Blogs

From ERM to ERL: Why Higher Education Needs Enterprise Risk Leadership

By Roger J. Ward, EdD, JD, MPA, MSL posted 11 days ago
Consider this new maturation level of ERM programs A New Era of Institutional Uncertainty In early 2025, a provost at a large public research university convened an emergency meeting of her cabinet. The agenda had changed repeatedly over the previous several weeks as a succession of federal policy actions began reverberating across the institution. Proposed changes to graduate and professional student loan programs threatened enrollment projections. New interpretations of federal research requirements raised questions about compliance and sponsored funding. Immigration policy shifts created uncertainty for international students, postdoctoral scholars, ...

Beyond the "No": Building a Collaborative Risk Culture for Student Organizations

By Michelle Powell, ARM, CRIS posted 12 days ago
Empower student leaders to move beyond the "no" by cultivating a proactive, risk-aware culture Different by Design: Cultivating a Risk-Aware Culture At many institutions, the risk management department is perceived as a gatekeeper or the dreaded "fun police." That perception may not be intentional, but let’s be honest: not everyone gets as excited when talking about reducing liability, ensuring safety, etc. From the onset, Florida Polytechnic University aimed to write a different narrative. In October 2023, Florida Polytechnic University established a risk management function to be embedded throughout all levels of the organization, to be perceived ...

The Superhero Capes Are There. You Just Can’t See Them.

By URMIA Staff posted 12 days ago
Help us congratulate our first Risk Hero Spotlight recipients July 2026 Risk Hero honorees (from left) Barry Simays, Justina Geremia, Suzanne Adams, Michael Dunn, and Joseph MacLeod. Doing the Work on Campus that Goes Unseen Every day across higher education, those with and without risk management in their job titles make a difference in ways that often go unseen. Their work extends far beyond policies, procedures, and emergency plans—it happens in the informal conversations that uncover emerging concerns, the practical solutions that prevent incidents before they occur, the trusted relationships that foster a culture of risk awareness, and the ...

Meet a Member Volunteer: Eno Oregbesan

By URMIA Staff posted 12 days ago
Get to know a fellow URMIAn through our member/volunteer profile series What Is Your Current Role and Institution, and How Long Have You Been There I am the director of risk management at Rice University, where I've been for six years and am loving it! My peers across our unit and colleagues within the university are outstanding collaborators, risk-conscious, and they fully embrace Rice's core values of R esponsibility, I ntegrity, C ommunity, and E xcellence. I feel fortunate to work with such committed colleagues and to serve the institution. How Did You Find Your Way into Higher Ed Risk Management I entered higher education risk management ...

The Battery Problem You Already Have: Managing Lithium-Ion Risks on Campus

By Donna Settle, PE posted 13 days ago
Deploy these practical steps that reduce risk Has Your Campus Kept Pace with the Risk Walk across any campus and count the number of lithium-ion batteries within arm’s reach. Phones, laptops, e-bikes, scooters, tools, lab equipment, emergency power systems. The list is long and growing. The issue for higher education is no longer whether lithium-ion batteries are present. They are already embedded in daily campus life. The real question is whether institutional policies, infrastructure, and emergency planning have kept pace with the risk. A Risk That Scales with the Campus Lithium-ion battery risk is not static. It scales. A single ...

Hidden Hazards in Campus Storage: What Risk Managers Miss

By Donna Settle, PE posted 06-23-2026
Recognize these dangers and areas where meaningful risk reduction can begin immediately Casual Storage Habits Increase Fire Consequences On most campuses, storage is not viewed as a meaningful risk driver. It happens in the background. Spaces fill up over time, rooms get repurposed, and overflow from one department ends up in another. It feels manageable because it always has been. That assumption holds until it doesn’t. The issue is not that storage creates fires. It rarely does. The issue is what happens once a fire starts. Storage does not typically increase ignition frequency, but it almost always increases consequences. That distinction matters, ...

