Why Higher Education Safety Should Be a Priority: An Interview with NAD Higher Education Account Executive Andrew Myaing

Adventist Risk Management, Inc. (ARM) understands that for many people, formal education continues beyond the high school level. Across the world, dedicated faculty, staff, and administrators serve students at Seventh-day Adventist colleges and universities. These ministries need our support. This month, we want to start that conversation. ARM's account executive Andrew Myaing brings over a decade of experience in higher education and risk management. We spoke with him about higher education safety and what he thinks university leaders should know about safer campuses. 

Konstantin: I understand your background is diverse and that in addition to risk management, a large part of your work is dedicated to higher education. Could you tell us a little bit about your background and what brought you to ARM?

Andrew: I started my experience in higher education at Washington Adventist University’s School of Graduate and Professional Studies, formerly known as Columbia Union College Adult Evening Program. I started out in admissions and then transitioned into student services, assisting students with their financial accounts. There wasn’t much in the way of risk management in this position, but I had the privilege of interacting with adult evening students. In addition, I served as Southern Adventist University’s director of Risk Management. 

My responsibilities allowed me to work with various departments, educating and training faculty and staff on workplace safety. Many of my other responsibilities included maintaining the university’s insurance programs, establishing risk control measures, OSHA and EPA compliance. I also had the opportunity to be on different committees pertaining to university operations, i.e. safety, care team, crisis management, student life, etc.

Konstantin: Most of the resources we develop relate to child protection in churches and schools. Universities and their respective campuses, however, are also vulnerable to many risks. What do you think are the biggest challenges facing Adventist higher education and why should we tailor resources for colleges and universities?

Andrew: Our higher education institutions face a very different risk environment. The academic and social environments are vastly different as well, presenting different kinds of risk exposures. There are many threats [in higher education risk management], but I would like to focus on areas that may not be so tangible. Areas not so tangible, in my opinion, would be student mental health, processes and protocols, and safety culture. 

First, colleges and universities are challenged with properly addressing students’ mental health. Many first-year students find the first year very challenging. Most, if not all, of the schools have established mental health programs in place. If a program already exists, it would be good to continuously monitor the program’s progress or lack thereof. If there’s not a proper program in place, the schools face risks of losing students dropping out of school. More importantly, their well-being and future life and career can be negatively affected. 

Second, properly instituting a safety program on campus involves the input of multiple departments, i.e., administration, facility, grounds, custodial, academic, missions, food services, academic support, retail, campus safety, etc. College campuses are practically small cities. The risks on a college campus include damage to physical property, bodily injury, mental health, reputational risk, and so forth. Holding regular safety committee meetings—involving department chairs—will help support a comprehensive risk management plan. This group will be able to identify the areas of risk and focus on the tools needed to address the risks.

Konstantin: How can Adventist leaders and educators better protect colleges and universities?

Andrew: Administrators can have their safety personnel develop tabletop exercises for various threats to rehearse procedures and measure response time. It would be prudent to establish relationships with local first responders and emergency personnel in preparation to work collaboratively in the event of a crisis. 

Finally, as the risk manager of the campus, you are tasked with developing a safety culture where everyone can have buy-in. The safety of students, employees, and visitors should be a priority. Education and training on matters of safety is relatively inexpensive to implement; however, the challenge comes when you are trying to schedule training as it takes time. If an administration values and supports a safety culture, there’s a higher probability that the rest of the campus will join in as well.