New leadership for Privacy, Title IX offices as well as Physical Plant Division

Elizabeth Ruszcyk assumes role of executive associate vice president for privacy and compliance

Following the retirement in June of Susan Blair as UF’s chief privacy officer, Elizabeth Ruszczyk assumed oversight of the UF Privacy Office. In her new role as executive associate vice president for privacy and compliance, Ruszczyk will serve as the UF-wide chief privacy officer, reporting to Senior Vice President and COO Charlie Lane.

Ruszczyk’s new role at UF is in addition to her continuing role as the vice president for compliance and privacy for UF Health. The dual roles and reporting arrangement will further ensure the coordination of compliance activities across the academic and clinical units of UF and UF Health.

Ruszczyk brings extensive experience and expertise to this expanded compliance role. She has worked at UF Health Shands since 2001, serving in the roles of privacy officer and chief compliance and privacy officer before assuming her current role for UF Health Shands in 2010. She has also had a privacy and compliance role in the UF Health Science Centers since 2013.

Ruszczyk received her bachelor’s degree in communication from Florida Atlantic University, graduating with high honors in 1994, and her law degree from the University of Florida, graduating with honors in 2000.

Ruszczyk will continue to report to Ed Jimenez, CEO of UF Health Shands, in her role as vice president for compliance.

Melissa Nunn joins UF as Title IX coordinator

Last month, Melissa Nunn became the university’s new Title IX coordinator. Nunn is pursuing a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and earned her master’s in Family, Youth and Community Sciences from UF and her bachelor’s in communications and theatre arts from Mercer University. She served as Mercer University’s Title IX coordinator prior to joining UF.

As UF’s Title IX coordinator, Nunn will take on primary responsibility for monitoring, supervising and overseeing all compliance related to Title IX, which protects individuals from discrimination based on gender. She will lead the university’s efforts to prevent discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation and intimate partner violence.

Prior to working as Mercer’s Title IX coordinator, Nunn’s duties included serving as the school’s Title IX investigator, where she worked closely with the Title IX coordinator, assisted in training faculty and staff investigators, served as a neutral party though all aspects of investigations and created comprehensive reports summarizing investigations. She also served on various sexual assault task forces and committees while working in Mercer’s Office of Residence Life.

Mark Helms appointed assistant vice president for the Physical Plant Division

Mark Helms will assume the role of assistant vice president for UF’s Physical Plant Division, effective Sept. 16. Helms has more than 30 years of university-related operations and maintenance experience and most recently held the position of director of facilities operations at Virginia Tech. Additionally, Helms assisted Virginia Tech with leadership transition by serving as interim associate vice president/chief facilities officer.

During his career, Helms has held progressive and strategic planning responsibilities for operation and maintenance of educational and general assignment space including operations engineering, university design standards, building trades, storm water management and permitting, non-capital renovations, utility infrastructure, utility master planning, deferred maintenance, a cogeneration energy plant and much more.

In his new role, Helms will oversee direct services for UF buildings, common areas, streets, sidewalks, landscaping, utility systems and more in support of the Physical Plant Division’s mission to maintain and improve a physical environment conducive to learning, teaching, research and service for UF students, faculty and staff, and visitors to campus.

Helms holds a Bachelor of Science from Bluefield College and is a member of various professional associations.