Rutgers University has named Ted Brown, former deputy attorney general in the N.J. Division of Criminal Justice, as head of the university's newly-established enterprise risk management program. In this capacity, he will serve as senior vice president and chief enterprise risk, ethics and compliance officer.

According to Rutgers University President Robert Barchi, the goal of the ERM program at Rutgers University is to “provide a comprehensive early warning system to ensure that senior leaders are apprised of emerging university-wide issues and can take steps to address them."

The law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom recommended in a July 2013 report to the Rutgers Board of Governors that the university create an ERM system. Former federal Judge Stephen Robinson and former federal prosecutor Christopher Gunther lead the legal team assigned to the effort.

That report, which followed an extensive eight-week review of the events leading to the termination of former basketball coach Mike Rice and of relevant Rutgers policies and procedures, noted that nine of the 14 schools in the Big Ten Conference have already established a risk management committee or system. Rice was fired in April after a video surfaced of him physically and mentally abusing his players during practice.

“As Rutgers continues to grow both in terms of size and prominence as a new member of the Big Ten conference, an enterprise risk management committee could play an integral role in answering the call for more robust compliance and oversight over internal controls and strategic planning,” the Skadden report suggested.

Program Details

Rutgers ERM will be a cross-university program that will:

Identify risk areas across the entire university (including all campuses, schools and departments);

Assign risk owners for each identified area;

Assess and prioritize identified risks and develop mitigation plans for the most serious risks;

Develop a crisis management team and crisis response plans for risks with a high likelihood of occurrence and high impact to the university; and

Monitor risks and report mitigation and crisis plans to the president and board.

In addition, Barchi announced that the compliance and ethics functions at the university will be centralized in a single unit, separate from any operating departments and with full independence. “Compliance with state and federal regulations has become markedly more complicated by the addition of the medical schools and health-related programs that are now a part of Rutgers," Barchi stated. "There is no question that compliance functions should be unified under one leader and a single point of authority and responsibility."

Under the new structure, the Rutgers Office of enterprise risk management, ethics and compliance will provide leadership and coordinate compliance efforts in health care, athletics, public safety, student life, academics, finance, research, human resources, facilities, information technology and data security.