From managing academic and operational excellence to ensuring campus safety, a proactive risk management outlook helps you see risk for what it truly is: a pathway to potential and progress.

Here are five practical steps to assess risks related to your regular tasks and activities:

  1. Define your goals and objectives: describe what success looks like and identify performance measures/indicators.
  1. Identify risks and opportunities: brainstorm and name events or items that could impact (both negatively and positively) those goals or performance measures/indicators.
  2. Prioritize based on impact and likelihood: assess or rank the potential impact and likelihood of each event or item’s occurrence.
  3. Develop mitigation and action plans: create strategies to mitigate negative outcomes and/or action plans to exploit positive outcomes.
  4. Monitor and review: repeat from step 1 – determine changes, if any (anything need to be revised, removed or added?), and whether the strategies and action plans are working as intended.

By following these five steps, you can navigate risks effectively, seize opportunities, and position yourself and your team for long-term success.

As we prepare to welcome a new year, let us embrace and foster a culture of awareness, accountability and innovation, anticipate emerging risks and opportunities, and carry forward our shared commitment to the Teaching Greatness strategic vision while adapting to an ever-changing environment.

We’re here to help. If you have any questions or need support in performing your risk assessments, please email the Internal Audit and Risk Management team. Wishing you a safe, restful, and joyful holiday season.

From Internal Audit and Risk Management