Virginia Tech today named an interim director of emergency management and announced its police chief will now report to the school’s chief operating officer instead of the vice president for administrative services.

The moves are part of a process that was under way before the April 16 shootings and are not a direct result of the three “after action reviews” ongoing at the university as a result of the shootings, said Tech spokesman Mark Owczarski.

Owczarki said such administrative moves would not typically be announced in a press release, but they were in this case because of heightened interest in security matters at Tech after the shootings.

John Beach of Salem, director of Tech’s physical plant operations, will serve as interim director of emergency management, as well as keeping his previous job.

The director of emergency management is a new position at Tech. It was authorized in July 2006 and is expected to be filled permanently by this fall.

Beach has experience on several rescue squads and was already involved in Tech’s post-April 16 reviews.

In the other change, Wendell Flinchum, Tech’s police chief, will now report a higher ranking official, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer James Hyatt.

“It’s an illustration of how important the Virginia Tech police department is administratively,” Owczarski said.

The position Flinchum previously reported to is vacant at the moment. A new vice president for administrative services is due to start July 10.

In the release, Hyatt said university police chiefs respond to COOs at several other schools, including the University of Virginia.