2015 | 2016
Kansas State University
Center for Risk Management
Education and Research
ANNUAL REPORT
www.k-state.edu/riskmanagement
Annual Report | Kansas State University Center for Risk Management Education and Research | 2
Our mission is to engage students and industry partners
in innovative education and research to advance
risk management skills and knowledge
Contents
3 | Director’s Message
4 | Accomplishments
5 | Educational Initiatives
6 | Research
7 | Fundraising Activity
8 | Year in Review
9 | Advisory Council Members
10 | Student Fellows
11 | Contact Information
Annual Report | Kansas State University Center for Risk Management Education and Research | 3
Director’s Message
Risk pervades society. Every day we face risky prospects in our daily personal lives and business dealings.
In risk lies opportunity, but unrecognized, misinterpreted, or ignored, risk can quickly become a major
threat. The Center for Risk Management Education and Research engages students and industry partners in
innovative education and research advancing their risk management skills and knowledge.
The Center for Risk Management Education and Research officially launched in January 2012 when the
first class of nine Student Fellows started the program. By May 2016, the Center will have had 39 students
complete the program and 24 new Student Fellows will have completed their first semester. CRMER has
enjoyed immense progress toward becoming a premiere program for student risk management education
and applied research. Two key metrics are among our proudest accomplishments demonstrating the value
of the Center: 1) Student Fellow graduate employment placement is 100% in very high quality career
paths. 2) Every supporting industry partner that has joined the Center has maintained high engagement
since their inception as a partner. These two salient facts illustrate the quality of students that the Center is
attracting and the value industry partners recognize in being associated with the Center.
Through their engagement with the Center, Student Fellows learn directly from a broad array of industry
risk management experts. Students participate in internships, guest lectures, workshops, company visits,
research projects, trading competitions, webinars, and on-line courses as they immerse themselves in
advancing their integrated risk management knowledge. Through these experiences, students also gain
better business communication skills, hone their business acumen, and build professional networks.
Industry partners play an integral role in the Center by helping guide the Center and design the experiences
of the students, providing guest lectures and company site visits, offering internships, and helping fund
Center initiatives. Most importantly, partners get to know the students through these engagements and
the students get to know the industry partners. The result is, industry partners regularly hire Student Fellow
graduates!
We fully expect Student Fellow graduates will be among the best a company hires and they will become
future industry leaders and executives. The purpose of this annual review is to document our activities and
associated accomplishments. We look forward to continuing to work with the best and brightest college
students as they prepare themselves for careers in a risky world. We are genuinely blessed to have such
supportive industry partners to help advance the Center for Risk Management Education and Research as
together we help prepare the next generation of executives.
Ted Schroeder, Director
Center for Risk Management
Education & Research
Annual Report | Kansas State University Center for Risk Management Education and Research | 4
Center Accomplishments
Exceptional Students
Promising Careers
Having a premiere risk management
educational program starts by attracting
a diverse group of the best and brightest
students to the Center to become Fellows. Each
year since our inception we have increased the
number of immensely talented students who
have been accepted as Student Fellows in the
Center. Our students are among the best at
Kansas State University.
As an academic program focused on building
student knowledge, our accomplishments
include providing high quality educational
experiences for students, securing resources
to accomplish this goal, and ultimately in our
graduates launching successful careers.
14
47
19
4
3.8
majors
represented
undergraduate
students
graduate
students
outstanding
seniors
mean cumulative
grade point average
6
20
30+
15%
20+
100%
annual site visits to
company headquarters
annual guest lectures
from industry experts
internships completed by
Student Fellows
higher average starting
salaries than BS peers
companies nationwide
employ Student Fellows
career placement
Annual Report | Kansas State University Center for Risk Management Education and Research | 5
Initiatives
The Center is striving to offer students a broad set of valuable opportunities for increasing their risk
management knowledge as well as enhancing professional and personal development. Several plans are in
development stages to provide even greater impact on students and to produce ever stronger graduates
from the program for Center partners. Among these initiatives are:
Initiating a partnership between the Center and the First Scholars program to provide first generation students increased access to the Center
Developing international internship opportunities for Student Fellows
Facilitating Student Fellow international travel educational experiences
Supporting new student educational competition teams that compete nationally or internationally in case studies or related events
Encouraging student participation in selected specialized industry risk management conferences
Creating increased networking between Center partner firms and Student Fellows to facilitate career opportunity exploration
Continuing to strive for multidisciplinary engagement of the best and brightest students as Center Fellows
Increasing a broader and larger group of dedicated industry Executive Partners in the Center
Annual Report | Kansas State University Center for Risk Management Education and Research | 6
Research
Student-led applied research is an integral part of the
educational experience for Fellows of the Center. Because
the research projects have industry sponsors and all address
concerns specific to the sponsor company, the findings have all
been confidential.
