After 14 years of dedicated work at Kent State University, Monica Moll is ready to start another chapter of her career.

Moll, former Lieutenant in the Kent State University Police Department, was appointed University police chief and director of public safety Nov. 30. Her experience at Kent State ranged from investigative work to nine years as crisis negotiator on the regional Metro SWAT.

She replaces Jim Wiegand, who worked at the University for 12 1/2 years as police chief and director of public safety.

“It’s been a pretty smooth transition, and that’s one of the things that attracted me here,” Moll said. “Kent and BGSU are sister institutions, and policing on the two campuses is very similar. I think it’s a really good fit here for my experience up to this point.”

Moll has an associate’s degree in criminal justice and a bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of Akron, as well as a master’s degree in public administration from Kent State. She is currently working toward a doctorate in public policy and political science at Kent State.

As police chief and director of public safety, two titles often combined at universities, Moll is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the police department and public safety as a whole on campus. This also includes overseeing the parking department, the student escort program and the campus shuttle service.

“Campus policing is sometimes tricky because it’s service-oriented,” she said. “You have to be prepared for the worst case scenario, yet still be very good at operating even when those things usually aren’t happening. Our mission is still the University’s mission: a safe environment for education.”

John Peach, police chief at Kent State University, said he has been able to watch Moll “mature on the job” since he hired her straight out of the police academy. He attended Moll’s swearing in and said he “couldn’t be more delighted with her appointment at Bowling Green.”

“From the beginning she showed a lot of potential and made it clear she wanted to advance in her career,” he said. “Most of her career is still ahead of her, and I have no doubt she will be one of the most outstanding police chiefs in the country.”

Moll’s credentials and passion for professional policing made her an excellent candidate for the University’s open position, Peach said.

“She has great interpersonal skills and is a person who pursues moral and ethical decision making,” he said. “It’s great that she’s getting this experience working in an upper administrative position.”

Peach was part of the University’s search committee that selected Moll out of 63 applicants in mid-October, headed by Marsha Serio, employment and employee relations manager, and Sean FitzGerald, general counsel. The committee began its search in June and included 12 representatives from different branches of the University.

“As a result from all of the interview processes, the overwhelming response we got from the committee was that Monica would be the best candidate for BGSU,” Serio said. “She’s creative, open and energetic and I think that she will take our public safety department to a new level.”

As the University Police transition into the College Park Office Building next semester, Moll said she will adjust to the new environment and then assess what her next steps will be for the department.

“I’ll probably spend the semester evaluating what we have now and deciding what works and what isn’t working,” she said. “You don’t make changes when things are going well. So I need to meet each and every employee and discuss what it is they want, and what we need to do to take us to the next step of professionalism.”