UTSA appointed Katy Madden as associate vice president for People Excellence. Madden has served as the interim associate vice president of the division since October 2022.
People Excellence is responsible for human resources operations at UTSA and is comprised of four core teams: Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, HR Business Partners and Total Rewards. The division provides key support to UTSA’s prospective, new, current and retired employees.
Its teams are committed to ensuring employees are engaged with the university through opportunities including training, wellness, recruiting, compensation, professional development and more. The strategic and comprehensive support People Excellence provides was key to UTSA’s ranking as a Forbes Best-in-State Employer in 2022 and 2023.
“Katy has already proven to be a valuable asset to the People Excellence team, and we are happy that we were able to tap into our own internal talent to fill this role.”
“We are thrilled to have Katy permanently assume leadership of People Excellence,” said UTSA Senior Vice President for Business Affairs and Chief Enterprise Development Officer Veronica Salazar. “Over the past year, Katy has ensured that People Excellence maintains its focus on the well-being and development of our employees, supporting an inspiring and engaging workplace where they can thrive and feel valued. These priorities align perfectly with our revised strategic destination to make UTSA an innovative place to work, learn and discover.”
While serving as interim associate vice president for People Excellence, Madden prioritized customer focus and identified and instituted operational efficiencies. She also oversaw key initiatives including the expansion of Talent Management’s training and professional development programming, the integration of change management advising services and the recruitment and onboarding of hundreds of new UTSA employees. She also managed a full content migration and overhaul of the People Excellence website, which now boasts a clean, modern look and user-focused content organization.
“Katy has already proven to be a valuable asset to the People Excellence team, and we are happy that we were able to tap into our own internal talent to fill this role,” said Mary Hernandez, senior associate vice president for administration and operations. “Katy’s commitment to fostering an environment for employee success and her forward-thinking leadership will help us continue to pursue innovative excellence in a rapidly changing higher education landscape.”
Madden brings over 20 years of leadership and 18 years of human resources experience to her position. She joined UTSA Business Affairs in August 2021 as a senior manager on the HR Business Partners team. In April 2022, she took on the role of executive director of HR Business Partners and Talent Management before assuming the position as interim associate vice president for People Excellence in October 2022.
Prior to joining UTSA, Madden served as a talent acquisition director and as a divisional vice president for a Fortune 500 company, where she led recruitment and human resources strategy for a workforce of over 70,000 people in North America and overseas.