7
research projects
completed
4
research projects to be
completed by spring 2016
The following companies have sponsored Student Fellow research
projects over the past four years
(many companies have sponsored more than one project):
• Bartlett and Company
• CattleFax
• Cattle Empire
• CME Group
• Elanco
• FedEx
• Innovative Livestock Services, Inc.
• Sidecar Capital Management, LLC jointly with Certified Angus Beef
• The Wise Company, Inc.
Projects have included an array of risk management topics including:
• Implications of alternative futures contract specifications
• Economic impacts and risks of food safety breaches
• Cross hedging assessments of products that do not have a futures contract
• Evaluating alternative ways to discover prices in thinly traded markets
• Valuing water rights where markets are not well established
• Tradeoffs of domestic or international sourcing of product manufacturing
• Economic tradeoffs of operating below full capacity if forecasted margins are negative
• Guiding turnover of seasoned management staff with new millennial generation
• Forecasting future demand
• Economic assessment of new business ventures
Students work in multi-disciplinary teams of mixed undergraduate and graduate students. A faculty member
with expertise in the topic area provides mentoring to the students as they complete their project. The
students present final project findings to the company sponsor and provide a written report, presentation
slides, and other deliverables which include data, literature, spreadsheet tools, and results of data and
statistical analyses to the sponsor. Research projects provide a phenomenal opportunity for Student Fellows
to learn how to manage and complete a large project, how to work in multi-disciplinary teams, and how to
conduct analysis and provide information and tools to address industry risk management challenges.
Annual Report | Kansas State University Center for Risk Management Education and Research | 7
Fundraising Activity
Developing diverse dedicated industry partners has been a major goal for the Center. Industry partners
include companies involved in managing risk solutions for broad industries, public organizations, and
governments on a global scale. Risk management consulting and information technology firms as well as
companies providing risk management trading institutions, companies involved in physical commodity
trading, agricultural production firms, and grain and food logistics companies also provide support to
the Center. Guest lectures and site visits attended by the Student Fellows span companies involved in
credit and financial risk, regulatory risk, physical safety risk, food safety risk, international commerce and
business investment risk, and general enterprise risk management.
Pledged Financial Support from Center Partners by Year
Year
Expendable Pledges Secured
Endowment Pledges Secured
2012
$350,905
-
2013
$175,050
$1,060,000
2014
$315,600
$25,000
2015
$317,944
-
Endowment Partners
Greg & Mamie Case
Executive Partners
CattleFax
CHS
CME Group
Gavilon
Innovative Livestock Services
Supporting Partners
Bartlett and Company
Beachner Grain, Inc.
