, every building at UH has a unique physical address that can be found on web mapping apps like Google Maps. In addition to helping ensure more timely delivery of mail and packages to student residence halls and faculty and staff offices, this project will improve emergency services by allowing 911 dispatchers to more quickly locate people in need of aid.
Considering all she’s accomplished as Printing and Postal Services director, it’s hard to imagine that Rowland-Ketley did not start out working in printing or postal services. She and her husband moved from Haslett, Michigan, to Houston in 1981. After working in banking for a few years, a friend contacted her and asked if she was interested in managing the postal services department at First Interstate Bank of Texas.
“I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing. I learned everything as I went, but it got me interested in the postal services area,” said Rowland-Ketley.
Unfortunately, she was laid off six years later.
“I came in one Monday, and they called me upstairs,” said Rowland-Ketley. “After they told me they were letting me go, they immediately escorted me out. I had to wait outside for them to give me all my office stuff. The problem was I had taken the park-and-ride to work, and services didn’t start up until 5 p.m. that afternoon. It was 10 a.m. when they escorted me out. So my boss reached into his pocket and said, ‘Here’s $20. Take a cab.’ I was devastated.”
After 18 months unemployed, a friend recommended Rowland-Ketley take a contract job at Xerox Business Services in downtown. There, she learned more about the printing industry. Eventually, she was promoted to a full-time account manager. Her biggest accounts were Compaq Computers Corp. and Enron.
Her job required a lot of travel back and forth in different parts of Houston. It had also exposed her to the drawbacks of outsourcing. Finally, in 1998, Rowland-Ketley decided it was time to leave Xerox Business Services. She took a position at the University of Houston as manager of Postal Services.
In 2000, she was asked to step in as interim director of UH Printing Services. When the new director who was hired didn’t work out, she was asked to become acting director. She agreed on the condition that Printing Services and Postal Services be combined into one department.
After 20 years at the University, Rowland-Ketley has decided to retire in February. Even though she is looking forward to retiring, what she’ll miss the most are the people in her department, many of whom she’s known for years.
“We’re like a family,” said Rowland-Ketley. “We’ve gone to baby showers, weddings, high school graduations, funerals. I’ve been part of their lives, and they’ve been part of mine. I’ll miss that interaction.”
She plans to spend retired life doing more exercising and traveling. She hopes to travel to Canada, to England and to visit with family in Michigan.