The Office of General Counsel is pleased to announce a newly created Compliance Office. This office will be led by Jonathan Wagner and Mechelle Gehle-Wann in the positions of Co-Director, Compliance & Risk Management. In these roles, Mechelle and Jonathan will work collaboratively to direct the coordination of the University’s compliance activities among the University’s departments to ensure that the institution remains in compliance with Federal, State and Local regulatory guidelines, requirements and best practices. These higher education compliance matters include the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, institutional safety, records retention, Title IV, Title IX, Clery Act, FERPA, ADA, OSHA, EPA and others. They will also be responsible for the planning, direction and administration of the University’s overall risk management program. Mechelle and Jonathan will report to Maria Schimer, General Counsel and Chief Technology Transfer Officer.
Mechelle has been working as Assistant Director of Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety within the department of Campus Operations having progressed through several positions of increasing responsibility over the last 29 years. As Assistant Director, Mechelle has had the opportunity to lead the University’s safety and industrial hygiene efforts, develop loss control initiatives for the University’s risk management program, administer the occupational health and safety programs necessary for research funding, licensing and accreditation and develop and deliver multifaceted safety and compliance training programs across the institution. In addition, she has served as ad hoc member to the various research compliance committees on campus providing expertise on health, safety and research compliance issues. Mechelle earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Akron in natural sciences and biology respectively, and her master’s in business administration from Kent State University.
Jonathan has been working most recently as Director of the Business Strategy, Innovation and Purchasing department. Prior to this role, he served as Applications Development Manager within the Information Technology department. In Jonathan’s time within Business Strategy, Innovation and Purchasing, Jonathan has had the opportunity to lead the internal Business Strategy & Innovation Committee on re-engineering and continuous improvement efforts, as well as develop solutions to reduce costs and deliver services and identify opportunities for realignment. He also provided guidance and direction to all University departments and affiliated companies regarding purchasing and risk management. He earned both his bachelor’s in computer science and master’s in business administration from Youngstown State University.
Mechelle can be reached at mgw@neomed.edu or ext. 6494. She will continue to work out of her current office, P-3, in the Campus Operations suite. As part of this transition, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (EOHS) will now report through the Compliance Office to the General Counsel. Jesse Zampedro will assume management responsibility for the daily operations of EOHS programs as Mechelle assumes her role as Co-Director. Jesse will also continue to work out of his current office, P-7, in the Campus Operations suite and can be reached at jzampedro@neomed.edu or ext. 6496.
Jonathan can be reached at jwagner@neomed.edu or ext. 6243. He will continue to work out of his current office, G-223, in the accounting suite. Moving forward, Dori Parker, current Business Process Analyst, will be serving as point regarding purchasing and continuous improvement initiatives alongside Kathryn Chudakoff, Controller. Purchasing can be reached at purchasing@neomed.edu or ext. 6802.
Please join us in congratulating Mechelle and Jonathan on their new roles with the University and stay tuned as we continue to update you about their roles and the efforts of the Compliance Office during the transition.
Submitted by Mechelle Gehle-Wann