Lessons from leading ERM programs in higher education

In November 2018, Baker Tilly was honored to co-convene the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) in Higher Education Workshop with North Carolina (NC) State University’s ERM Initiative. This interactive event provided a unique opportunity for leaders from 30 institutions to share strategies for evolving their ERM approaches. The workshop engaged participants through a combination of group discussions and technical sessions facilitated by leaders from across higher education, including the following themes:

1. Gaining practical insights from leading corporate ERM practices
2. Evolving ERM in higher education
3. Putting risk appetite into practice
4. Leveraging the intersection of internal audit, compliance and ERM

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1. Gaining practical insights from leading corporate ERM practices

Boards and senior leaders across all industries are calling for more effective risk oversight. While practices and principles vary among industries and organization types, many common themes and leading practices from the corporate world can be leveraged to tackle the challenges faced in higher education. During the workshop, Mark Beasley, Director of the Enterprise Risk Management Initiative at NC State University, reviewed applicable themes from the corporate landscape that could also improve the effectiveness of higher education ERM programs. Shifting ERM’s focus from a more detailed, operational view to broader enterprise-wide issues (i.e., those with potential impact to mission) can increase ERM’s value-add.

Other key themes from Beasley’s presentation included: