UT System Office of Risk Management Receives National Award

AUSTIN – The University of Texas System Office of Risk Management received the "2012 Solutions at Work Award” from the Campus Safety Health and Environmental Management Association (CSHEMA). The Indiana-based association presented the award to UT System officials at its annual meeting last week in Portland, Oregon.

The Solutions at Work Award recognizes creative problem-solving that offers solutions to difficult challenges that are unique to a campus and can be easily adapted by other institutions. Judging criteria include problem identification, implementation method, cost effectiveness and solution relevance.

“This award represents excellence in developing and administering a unique and successful campus safety and loss prevention program across the vast University of Texas System enterprise,” UT System Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa said. “I congratulate our risk management team at the UT System Administration and their colleagues at the 15 University of Texas System institutions for this fantastic recognition of their outstanding efforts in this critically important business operation at our institutions.”

“This award recognizes our property conservation program and premium allocation model which have been valuable tools in prioritizing life safety and mitigation projects as well as recognizing the loss prevention programs in place at our institutions that protect not only capital assets, but populations of students, faculty and staff as well,” UT System Director of Risk Management Phil Dendy said. “We are thrilled to receive this award which is testament to the skill and dedication of the risk management and environmental health and safety officials within the UT System,” Dendy added.

The mission of the UT System Office of Risk Management is to protect people, property, the community and the environment to enhance the well-being of students, faculty and staff through the development and implementation of cost effective, efficient business operations and compliant risk control and risk financing techniques for The University of Texas System and its fifteen institutions.

The Office of Risk Management undertakes certain responsibilities that result in greater efficiency or higher quality than could be achieved by individual UT System institutions. These include the administration of a variety of self-insurance programs, successful insurance renewals and implementation of a new risk management information system, outreach and collaboration with governmental agencies and other Institutions of higher education, training sponsorship and execution of Systemwide contracts.

About The University of Texas System

Educating students, providing care for patients, conducting groundbreaking research and serving the needs of Texans and the nation for more than 130 years, The University of Texas System is one of the largest public university systems in the United States, with nine academic universities and six health science centers. Preliminary student enrollment exceeded 215,000 in the 2011 academic year. The UT System confers more than one-third of the state’s undergraduate degrees and educates nearly three-fourths of the state’s health care professionals annually. The UT System has an annual operating budget of $13.1 billion (FY 2012) including $2.3 billion in sponsored programs funded by federal, state, local and private sources. With roughly 87,000 employees, the UT System is one of the largest employers in the state.

About The Campus Safety, Health, and Environmental Management Association

The Campus Safety, Health, and Environmental Management Association (CSHEMA) provides information sharing opportunities, continuing education, and professional fellowship to people with environmental health and safety (EHS) responsibilities in the education and research communities. Originally founded in 1954 as the Campus Safety Association, CSHEMA has a long history of service to the college, university and research communities.