New Course in Sustainability and Risk Management

As part of the new minor in Business Environment and Sustainability, the Katie School helped to develop a new course in Sustainability and Risk Management. It will be offered in the fall of 2012 and taught by one of the most well-known risk managers in the country, Dan Kugler. Director of Risk Management for Snap-On Tools. Dan's perspective is that Sustainability is a strategic risk issue for firms and the design and content of this course supports this view. The following is an excerpt from the ISU Course Catalog describing the new course.

382.04 SEMINAR IN INSURANCE: SUSTAINABILITY, RISK MANAGEMENT AND INSURANCE

            3 sem. hrs.

This course examines overarching risks, their interconnections, and common causes in areas such as human resources, marketing, finance, accounting, real estate, manufacturing, operations, and corporate governance. Upon completion of the course, students should be able to identify key economic and environmental risks facing businesses and explain: the interconnections among these risks; the common causes of risks stemming from unsustainable business, consumer, and government activities; the benefits to businesses having sustainable business practices, the relationship between sustainability, risk management, and insurance; and describe new risk management tools being developed to help address sustainability issues.

We will have a number of industry speakers to discuss many of these topics.

In support of the new minor in Business Environment and Sustainability, the Katie School will be hosting a symposium at the Marriott in Uptown, Normal on April 10th. This will be an all-day event beginning with breakfast at 8:00 a.m. It will feature speakers from around the country as well as local business owners, discussing how businesses are engaging in sustainability practices. Dan Kugler,will be presenting on the topic of how sustainability addresses a strategic risk for firms. Camil Pasado, a specialist in the energy unit at Chubb Insurance will discuss how alternative and renewable energy addresses the risk of oil dependency and carbon emissions. This is a symposium for ANYONE interested in learning how sustainability can best be practiced in businesses and how it can be included in strategic and tactical goals that benefit the firm, society, employees, and customers. Look for information about this symposium details and registration information in February. \

We will continue to provide information about this event at the Katie School website at http://www.katieschool.org/

Information about the new course will also be updated on this website.