Newswise — Henry "Hank" James Jr. is the new associate vice chancellor for risk management, safety and security at UNC Charlotte.
James has more than 25 years of professional experience in the risk management field. Most recently a Florida-based consultant, he served as director of the Office of Integrated Risk Management and Insurance at Dartmouth College. Before that, James was assistant vice president for risk management at the Loma Linda University Adventist Health Sciences Center and director of risk management and insurance at Southern Methodist University.
In his new leadership role, James will lead the University's development of an Enterprise Risk Management Program (ERM).
Earlier this year, the University formed the Risk Management Department, which combined the offices of Business Continuity Planning, Police and Public Safety, Environmental Health and Safety and Risk Management and Insurance.
"Virtually every aspect of an operation has an element of risk," James said. "ERM is a model that allows an organization to assess risks to people, property and reputation and develop strategies to mitigate impact from them."
Bringing these four areas under one unit is a relatively new model, said James.
"UNC Charlotte is to be commended for its approach. Many higher education institutions have been slow to adopt ERM, although this is changing," he said.
"While the UNC system has some renowned risk managers, UNC Charlotte is adopting a model that is visionary by combining four operating units together in an umbrella organization to assist in the ERM initiative."
There are many scenarios that could affect operations or the University's reputation, said James, including a pandemic, such as swine flu; a residence hall or laboratory fire; severe weather; or sanctions resulting from failure to comply with federal, state or local regulations.
A member of several professional organizations and societies, including the University Risk Management and Insurance Association and the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS), of which he is an RIMS fellow, James earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Oakwood College. He completed MBAs in general business (1992) and strategic leadership (2001) at Amberton University.
About UNC Charlotte
A public research university, UNC Charlotte is the fourth largest campus among the 17 institutions of the University of North Carolina system. It is the largest institution of higher education in the Charlotte region, offering doctoral, master's and bachelor's programs. Fall 2008 enrollment was 23,300 students, including nearly 5,000 graduate students.
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