Edu Risk Solutions Blog

Large Loss Report 2019

The Large Loss Report 2019 summarizes major damage awards and settlements of more than $250,000 that affected schools, colleges, and universities in 2018. The most frequent and costliest cases involved sexual abuse claims, many of which had multimillion-dollar settlements in the wake of the #MeToo movement. Educational institutions can use this report to assess their risk management practices and insurance coverage.
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New EduRisk Courses Released

EduRisk offers cost-effective online learning to train students, faculty, supervisors, and other staff on your campus. As the risks faced by educational institutions evolve, we continue to develop learning programs to keep your community safe and informed. Have you had the opportunity to review our latest courses?
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Protecting Payment Card Information

This online course gives learners a high-level overview of working with payment card information, including how to keep this information safe and avoid unauthorized disclosures.

Avoiding Conflicts of Interest

Members of the higher education community want to perform their duties ethically. This course covers one potential trouble spot: conflicts of interest.
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Prevention and Protection Podcast: Safe Sport Act: Reporting Sexual Abuse in Athletics

The Safe Sport Authorization Act, signed into law in early 2018, protects athletes from abuse with new reporting and training requirements for amateur sports organizations. In this episode of the Prevention and Protection podcast, Phil Catanzano, a senior counsel and member of the Education Team at the Holland & Knight law firm, explains the act and recommends actions for schools and colleges.
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Preventing and Responding to Sexual Violence on Campus

United Educators (UE) surveyed 225 of its higher education members over a 16-month period about sexual violence prevention and response. Use the responses to the survey questions to assess your institution’s sexual violence prevention and response practices.
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Checklist for Handling Controversial Speakers on Campus

This checklist is designed to help higher education institutions take appropriate actions when a controversial speaker comes to campus.
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Preventing and Reporting Athlete Abuse: The Safe Sport Act

Recent allegations of sexual misconduct by team doctors reinforce the need for enhanced child abuse prevention and reporting standards in athletics. Read this Insights blog for steps your institution can take to comply with the Safe Sport Act.
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New Data Security Course: Physical Security and Unintended Disclosures

Conversations about data security often focus heavily on avoiding online threats. But it’s important to remember that intruders can also access data by getting into buildings, sifting through garbage, or stealing a school laptop from a locked vehicle.
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Securing Classroom Doors to Stop Active Shooters

Many K-12 schools are reviewing and improving the security of classrooms and doors to help prevent school shootings. Important steps include installing interior locks, properly securing doors with windows, consulting appropriate experts, and documenting the process followed in deciding which measures to implement.
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Responding to Controversial Events on Campus: A United Educators Symposium

This publication summarizes practices and considerations for managing contentious campus events shared by participants at a UE-hosted symposium and includes practical examples from their institutions.
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Vetting Third-Party Study Abroad Vendors

Third-party vendors can increase the study abroad opportunities available to students, but poor risk management practices by these vendors can lead to bad outcomes for students and costly claims against the home institution. Read this blog for tips on choosing a third-party vendor.
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New Course Added to Data Security Suite! Data Security: Passwords Now Available

As news media continue to report data breaches involving sensitive information, it is essential for colleges and universities to have a strategy to protect their student and staff data.
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Webinar: Educator Sexual Misconduct at Independent Schools

This webinar offers an analysis of United Educators (UE) independent school claims arising out of educator-on-student sexual misconduct and discusses trends that all administrators should address.

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New Features on Making Training with EduRisk Easier

As we evaluate the EduRisk training experience as a result of listening to feedback and observing user behavior, we continually seek opportunities to enhance system usability to produce a more positive experience for all end users.
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Protecting Children Learning Program

This learning program will help educators and adults learn how to recognize, prevent, and report sexual misconduct. It includes online courses for educators, a short video for higher education employees that don’t work directly with children, as well as checklists, guides, and publications.

