Risk Management

We now reside in a world in which public access to video and photos of misconduct is unprecedented whether by employees, athletes or the police.  Social media and ever-expanding electronic communication capabilities permit widespread dissemination of these materials within minutes.    From elevator cameras to smart phone video, from computer hacking to sharing intimate photos, citizen conduct has never been more exposed.  This environment has created incredible pressure on administrators, especially those involved in high public interest activities such as collegiat

Note: The following form is a sample and assumes use of parent insurance coverage. Identify policy areas that require the review of higher authorities and present those questions and issues to your administration. Customize for your institution and have the document reviewed by institutional legal counsel or higher administration to ensure consistency with local, state, and federal laws and institutional policy.

Name of participant: ____________________________

Address: _____________________________________

Instructions: This form must be signed and submitted before your child or ward will be permitted to participate. Parents are expected to review these expectations with their children before the first day of camp.

To support a safe and positive camp experience for all participants, all campers are expected to observe the following rules:

Note: Do not use this sample form without customizing it for your institution and, if necessary, having the document reviewed by institutional legal counsel or higher administration to ensure consistency with local, state, and federal laws and institutional policy.

Note: Do not use this sample policy without customizing it for your institution and, if necessary, having the document reviewed by institutional legal counsel or higher administration to ensure consistency with local, state, and federal laws and institutional policy.

1.0     General. All camp or clinic staff members are required to keep track of all children assigned to their group at all times. Staff members are expected to do the following:

Note: Do not use this sample policy without customizing it for your institution and, if necessary, having the document reviewed by institutional legal counsel or higher administration to ensure consistency with local, state, and federal laws and institutional policy.

Governance is the formal control of the operation of the athletics program through decision-making according to specified authorities.  The athletics director is only one decision-maker in a chain of school district or institutional decision-makers.  Decisions by these institutional or school district authorities are affected by external governmental and non-governmental decision-makers such as lawmakers (local, state and federal governments and their education agencies), accreditation agencies and athletics program governance organizations (conference, state, national).

Planning for the next academic year has already started with August athlete and coach orientation and workshop sessions high on the list of priority programming.  Sexual harassment and other forms of coach and student-athlete misconduct are  “must do” sessions along with issues of legal liability given the current litigation and media risk landscape.  Educational programming and policy revisions must define clear behavioral expectations and what constitutes misconduct.  What should the content of these sessions include?

A:  No.  Sexual harassment and inappropriate coach-athlete relationships have always been a part of the sport landscape.  Unfortunately, in the past, student-athletes were afraid of reporting coaches, parents often took the side of the coach and told their children to “tough it out”.   The media, afraid of reduced access to coaches they offended, ignored the issue and schools and colleges did their best to sweep these situations under the rug.

What makes today different are a series of factors:

A:  Absolutely not.   As soon as the institution becomes aware of rape or sexual harassment, Title IX requires the institution to do all of the following: (1) act immediately to stop it and restore a safe environment, (2) act immediately to prevent its reoccurrence, (3) advise the victim of his/her right to file a formal complaint and explain the procedure for doing so, (4) assure the victim that he/she will not have to confront her alleged abuser in the complaint process and (5) report the behavior and submit the complaint to the Title IX Coordinator and if criminal behavior