Enterprise Risk Management is coming to UW-Madison.
What is Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) at UW-Madison?
ERM is a coordinated, enterprise-wide approach to understanding and managing the full range of risks that could affect the institution from both inside and outside the organization.
Rather than each school, college, division, department, or unit addressing risks independently, ERM brings them together into a connected portfolio, so leaders can see how risks interact, overlap, and what their combined impact could be on the institution.
By taking this holistic view, ERM helps align people and decision-making across the organization. It supports identifying the most critical risks, prioritizing resources around what matters most, and helping ensure senior leadership has the necessary information to make timely, well-informed decisions.
What makes up our ERM program?
Our ERM program is built around the following core pillars associated with effective ERM programs that provide structure, consistency, and clarity in how we identify, assess, and manage risk across the institution:
What will the ERM program do for UW-Madison?
The ERM program will help UW-Madison consistently identify and elevate key risks early, improve strategic decision-making, reduce reactive crisis response, and safeguard the university’s resources and reputation in support of our mission. The ERM program will accomplish this through:
- Maintaining UW-Madison’s Risk Taxonomy to organize UW-Madison’s landscape of risk, provide a common language for clarity and comparability across functions, and aggregate risk data
- Conducting annual Enterprise Risk Assessments to identify and evaluate the university’s most significant risks.
- Coordinating risk response implementation to reduce university risk exposure
- Monitoring and reporting risk data to inform university strategic, operational, and financial planning
- Monitoring the internal and external risk landscape and risk indicators to anticipate emerging risks
- Providing training and education to strengthen a shared culture of risk awareness and informed decision-making across campus
The ERM Program will leverage the ERM Lifecycle (outlined below) to conduct standard, repeatable risk assessments and guide the institution’s approach to address its most significant risks:
- Identify: Identify and categorize risks that impact the achievement of strategic goals and objectives
- Assess: Apply risk rating criteria to evaluate overall exposure to the identified risks
- Prioritize: Determine the most critical risks that require focused attention
- Respond: Develop responses to accept, avoid, reduce, transfer, or exploit risks
- Monitor: Monitor Key Risk Indicators (KRIs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and provide timely, relevant updates to leadership to support informed decision making
UW-Madison has established an ERM Working Group through the UW-Madison Operational Excellence Advancement Program. The working group is advancing the design of the ERM program to be implemented over the next year.
How will it be structured?
UW-Madison’s Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs, Compliance, and Enterprise Risk Managment, will oversee the ERM program, supported by the Director of Enterprise Risk Management. To provide further oversight and guidance to the ERM program, UW-Madison will also maintain both an Executive Risk Committee (ERC) and a Risk Work Group (RWG), each playing a distinct role in supporting the effective implementation of the ERM Program.
The ERC will provide executive oversight for UW-Madison’s ERM program, ensuring that institutional and risk management activities are aligned with strategic decision-making. The ERC is composed of UW-Madison’s Executive Leadership Team:
- Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs, Compliance, and Enterprise Risk Management, ERC Chair
- Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration
- Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
- Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
- Vice Chancellor for Research
- Vice Chancellor of Medical Affairs, Dean of the School of Medicine and Public Health
- Vice Chancellor for Strategic Communication
- Director of Athletics
- Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor, Office of the Chancellor
- Vice Chancellor for University Relations
The RWG will provide advisory and operational support to UW-Madison’s ERM Program through participating in enterprise risk assessments, coordinating risk response initiatives and facilitating communication about risks across the institution. The RWG is composed of leaders representing key university functions and major risk areas.
What’s to come
In the next 6 months…
- Appoint a Director of Enterprise Risk Management
- Deploy a Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) technology tool to support ERM processes
- Conduct UW-Madison’s first Enterprise Risk Assessment
- Deploy ERM training for key stakeholder groups
In the next year and beyond…
- Implement Risk Response Plans
- Develop and socialize UW-Madison risk appetite and tolerance
- Leverage risk data for strategic and financial planning
- Mature risk quantification and analysis for better risk data collection and scenario planning
What can employees expect?
UW-Madison faculty and staff can expect a clearer, more coordinated approach to identifying and addressing risks that could impact UW–Madison. The ERM program will provide simple ways for employees to share concerns and insights about institutional risks and more consistent communication and support as risks are assessed, prioritized, and managed across the university.
Feedback or Questions?
If you have feedback or questions about the Operational Excellence Advancement Program, visit the Feedback Form and check Operational Excellence and type in your feedback or question.