Rich Wiltse named interim vice president for Facility Operations

DePaul University Executive Vice President Sherri Sidler has named Rich Wiltse interim vice president for Facility Operations, effective Oct. 31.

Wiltse, who currently serves DePaul as director of Facility Operations, will lead the department while the university undertakes a national search for a permanent successor to Bob Janis. Janis is retiring from DePaul this fall after 48 years.

Sidler also announced Rick Moreci has been named associate vice president for auxiliary services, formalizing a role he has served since May.

Both men have long tenures with DePaul, dealing with the day-to-day responsibilities crucial to a smooth-running university.

"I have the utmost confidence in Rich and Rick to continue our great work in Facility Operations and to build on the legacy Bob Janis has left us," Sidler says.

Facility Operations covers everything involved with providing a well-maintained, comfortable and safe environment in which to learn and work. Its staff of more than 150 employees and hundreds of contractors handle such areas as construction and renovation, campus housing, food service, security, parking, and cleaning and maintenance of university buildings.

Wiltse has worked for DePaul his entire adult life, first being hired into a library position while an undergraduate, then becoming a full-time associate in housing before he'd even completed his bachelor's degree.

He has been a leader in the department for a decade, since becoming director of Facility Operations for the Loop Campus. In 2017, he was promoted to oversee operations on both campuses.

Along with his BA from DePaul, he also holds an MBA from the Driehaus College of Business in operations management.

"You think about the capital investment to build a building, and that's where the flash and the panache is," Wiltse says. "But over the lifespan of that building, you actually spend far more operating it: maintaining it, repairing it and running it. Our work — how we operate and maintain DePaul's buildings — has such strategic impact to the institution."

Wiltse and Moreci have worked alongside one another since the early 2000s, when Moreci joined the Housing Office after completing graduate studies at Loyola University Chicago. The two are part of what Wiltse describes as "a deep bench" of Facility Operations leadership.

In 2009, Moreci was named director of housing services. In 2018, he also began overseeing dining services and DePaul's student centers. With this promotion, he will now lead such areas as the Ray Meyer Fitness and Recreation Center, campus parking and the bookstores.

"People who work in Facility Ops tend to really love the work they do," Moreci says. "The one thing that's constant for all of us throughout the division is a sense of purpose and knowing that we're making a difference — for the betterment of the university and the betterment of the student experience overall."