Student Organizations & Risk Management – On-Demand Training

Build A Culture of Responsible Engagement and Risk Awareness Through Buy-in, Collaboration & Clear Expectations

Risk is inherent in every student organization, every event, and every initiative on or off campus. In today’s higher education landscape, institutions are expected to support vibrant student engagement while simultaneously navigating legal exposure, safety concerns, and public scrutiny. When risk management protocols are unclear, inconsistently enforced, or disconnected from historical context, risk can escalate quickly. Without intentional planning and education, institutions may face:

• Legal liability
• Compromised student safety
• Reputational damage
• Breakdowns in trust between students and administrators
• Inconsistent adjudication of violations

Join us as our expert presenters will equip your campus professionals with a student centered, collaborative approach to risk management. One that builds buy in, strengthens accountability, and empowers student organizations to plan responsibly. Instead of defaulting to “no,” participants will learn how to start with “yes”; identify inherent risks; and guide students toward safer, more compliant decisions through clarity, consistency, and education.

Implement practical tools to streamline communication, standardize decision making, leverage historical records, and adjudicate violations in ways that are fair, transparent, and developmentally aligned. 

Topics Covered

Gain crucial, actionable takeaways that will help you: 

• Create or refine plain language policies, checklists and timelines that student leaders can easily understand and follow.
• Help advisors and staff understand why certain requirements exist and how to meet them safely.
• Train staff and advisors on how to apply rubrics and scoring tools, or tiered risk levels to evaluate events consistently, so students experience predictable, equitable enforcement.
• Develop a centralized record keeping system for past events, incidents, approvals, and interventions to anticipate challenges, identify patterns, and guide student organizations toward safer planning.
• Frame risk management as a learning opportunity and use violations or near misses as moments to teach students about responsibility, safety, a chance to self-correct, and institutional expectations.
• Use pre event meetings with organizations to identify risks, offer alternatives, and build student buy in, so you can shift the culture from “catching problems” to preventing them collaboratively. 

Presenters

Dr. Joe Lizza serves as the Senior Director of Student Centers & Campus Activities at Rowan University, where he provides strategic vision, leadership, and operational oversight into the University's student center facilities and campus activities. Click here for full bio.

Dr. Tyler Steffy currently serves as the Director of Student Life at Montgomery County Community College. He is also a volunteer firefighter and youth baseball coach and he understands that risk is inevitable and continually evolves. Dr. Steffy works diligently to educate, prepare, and train different stakeholders on how to mitigate risk as well as how to properly handle incidents when they occur.  Click here for full bio.