Koch
Richard and Sarah Porter
Renee McReynolds Laird - McReynolds Family Agricultural Scholarship
For more information about ways to support the Center,
contact Emilie Fink at emilief@found.ksu.edu or 785.532.7571
Annual Report | Kansas State University Center for Risk Management Education and Research | 8
Year in Review
January
14|StudentFellowsattend2015VanTrumpWinterConference
29|LeeBorck-InnovativeLivestockServices-hostsStudentFellows
February
13 | Chris Haverkamp -Paragon Invesments- speaks to Student Fellows
16 | Patrick Hessini -CHS- visits with Student Fellows
March
03 | Metlife Kansas City hosts Student Fellows
04 | Mike Bernard -Union Pacific- speaks to Student Fellows
12 | Randy Blach -CattleFax- visists with Student Fellows
April
May
14 | President Kirk Schulz - Kansas State University- speaks to Student Fellows
15 | CRMER Advisory Council Meeting
27 | Student Fellows present research projects
28 | Elizabeth Hund -US Bank Food Industries- visits with Student Fellows
15 | Student Fellow Class of 2015 graduates
September
10|BrendaTucker-CMEGroup-hostsStudentFellows
11 | Aon Risk Solutions hosts Student Fellows
October
12 | Jack Weaver visits with Student Fellows
29 | Randy Blach -CattleFax- visists with Student Fellows
November
05 | CRMER Advisory Council Meeting
11|INTLFCStonehostsStudentFellows
December
03 | CRMER welcomes 2016-2017 Class of Student Fellows
Annual Report | Kansas State University Center for Risk Management Education and Research | 9
Advisory Council
Lee Borck
Chairmain, Innovative Livestock Services Inc.
ILS Risk Management
Kevin Good
Senior Analyst - Manager of Corporate Accounts
CattleFax
Claire Hilscher
Feed Demand Analyst
Cargill Corn Milling North America
Patrick Hessini
Vice President of Transportation and Distribution
CHS
Joe Kovanda
Risk Management
Bartlett Cattle Company, L.P.
Todd Kemp
Vice President of Marketing and Treasurer
National Grain and Feed Association
Renee Laird
CEO Tallgrass International Ltd.
Tallgrass International, Ltd.
Steve Neelly
Vice President, Merchandising & Logistics Country Operations
CHS
Rich Porter
Owner, Porter Farms
Porter Farms
Ed Prosser
Vice President, Agricultural Trading
The Gavilon Group, LLC
Brenda Tucker
Executive Director, Client Development and Sales
CME Group
Lacey Ward
Research Analyst
INTL FCStone
Annual Report | Kansas State University Center for Risk Management Education and Research | 10
2015-2016 Student Fellows
Christa Deneault
Mathematics &
Economics
Ryan Goetzmann
Agricultural
Economics
Adam Hancock
M.S. Agricultural
Economics
Emily Harris
Agribusiness
Brady Heidrick
Finance &
Accounting
Christa McKittrick
Finance &
Accounting
Claire Newman
M.S. Agricultural
Economics
Cody O’Brien
Agribusiness
Samuel Power
Finance &
Economics
Nicholas Scherrer
Economics
Jayce Stabel
M.S. Agricultural
Economics
Tucker Styrkowicz
M.S. & B.S.
Engineering
Lucas Sudbeck
Agricultural
Economics
Morganne Wiltse
Agribusiness
Annual Report | Kansas State University Center for Risk Management Education and Research | 11
2016-2017 Student Fellows
Tanner Aherin
Kayode Martins Ajewole
Rachel Anliker
Rustin Ardery
Lindy Bilberry
Emily Carls
Cooper Clawson
Kevin Cole
Olabisi Ekong
Ethan Fowler
Karly Frederick
Grace Hammer
Brian Highfill
Mathew Kaiser
Lucas Karlin
Mandy Marchesini
Luke Minear
Michael O’Laughlin
Nathan Smart
Adam Sobba
Abby Steiner
Christian Torrez
Youwei Yang
Rachel Zimmerman
Agricultural Economics
Ph D Agricultural Economics
Agricultural Economics
Animal Science and Industry
Agribusiness
Agribusiness
Agricultural Economics and Finance
Finance
M.S.c Agricultural Economics
Agricultural Economics
Agribusiness
Agribusiness
M.S. Agricultural Economics
Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering
Agricultural Economics
Marketing
Agricultural Economics
Finance
Agricultural Economics
MBA
Accounting
M.S. Agricultural Economics
Agricultural Economics
Agribusiness
Center for Risk Management
Education and Research
Ted Schroeder, Director
219 Waters Hall | Kansas State University | Manhattan, KS 66506 | 785.532.4488 | tcs@ksu.edu
To learn more visit www.k-state.edu/riskmanagement
Hear from our Student Fellows on the Center blog site www.crmerstudents.wordpress.com