WWU forms new office of Risk, Compliance, and Policy Services

WWU has formed the Risk, Compliance and Policy Services (RCPS) unit, according to Associate Vice President of Business and Financial Affairs Brian Sullivan.  The RCPS unit will provide a range of institutional services and oversee the University’s risk management, compliance, public records, policy, and rules (WACs) development activities.  RCPS will be a consultative resource and service provider to the University that will collaborate with executive, division, college and unit leadership, who have substantive responsibility for managing their risk, compliance and policies.  An important aspect of this collaboration will be the creation of an enterprise-wide, structured approach to identifying, assessing and managing key risks of the University as it pursues its mission, vision and strategic goals. 

Paul Mueller, CPCU, has been promoted to director of RCPS effective Sept. 26; he has been the University's Risk Manager for the last 17 years.  Joining him in the RCPS unit will be Dolapo Akinrinade, Nicole Goodman and Jennifer Sloan. 

RCPS’s Nicole Goodman will become the University’s newly designated HIPAA Privacy Officer effective Dec. 1.  In addition to her Business and Financial Affairs roles as Compliance and Policy coordinator, Goodman will oversee, monitor and coordinate the University-wide HIPAA compliance program in partnership with Western's Information Security Officer, Linc Nesheim.  Sullivan also thanked Dr. Emily Gibson, director of  Student Health Center, for voluntarily assuming oversight of HIPAA compliance for the last 10 years.