Vice President for Finance and Administration Kelly Fox provided the following update in an April 17 email to the Rice community:
Please join me in welcoming Don Dennis, Wiess '81, to Finance and Administration. Don will be overseeing the Rice Real Estate Group and leading the Capital Excellence Initiative within F&A. Don joins Rice with extensive experience in the industry and, as an alum, a rich understanding of our university and ambitions as we progress forward.
Don has spent his entire career in the commercial real estate industry, starting with real estate banking in 1981. The projects he has worked on have varied in size and complexity, from corporate office facilities to large-scale industrial speculative and build-to-suit projects. He is experienced in fast-track development, design-build and third-party construction in multiple states. This broad perspective will enable F&A to provide the services needed to deliver on Rice’s new strategic plan.
In addition to welcoming Don to the team, I am excited to share some recent org changes within F&A that will better align our services.
- New! Campus Safety Department
- Our new Campus Safety Department will consist of the Rice University Police Department, Crisis Management and Environmental Health & Safety. Additionally, lab operations will now report to Kathryn Cavender and the department will now be known as Environmental Health, Safety and Lab Operations. Aligning these departments will allow for greater opportunities for synergy, enhanced collaboration and sharing in resources. An internal search for an Associate Vice President of Campus Safety will commence in the coming weeks.
- New! Real Estate & Facilities Department
- With Don Dennis at the helm, the offices of Real Estate and Facilities & Capital Planning (formally Facilities Engineering and Planning) will now be housed within the new Real Estate and Facilities department. Bringing these interconnected offices together will ensure alignment and broaden our expertise for both internal and externally focused initiatives. Anzilla Gilmore will continue to serve as the interim associate vice president overseeing Facilities & Capital Planning. Energy sustainability, led by Richard Johnson, will remain under Gilmore’s oversight.
- New! Campus Services and Sustainability Department
- A new Sustainability Operations department is being created to highlight F&A’s commitment to creating a more sustainable and inclusive campus environment.
- In addition to Sustainability Operations, Housing & Dining, Parking & Transportation, Delivery Services and Disability Support Services will also report into the newly created Sustainability & Campus Services Department.
- Mark Ditman will serve as interim senior associate vice president until his retirement in June. A national search will be conducted for his successor.
- New! Office of Change Management
- Given the high demand for change management support across the F&A initiatives, a new office staffed with termed positions is being created under the department of Operational Excellence & Engagement. Staff members will be assigned to strategic initiatives to guide and deliver on change management and project management activities.
- New! F&A Centralized Business Support
- Gerilyn Gordon will begin offering centralized business support for F&A. In this new capacity, she will assist F&A departments with finance and HR-related transactions.
- Reorg — Compliance and Risk Management
- The Office of Compliance and Risk Management will now report to the Office of General Counsel. This positions both groups to work more collaboratively on their complementary priorities including compliance, risk and legal guidance.
I will discuss these changes in more detail at the next Administrators' Forum, which will be scheduled soon.