4.16 Maricopa Integrated Risk Assessment

Purpose

The Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) endeavors to be an innovative, flexible higher education institution that encourages risk assessment and management as an integral process for carrying out our mission to promote and enhance student learning and success. MCCCD also embraces a comprehensive approach to risk management that promotes broad strategic thinking and analysis, while fundamentally integrating our institution’s vision, mission, and values. To this end, risk management will provide our institution with the superior capabilities to identify, assess, and manage the full spectrum of risks and opportunities and to enable management, faculty and staff at all levels to better understand and manage risk.

Background

In March 2000, the Maricopa County Community College District Governing Board, with support from the Chancellor’s Executive Council (CEC), approved an initiative to embed ongoing risk assessment and management into MCCCD’s daily operations and culture. The CEC has reaffirmed its support and commitment in July 2003, August 2004, and September 2005 and will reaffirm its support annually thereafter. This initiative is called the Maricopa Integrated Risk Assessment (MIRA) project and it extends beyond traditional risk management to embrace a wider view of risk management called Enterprise Risk Management (ERM). While traditional risk management focuses on insurable and hazard risks, enterprise risk management is a process and management tool to address all sources of risk that would threaten strategic objectives.

Approach to Risk Management

MIRA shall be collaboratively integrated into existing management processes and daily operations. To ensure that we achieve our strategy, MIRA provides our employees with the tools and capabilities to overcome barriers that arise in striving to exceed expectations. By realizing that risk management is everyone’s job, our management, faculty, and staff shall proactively identify risk while delivering high quality education to our students in a more efficient and cost effective manner. MIRA allows our employees to view issues from various angles to identify not only the risk mitigation activities, but also to seek out and act on potential opportunities—therefore challenging conventional wisdom to create better solutions.

Employee Responsibilities

It is the responsibility of every employee to identify, assess, and manage risks and opportunities individually, throughout our organization, and to collaboratively strive for continuous quality improvement and the efficient and effective use of our resources. All management, faculty and staff are expected to demonstrate appropriate standards of behavior in the development of strategy and pursuit of expected outcomes. All Board-Approved employees shall be required to participate in training that focuses on risk identification, assessment, and management, and this training shall be rigorous, practical, and application-based. Board-Approved employees includes those who have or could attain permanent status, one year only, one semester only, Skill Center and specially funded employees. Newly hired Board-Approved employees shall be required to participate in training during their probationary period or within one year of their hire date and every three years thereafter. This training shall be incorporated into other mandatory training and/or shall be stand-alone training. Existing Board-Approved employees shall be required to participate in training within two years after the adoption of this administrative regulation and every three years thereafter. The District shall consider ways of training temporary employees once initial training of Board-Approved employees is complete.

General Expected Outcomes

Expected outcomes include:

• Increased overall effectiveness and accountability
• Sound business processes; greater assurance of business continuity
• Clear demonstrated compliance with applicable laws and regulations
• Enhanced employee empowerment and pride
• Reinforcement of the strong MCCCD cultural identity
• Enhanced competitive advantage

The MIRA project shall establish a philosophy of fostering continued evaluation of effectiveness and efficiency of organizational leadership, systems, and strategies. Ultimately, accountability for resources—human, financial, intellectual, physical, and technical—will be impacted at every level of MCCCD.

Annual Review for Effectiveness

Each year the MIRA project committee shall measure progress and monitor results. This information will be presented in an annual report to the Governing Board and the CEC. This report will be submitted by August 31 of each fiscal year.