Educator Sexual Misconduct at Independent Schools: Insights From UE Claims

United Educators (UE) reviewed the 45 educator sexual misconduct claims reported by independent schools between 2011 and 2016 to identify trends and derive lessons. Review the claims study and its supplemental resources to learn how to create a strategy for addressing educator sexual misconduct.
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Prevention and Protection Podcast: Educator Sexual Misconduct at Independent Schools

United Educators' (UE) new claims study, Educator Sexual Misconduct at Independent Schools: Insights From UE Claims, examines trends in independent school educator sexual misconduct claims received between January 2011 and December 2016. In this episode of Prevention and Protection, UE's Alyssa Keehan, director of risk research, and Melanie Bennett, risk management counsel, discuss findings from the study.

Webinar: Q&A With an Expert on Preventing School Shootings

Recent school shootings have prompted schools, colleges, and universities to examine their practices for preventing these tragedies. This special question and answer session features leading legal and threat assessment experts Jeff Nolan and Marisa Randazzo, who answered questions regarding best practices for school threat assessment teams, emerging trends in school shootings, and liability issues surrounding an institution’s prevention efforts.

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Your Feedback on the 2018 Roadmap

In January, we asked you which features on our EduRisk Learning Portal development roadmap you were most excited for us to introduce.
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Checklist: Assessing Your Employee Performance Evaluation System

In UE's experience, performance evaluations of nonfaculty employees sometimes are done poorly or not at all, often leading to claims that might have been avoided. This checklist will help higher education institutions and K-12 schools assess their evaluation systems.
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Webinar: Tenure Evaluation Challenges

This webinar addresses challenges that higher education institutions face when considering tenure candidates.

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Apologies and Expressions of Empathy

Public statements of apology, empathy, or regret by presidents or high-ranking officials at colleges and schools appear to be increasingly common. When used correctly in response to significant events such as student unrest or sexual harassment and assault allegations epitomized by the #MeToo movement, apologies are powerful tools that can heal a community.
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Webinar: Rise Above Uncertainty: Advancing Risk Management at Independent Schools

How do your risk management practices compare to those of other independent schools? Find out as NAIS and United Educators (UE) report on their recent survey of independent school business officers.

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Are You Sacrificing Your Reputation to Protect Sacred Cows?

What are the sacred cows at your institution? Every college or university has programs and people that are a great source of alumni and student pride. But while they are an important part of the campus experience, these revered traditions or people can present risks when boards turn a blind eye to any issues that their existence raises.
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Avoid the “False Confidence” Trap: Promote Athlete Education on Concussions

Excelling in athletics requires a high degree of self-confidence and fearlessness. In most sports, individuals who train rigorously and take risks usually emerge as the top athletes on their teams and during competitions. Yet the culture honoring bravery can be misplaced when health and safety standards are not taken as seriously as win-loss records and performance statistics.

Avoiding Pitfalls When Resolving Discrimination Claims

Educational employers routinely use settlement and severance agreements to end employment relationships or resolve employment-related disputes, sometimes using templates drafted years ago. Recently, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has brought enforcement actions challenging common provisions in such agreements.
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Concussion Awareness Learning Program_legacy

Responding appropriately to concussions has become a critical component of keeping athletes safe. This learning program is designed to educate coaches, staff, and students on recognizing and responding to the symptoms of concussions.
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Campus Sexual Violence Elimination (SaVE) Act Learning Program

A new federal law affects students and anyone who works for a college or university. This learning program examines the new law: what it is, why it's needed, how it affects you, and ways to get help for yourself or others.

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Youth Athletics Learning Program_legacy

Keep athletes safe by recognizing and responding to common hazards in sports programs including concussions and heat illness.

Guideposts for Teachers to Maintain Healthy Relationships with Students

Are teachers at your school properly prepared to maintain healthy relationships with students? In addition to institutional rules and regulations, are they alert to roles, boundaries, power, and accountability in their relationships with students? This guide provides practical guidelines for maintaining appropriate relationships with students.