Navigating the New Landscape of Student Health Insurance

By Phillip Arrington posted 06-23-2026
Understand recent health policy changes impacting students — and how your institution can respond Changes Have Only Just Begun Higher education risk managers are no strangers to change, but the confluence of federal policy shifts bearing down on student healthcare in 2025 and beyond is significant enough to warrant close, immediate attention. From Medicaid work requirements to the rollback of Affordable Care Act subsidies, the financial scaffolding that millions of college and university students have relied on for healthcare access is shifting — some of which began January 1, 2026, and more coming forward in January 2027. Here’s an outline of ...

Managing Complex Evacuations in Higher Education: Reframing Traveler Support Through Cultural Context and Connection

By URMIA Staff posted 06-23-2026
Integrate cultural awareness into your evacuation programs now to have success when it is needed most Today’s Evacuation Landscapes Demand a Deeper Understanding As higher education institutions expand their global footprint, safeguarding students, faculty, and staff abroad has never been more complex or more consequential amid an increasingly unpredictable global risk landscape. Evacuations are among the most high-stakes moments institutions face. They test not only operational readiness, but also an institution’s ability to uphold its duty of care, support diverse student populations, and make decisions under pressure that reflect both policy ...

Meet a Member Volunteer: Drew Solomon

By URMIA Staff posted 06-22-2026
Get to know a fellow URMIAn through our member/volunteer profile series What Is Your Current Role and Institution, and How Long Have You Been There I am the senior director - risk management at Arizona State University and I have been there 2.5 years. How Did You Find Your Way into Higher Ed Risk Management I was working in the insurance industry and was completing my CRM designation. One of the instructors in the class was a risk manager at a university, and I was fascinated! I kept my eye out for positions, and one opened up at my local university. What Motivated You to Volunteer with URMIA URMIA has been such a great resource for me through ...

Institutional Profiles of Risk Management - Part 15

By URMIA Staff posted 06-22-2026
Discover what the risk management function/structure looks like at other URMIA member institutions If You’ve Seen Two Institutions’ Risk Management Structure… Modifying our favorite phrase from Gary Langsdale, an URMIA past president and former assistant vice president & university risk officer at Penn State University, we would complete the header to say “you’ve seen two institutions’ risk management structure.” We’re sharing the risk management profile of URMIA institutional members to help you see how others are structured and find some fellow URMIAns that you might want to connect with because you have a question about how they operate. ...

Why Integrating ERM and Crisis Management Helps Both Processes Thrive

By Jon Kucskar, JD posted 05-26-2026
Explore the advantages of establishing links between these processes The Current, Common Structure Higher education enterprise risk management (ERM) programs are often embedded into administrative or operational units, whereas management of major crises – particularly “business crises” – typically occurs in ad-hoc executive-level meetings or mission-specific institutional siloes. This separation is a missed opportunity. Integrating ERM and crisis management (CM) provides benefits to both processes – and ultimately the institution itself – in maximizing the strikingly similar skillsets of successful ERM and CM practitioners, building risk leader credibility ...

What the Canvas Outage Has Taught Us

By Deidre Melton, CIA, CRMA, CFE, CISA, CRISC, CDPSE, CISM, CIGI posted 05-23-2026
Evaluate lessons learned from this event to mitigate future disruptions It Wasn't Just an IT Outage The Canvas learning management system (LMS) cyber incident should serve as a wake-up call for every higher education institution. This was not just an IT outage. It was an operational disruption. A student success disruption. A reputational risk event. A vendor risk event. A business continuity event. And ultimately, a leadership governance test. With reports indicating impacts across thousands of institutions and millions of users, the incident highlighted just how dependent higher education has become on centralized digital platforms. The ...

Institutional Profiles of Risk Management - Part 14

By URMIA Staff posted 05-23-2026
Discover what the risk management function/structure looks like at other URMIA member institutions If You’ve Seen Two Institutions’ Risk Management Structure… Modifying our favorite phrase from Gary Langsdale, an URMIA past president and former assistant vice president & university risk officer at Penn State University, we would complete the header to say “you’ve seen two institutions’ risk management structure.” We’re sharing the risk management profile of URMIA institutional members to help you see how others are structured and find some fellow URMIAns that you might want to connect with because you have a question about how they operate. ...

