Experts Tackled Higher Education Risk Management
The EDUCAUSE Annual Conference hosted sessions on managing modern threats to colleges and universities.
Updated on Sept. 30, 2026 in Higher Education
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Higher education leaders gathered in Denver to discuss strategies for addressing risks related to people, operations, finances, and reputation. The session highlighted the necessity of collaboration between risk managers and IT leadership to navigate current institutional challenges.
Why it matters
Colleges are currently confronting systemic hurdles including declining enrollment, rising costs, shrinking budgets, and staff burnout. Developing robust risk management protocols is essential for institutions to maintain stability amidst these pressures.
Risk management frameworks require identifying specific risks and assigning a single owner to each issue. Managers must then evaluate the likelihood and impact of each risk before deciding to accept, reduce, transfer, or avoid it.
The players
Juan Azcarate III
He serves as the senior director of risk management at Dallas College.
Olivia Watson
She is the risk manager at the Colorado School of Mines.
EDUCAUSE
This nonprofit association focuses on the use of information technology in higher education.
The details
Risk management experts emphasized that effective mitigation requires assigning owners to oversee identified vulnerabilities and determining whether to reduce or avoid risks entirely. The discussion included examples of operational threats, such as a wildlife incident that triggered a power outage at the Colorado School of Mines.
Timeline
The EDUCAUSE Annual Conference took place in Denver during the week of September 30, 2026.
A session on higher education risk management occurred on Wednesday of the conference week.
This report was published on September 30, 2026.
Culture Shift
The transition toward centralized, interdisciplinary risk management at the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference marks a departure from siloed administration in academia. Institutions are increasingly treating operational resilience as a core competency rather than a secondary concern.
Institutions in the Denver area and beyond may adopt these risk management frameworks to improve operational continuity during unforeseen events. Students and faculty can expect more robust planning to address infrastructure failures and financial volatility.
The takeaway
Proactive identification of risks allows universities to move from reactive crisis management to strategic stability. Administrators should prioritize clear ownership and cross-departmental communication to address vulnerabilities before they escalate.
Further reading
For more on the current challenges facing universities, visit the Higher Education section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Government Technology.
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