Mini-Courses in Workplace Harassment Prevention: Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners

Online learning is hot—and at UE, this is particularly true in the area of workplace harassment prevention. More than 115,000 individuals at UE member institutions have taken advantage of our harassment prevention training, at no additional cost to UE members.

How Do I Get Faculty and Staff to Take the Course?

United Educators (UE) understands the challenge of ensuring faculty and staff completion of risk management and compliance-related courses and training. Overloaded calendars and increased responsibilities for teaching and other duties often compete fortime and impede your efforts.

New Training Addresses Issues of Student Respect and Harassment

United Educators' latest learning program can positively impact students and help educational institutions meet new legal and regulatory requirements. START (Student Title IX and Respect Training) provides comprehensive resources for campus and schooladministrators, trainers, facilitators, teachers, and students.

Preventing Genetic Discrimination in Employment

A relatively new form of discrimination, genetic discrimination occurs when a person with a gene that causes or increases the risk of a disease or condition is treated differently. Many individuals fear that employers will attempt to reduce health care costs by terminating employees with genetic markers for costly disorders. Since a person's genes are unchangeable, and everyone is at risk of being a victim, the public favors remedies for victims of genetic discrimination.
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Student Sexual Violence and Abuse

A collection of UE’s higher ed and K-12 resources on Title IX, VAWA and protecting minors.

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Understanding the Clery Act

This course provides a short overview of the Clery Act, examines how it works, and details how it helps make campuses safer.

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Title IX Learning Program

This learning program features Title IX-related courses for faculty, staff, supervisors, and students at higher education institutions.
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Youth Athletics Learning Program

Keep athletes safe by recognizing and responding to common hazards in sports programs including concussions and heat illness.
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Workplace Harassment: Fundamentals for Higher Education

Train employees to prevent workplace harassment—it's both a legal mandate and the right thing to do. This learning program includes numerous resources for diverse learners.
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Teaching Science Safely

Careless handling of materials and equipment in the science laboratory can have serious, even deadly, consequences. This course helps institutions manage and reduce risks by establishing comprehensive lab safety policies.
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Short-Term International Programs

Despite their brevity, short-term international programs deserve the same vetting, preparation, and planning associated with more traditional semester-long study abroad programs. This course helps institutions prepare students and staff for safe and rewarding educational experiences around the world.
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Mosaic Learning Program for K-12 Schools

Workplace harassment and discrimination diminish the entire school community. Employees at K-12 institutions, including faculty and staff, have a vital role to play. Help your employees identify, address, and prevent these problems with the Mosaic learning program.
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Mosaic Learning Program for Higher Ed

Workplace harassment and discrimination diminish the entire campus community, as does the related problem of student sexual misconduct. College and university employees, including faculty and staff, have a vital role to play. Help your employees identify, address, and prevent these problems with the Mosaic learning program.
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Driver Safety Training

When faced with the serious responsibility of driving on institution business and transporting passengers, drivers must be ready for the unexpected. This course will help those driving on institution business to identify and mitigate driving risks, and learn specific strategies for handling potential accidents and other emergency situations.
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Crisis Response Learning Program

This learning program was developed to help your institution prepare, improve upon, and test your plan for responding to a wide range of potential internal crises that are unique to educational institutions.

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Protecting Children Test 2

Contracting Fundamentals

Good contracting practices and understanding of indemnification and insurance will help protect your institution’s bottom line. This learning program is dedicated to promoting good contracting practices at your institution.

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Concussion Awareness Learning Program

Responding appropriately to concussions has become a critical component of keeping athletes safe. This learning program is designed to educate coaches, staff, and students on recognizing and responding to the symptoms of concussions.
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Avoiding Supervisory Pitfalls

Arm new and experienced supervisors with useful knowledge to help recognize good supervisory practices while providing examples of common pitfalls to avoid.
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