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Risk Central
Digital EditionKansas State University’s Elliott Young on His Journey into Higher Education Risk Management
Risk & Insurance: What was your first job?
As a risk management specialist at Praesidium Inc., I advised youth serving organizations on best practices for preventing sexual abuse of the minors and vulnerable adults in their care.
R&I: How did you come to work in risk management?
I discovered risk management as a third-year law student and accepted a position in youth protection, risk assessment and training shortly after graduation. While in that role, I learned more about the risk management and insurance profession and decided to focus on it within the higher education industry.
R&I: What is the risk management community doing right?
We’re grappling with a lot of uncertainty and new risks stemming from political unpredictability, economic unknowns, new technologies, climate change, cultural shifts and other issues that require us to evolve our risk management approaches to effectively serve our organizations and clients.
The higher education risk management community is a collaborative and supportive group that constantly shares information, resources and ideas to help each other collectively navigate this everchanging and unpredictable environment.
R&I: What could the risk management community be doing a better job of?
First, embracing new technologies to collect data and educate risk professionals on how to analyze that data to make betterinformed decisions. And second, informing the next generation of professionals about the risk management profession and educating them about the foundational concepts of risk management.
R&I: What’s been the biggest change in the risk management and insurance industry while you’ve been in it?
Organizations seem to be pursuing alternative risk financing strategies like captives or other self-insured vehicles more frequently due to the turbulent and ever-changing property and casualty insurance markets.
R&I: What emerging commercial risk most concerns you and why?
Property damage caused by severe weather, data breaches caused by cyberattacks, and massive liability verdicts aren’t going away, but I think we mostly understand those risks and how to manage them. I’m mostly concerned about artificial intelligence because of how many unknowns exist and how quickly it’s evolving.
R&I: How much business do you do direct versus going through a broker?
I go through our broker for all property and casualty insurance.
R&I: If you were to point to two people who served as mentors to you, who would they be and why?
Craig McAllister, currently the AVP of risk management at the University of Miami, hired me at Cornell University in 2016, which gave me an amazing opportunity to start my full-time career in higher education risk management. Craig taught me the fundamentals of risk management, encouraged me to embrace new challenges and motivated me to seek professional development opportunities. He gave me a lot of responsibility, but most importantly, he gave me the autonomy to complete projects, engage with the Cornell community and achieve the department’s goals how I thought best.
Nakeschi Watkins, director of risk management and insurance at Cornell University, challenged me to expand my risk management skills by taking over new responsibilities with the property and casualty insurance program. That experience proved critical, as I’m now responsible for the insurance program at K-State.
I’m grateful to Craig and Nakeschi for helping to jump-start my risk management career and continuing to be mentors.
R&I: What about this work do you find the most fulfilling or rewarding?
Helping colleagues at my university and across the nation manage their risks, which ultimately helps them advance their universities’ missions and strategic goals.
R&I: What have you accomplished that you are proudest of?
I’ve launched multiple risk management policies and programs that have minimized risk to universities while also empowering employees and students to advance their goals. I’m particularly proud that I developed and launched Cornell University’s Youth Protection Policy and program, which protects minors participating in university-sponsored activities from harm and mitigates liability and reputation risk to the university.
I’m proud that I launched K-State’s first ERM program and assumed responsibility for the property and casualty insurance program in 2021. The ERM program led to policies, procedures, training and new resources in youth protection, emergency management, international travel, threat management, events planning, vehicle use and others, which is very rewarding.
R&I: What do your friends and family think you do?
My young kids think I “go to college,” my wife calls me “the fun police” and my friends think I buy insurance. There are elements of truth in each, but hopefully my colleagues know that I do a lot more. &