The Underdog’s Playbook: Building a Powerhouse Risk Program on a Budget

By Olivia Watson, ARM posted 05-23-2026
Discover how one risk manager created her own system when there weren’t funds for a RMIS The Problem: The Underdog’s Dilemma An underdog isn't a professional lacking talent; they are a professional lacking a budget. Upon arriving at my institution, I felt that underdog status immediately. I was tasked with managing a vast influx of claims and specialized data, like the insurance claims process, without the budget for a dedicated risk management information system (RMIS). The sheer volume of manual tracking was overwhelming, and without a centralized system, there was no clear starting point to organize the chaos. The Potential Solution: The "Inward" ...

Meet a Member Volunteer: Kelly McMahon

By URMIA Staff posted 05-22-2026
Get to know a fellow URMIAn through our member/volunteer profile series What Is Your Current Role and Institution, and How Long Have You Been There I am the executive director for risk management at the Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) and I will have been there for 14 years in June. How Did You Find Your Way into Higher Ed Risk Management I worked in healthcare my entire career before accepting a clinical compliance position at NICC. In 2016, I became NICC's first (and only, to date) risk manager. What Motivated You to Volunteer with URMIA The Belonging Committee spoke to me! What's One Small Action That's Made a Big Difference in ...

Ethical Risks in International Travel

By Kelly B. Trail, PhD posted 04-24-2026
Apply standards consistently regardless of where in the world you are Pre-Note: The URMIA Risk Inventory lists ethical violations under the International category, noting: “Practicing beyond training (especially medical), photography that perpetuates stereotypes.” This article focuses on those ethical risks in international programming. When “Doing Good” May Not be So Good Practicing medicine beyond your training, orphanage volunteering, and photos of "helpless" children - these are some of the ethical risks involved with international travel. These concerns can rapidly escalate to individual and institutional harms, both reputational and ...

Success out of the Gate: 2026 URMIA Institutes

By URMIA Staff posted 04-24-2026
Learn how the new format of URMIA education benefited attendees Photo credit: University of Maryland, Baltimore Office of Communications and Public Affairs Institutes Focused on Specific Risk Management Areas In their inaugural year, the URMIA Institutes are being heralded as a great pilot with opportunities to build on the success in 2027. The three offerings in March were focused on ERM, risk emergency management, and finance and insurance, and the events varied in the level of risk manager they were targeted towards. Attendees of the virtual institute left better equipped to address finance and insurance areas on campus, including ...

Meet a Member Volunteer: Craig Haderlie

By URMIA Staff posted 04-22-2026
Get to know a fellow URMIAn through our member/volunteer profile series What Is Your Current Role and Institution, and How Long Have You Been There I currently serve as the director of risk and insurance services at Brigham Young University. I have been employed at the university for ten and a half years. How Did You Find Your Way into Higher Ed Risk Management I worked professionally as an insurance producer for The Leavitt Group after graduating from Brigham Young University in 2004. I was motivated to obtain as much education as possible early in my career. As I attended the CIC and CRM courses, I was always intrigued by the stories and ...

Preparing for the Unpredictable: The Risks Higher Education Leaders Can’t Ignore

By Lucy C. Straker, ACII posted 04-21-2026
Consider these tips for building your institution's resiliency to these types of risks Risks During Graduation Events Are Just One of Many Events to Pay Attention to Graduation season is upon us once again, and all over the country, higher education administrators are preparing to welcome countless guests to campus. Commencement is a carefully orchestrated event, and it’s not uncommon for higher education leaders to give extensive thought to risk management protocols and precautions for the festivities. But in today’s increasingly complex and unpredictable risk environment, planning for the academic year’s biggest occasions alone is not sufficient; ...

Institutional Profiles of Risk Management - Part 13

By URMIA Staff posted 04-21-2026
Discover what the risk management function/structure looks like at other URMIA member institutions If You’ve Seen Two Institutions’ Risk Management Structure… Modifying our favorite phrase from Gary Langsdale, an URMIA past president and former assistant vice president & university risk officer at Penn State University, we would complete the header to say “you’ve seen two institutions’ risk management structure.” We’re sharing the risk management profile of URMIA institutional members to help you see how others are structured and find some fellow URMIAns that you might want to connect with because you have a question about how they operate. ...