Blogs

Hidden Hazards in Campus Storage: What Risk Managers Miss

By Donna Settle, PE posted 7 days ago
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 7 days ago
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 7 days ago
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 7 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 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 7 days ago
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. ...

Risk Management and Procurement Must Act Now as Leaders in a Collaborative Ecosystem

By Michelle J. Smith, CAE posted 04-21-2026
Learn takeaways from NAEP's Epic 2026 conference that apply to risk management Creating an Effective Collaboration Between Risk and Procurement Professionals The National Association of Educational Procurement (NAEP) Epic 2026 conference, an annual gathering of our procurement-focused colleagues, underscored a defining reality for higher education: procurement and risk management are no longer transactional back‑office functions. They are increasingly central to institutional resilience, financial sustainability, and strategic decision‑making. Across keynote sessions, panel discussions, and market research briefings, a clear theme emerged— digital ...

Where to Start and What to Know When Creating AI Policy in Higher Ed

By URMIA Staff posted 03-24-2026
Use this checklist to help develop and implement effective AI policies Practical Steps for Getting Started or Refining a Policy We hear constantly about the need for an artificial intelligence (AI) policy for our institutions, but the noise surrounding the topic is overwhelming, and can leave many institutions unsure of where to start. URMIA recently hosted a webinar I delivered, “AI Policy in Higher Education: Where to Start and What You Need to Know.” Here, I’ll share more of a checklist to help you get started. To dig deeper into the subject, URMIA members can listen to the full recording of the webinar in the URMIA Library. ...

URMIA Launches “Risk Hero” Spotlight Recognition Program

By URMIA Staff posted 03-24-2026
Read about URMIA’s new award honoring risk mitigation strategies from all over campus Every Day Efforts Added Together Make a Difference URMIA is proud to introduce the Risk Hero Spotlight , a new quarterly recognition that shines a light on the people who protect our campuses through thoughtful decisions, everyday diligence, and creative problem-solving. This program celebrates those practical, risk-informed actions — big and small — that make our students, faculty, staff, and institutions safer and more resilient. Overview The Risk Hero Spotlight celebrates individuals who demonstrate passion, expertise, and leadership in higher ...

URMIA Member Profile: Maice Clanton, YoPro Community Co-Champion

By URMIA Staff posted 03-24-2026
Get to know a fellow member who is on the leadership team for our YoPro Community A Look at Maice’s Risk Management Role Maice Clanton is the coordinator, risk management and safety for Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. She’s been in URMIA for just over a year and recently became a co-champion of URMIA’s YoPro Community’s leadership team, where she helps plan and facilitate community events. Let’s get to know Maice outside of her risk management role. Tell us about your path to higher ed risk management. Did you grow up wanting to be a risk manager? As I’ve come to learn of many of my peers in risk management, I happened into ...

Did You Celebrate Single Tasking Day?

By URMIA Staff posted 03-24-2026
Learn some tips for breaking what we now know are actually bad habits The Quest to Use My Time Better I just discovered I missed Single Tasking Day. I guess that Single Tasking Day wasn’t on one of the 14 tabs I had open on February 22 nd, which is when the rest of the world celebrated this notorious day. (OK, February 22 nd was on a Sunday this year, so I probably didn’t have 14 tabs open, but I was likely trying to do at least four different household chores at the same time, and doing a mediocre job at each of them.) I discovered this in an article about how what I once cited in job interviews as one of my strengths – multitasking – ...