“While legal liability considerations are of course
secondary to safety concerns legal issues are
important …” – Nolan VT 2011
Student –Focused Risk Management
Redefined Relationship
“The most universal source of (duties) is the legal
principles that are developed & expressed over time by
state court judges in the form of case law…” – Nolan VT 2011
Bonfire Commission
Investigation Results
0 Design problems
0 Personnel problems (students)
0 No proactive risk management plan for
student organizations
0 Cultural bias leading to organizational
“tunnel vision”
Next Steps Critical and Strategic
0 TAMU accepts full responsibility for Bonfire - past,
present and future.
0 Report = “Judicial decree”
0 Risk management initiatives.
0 Plan for future of Bonfire.
Review & Report on Resources
0 It became very apparent while there is plenty of material available on
risk management, the vast majority of it deals with insurance.
0 University Risk Management & Insurance Association (URMIA) –
Short survey with regards to proactive risk management resulted in
seven responses of more than 500 members.
0 “I really do not know of anyone who has a really proactive risk
management program in student affairs. I always cite TAMU for a
crisis response team. As far as books and articles I have not seen any
on this topic. There is a lot of ‘risk management’ stuff out there, but
not what I think you are looking for.” From Donald D. Gehring –
Bowling Green State University
Lessons Learned
0Large organizations tend to replicate
performance – regular review and
appropriate management are necessary
0If you think you cannot change the
performance – you should
0Responsible people will make responsible
decisions – we cannot tolerate those who
are irresponsible
Developing a common language…
A proactive system of identifying potential risks
or hazards associated with organizational events
and activities; assessing the impact they may have
on the organization and university community;
deciding whether to accept the risks, modify the
activities, or eliminate the risks altogether, to
ensure successful accomplishment of student
organizations and universities missions and goals.
Facilitator University
Student/Institutional Relationship
A Facilitator University balances rights and
responsibilities—it is neither extremely authoritarian nor
overly solicitous of student freedom.
Importantly, a facilitator college seeks shared responsibility
rather than allocating it unilaterally or not at all.
Facilitation implies an appropriate and reasonable degree
of risk.
Student Organization Pyramid
Sponsored
Affiliated
Registered
Criteria For Student
Organization Determination
Responsibilities of the Organization
Sponsored
Affiliated
Registered
• Organization routinely
represents the university.
• Organization is responsible
for an event/activity that is
considered a program of the
university.
• Organization officially
represents the university.
• Organization is only
responsible for activities
within the purpose of the
organization.
• Activities are normally
limited to its
membership.
• Organization is only
responsible for activities
within the purpose of the
organization.
• Activities are normally
limited to its
membership.
Sponsored Organizations
•
•
•
•
•
•
Organization is critical to the mission and culture of
the university.
Advisor is a full-time employee designated by job
description who must attend 15-20 hrs of training.
High amount of risk for the university due to the
activity of the organization.
Mandatory training for student officers – 10-15
hours each year.
Organization must appoint a risk management
officer who develops an operations manual.
Organization must carry additional liability
insurance to cover membership and events.
Focus of Risk Management Shifts
0 Develop and
implement proactive
risk mgmt manual
0 Provide training for
RM Coordinators
0 Provide opportunity
for RM to use each
other as resources
FOCUS ON
Department Operations
NOT
Student Activities
Many professionals are still
transitioning out of the Bystander Era
“A legal paradigm that prevents the educator or
education administrator from performing (in
their) role for fear of being sued, or which
encourages a ‘look the other way’ attitude in
situations where guidance or intervention is
necessary to the student’s well-being, is
seriously flawed” (Bickel and Lake, p. 168).
Hot Issues
0 Minors on Campus
0 Student Travel
0 Study Abroad
0 Major Campus Events
0 Service Learning Experiences
0 Alcohol on campus
0 Student Employees
0 Violence on campus
Key: Issues were not knew to RM conversations ~
rather a shift to considering the students involved in
the events
Crisis Intervention & Prevention
0 US Department of Education shifting work contracts
0 Threat Assessment Team Development
0 Single –Actor incidents
Shifting Focus:
Education and skill development for students that will
engage with these processes ~
Many still discuss risk management concepts in legal
terms and in the legal paradigm – and NOT in a
language more familiar to themselves or their students.
We have not yet shifted away from the language of policies, laws, and
compliance that originally shaped the risk management
discussion…
As a result, students perceive risk management as
policies/guidelines only and this has shifted their focus of risk
analysis.
Shifting Focus
Student education and resources shifting from
pure policy to safety education
Issues
Actions
0 Alcohol
0 Data driven design
0 Other Drugs
0 Prevention Education
0 Sexual Assault
0 Skill development
0 Red Zone Safety
0 Student Employee
0 Minors on Campus
0 Large Campus Events
0 Student Travel
resources
0 Student participation in
safety efforts
0 Shifting response
systems
0 Responsibility themes
Responsibility Themes
Bystander Education
1. Notice the Event
2. See the Event as problem
3. Feel responsible to act
4. Have skills necessary to act
Amnesty Efforts
“get out of jail free” -Vs.- social responsibility intervention
Trends on Your Campus?
“College administrators and campus law
enforcement officers became motivated by fear
of triggering legal liability and were
encouraged to pursue strategies in their jobs
that would minimize the risk of lawsuits but not
necessarily reduce risk or injury. In short, the
law encouraged the destruction of much of the
student/university relationship outside the
classroom.” ~ Bickel and Lake 1999