July 2018

Welcome to the Risk & Insurance Management (RIM) Chronicle

We are excited to share our second newsletter with the Vanderbilt community. Our hope is to familiarize everyone at Vanderbilt with our staff, policies, practices, and procedures. We look forward to hearing from you with feedback and suggestions as the newsletters are published. The Office of Risk & Insurance Management exists to support the university’s research, teaching, and service missions through a combination of risk financing, risk prevention, and risk control activities. Our goal is to provide excellent, ethical, and timely risk management resources and services to our internal and external customers.

Risk Management Services

RIM has four primary responsibilities:

Incident and accident reporting and investigation
Internal risk assessments and services as it relates to insurable interests
Protection of Minors policy oversight
Claims handling and general insurance oversight for workers’ compensation, property, auto, and general liability (as well as other coverages)

Keep an eye out for our 3rd annual Risk Management Town Hall.

Recent News: We Moved!

RIM, formerly under the Office of the General Counsel, recently joined the Division of Finance. We are now located on the 9th floor of the Baker Building. All phone numbers and email addresses remain the same.

Featured Article

This quarter we will be highlighting the

Protection of Minors Policy

In 2013, a Protection of Minors policy was developed by a multi-disciplinary team led by Chancellor Zeppos in order to put oversight in place and a centralized process for program review and compliance in protecting minors on our campus and in our programs. Vanderbilt serves over 50,000 children through campus and outreach programming. The Office of Risk and Insurance Management has the responsibility of management and administration of this policy, championed by our Protection of Minors Director, Dawn Riddle.

The Protection of Minors policy includes provisions for:

Background clearance checks,
Training and education for identifying child abuse, abuse reporting, and prevention of abuse and maltreatment behavior,
Codes of conduct for Vanderbilt personnel,
External and internal mandatory reporting requirements, and
An online inventory registration process to document Vanderbilt programs, events, and personnel who interact with minors.

Two key points we want you to know about compliance and reporting: 1) if you are hosting a Vanderbilt event involving minors, you must register the program and event with RIM and every adult participating who may come in contact with a minor must complete a background clearance check and complete or update their Protection of Minors training compliance annually. 2) if you have reason to suspect a child has experienced abuse, this suspicion must be reported to both the State of Tennessee through the reporting hotline and also to the RIM Office, through the reporting process in the Protection of Minors policy.

Please visit RIM homepage and the Protection of Minors policy for more details, or email protectionofminors@vanderbilt.edu for questions, comments, or concerns.

Meet the Newest Member of our Team

STEPHANIE SHIPP

Hometown: Franklin, TN
B.S., Nutrition and Food Sciences, Middle Tennessee State University
M.B.A, Middle Tennessee State University

Q&A

Stephanie, how long have you been in the insurance industry?

8 years! Before my position at Vanderbilt, I was with Willis Towers Watson as a commercial insurance broker.

What is it about insurance that has captured your interest for so long?

I love that insurance is challenging and ever-changing. It’s a very fluid industry, and that keeps me on my toes. In my four months at VU, I haven’t had two of the same days, and I love it. To be involved in helping the operations of such a diverse community is something I have always dreamt of doing, and now I feel I am actually achieving that dream. I am so happy to be here!

What are your hobbies?

I enjoy running, gardening, kayaking, and hiking. My husband, Dan, and I are also sports fans! We root for the Titans every year, love going to Predators games, and recently started learning about and supporting the Nashville Soccer Club.

What is your favorite thing to do in Nashville?

Eating is my favorite thing to do in Nashville. There are so many new, great restaurants in Nashville, and I’m enjoying them one by one.

One final question: if you were an insurance policy, which type of policy would you be and why?

If I were an insurance policy, I would want to be an event insurance policy, since it typically accompanies a good time.

Stephanie’s second language is insurance policy. One of her primary responsibilities is policy renewal, which means she completes applications for each individual policy, reviews quotes, and negotiates the details. We are thrilled to have Stephanie and her joyous personality as an excellent addition to our team. She is a delight to work with, and she is always happy to answer any questions you may have regarding specific instances and policy coverage!

Melissa Ahler	Executive Director
615-936-1078	Melissa.Ahler@vanderbilt.edu

Thom Mudrick	Claims Manager
615-875-3410	Thomas.P.Mudrick@vanderbilt.edu

Patricia Parker	Claims Representative
615-936-0865	Patricia.Parker@vanderbilt.edu

Terry Prewitt	Data Analyst
615-343-0693	Terry.Prewitt@vanderbilt.edu

Stephanie Purvis	Senior Accountant
615-936-0663	Stephanie.D.Purvis@vanderbilt.edu

Dawn Riddle	Director – Protection of Minors
615-936-5935	Dawn.Riddle@vanderbilt.edu

Stephanie Shipp	Insurance Manager
615-875-8063	Stephanie.Shipp@vanderbilt.edu

Tracy Woodard	Senior Claims Investigator
615-343-3788	Tracy.Woodard@vanderbilt.edu

Safety Feature

We will begin featuring notable individuals, teams, or practices that effectively reduce risks and benefit the university’s safety as a whole.

Vanderbilt University Public Safety (VUPS) has kindly shared a few services and programs offered throughout campus.

Safety Escorts – VUPS provides a 24 hour a day safety escort service for the Vanderbilt community. A Police Officer or Community Service Officer (CSO) will assist the person requesting the escort to and from anywhere on campus.
Blue Light Emergency Phones – VUPS has installed over 350 blue light emergency phones across campus. When activated, these emergency phones emit a blue flashing light and connect directly to the VUPS Communications Center. For more information please visit the emergency phone website.
R.A.D. – The Rape Aggression Defense System for Women is a program of realistic self-defense tactics and techniques. RAD Systems provides comprehensive courses that begin with awareness, prevention, risk reduction and avoidance, while progressing on to the basics of hands-on defense training. For more information please visit the RAD self defense website.
Big Voice – VUPS is currently in the process of updating the Vanderbilt University Outdoor Warning System. This warning system is primarily utilized to warn persons outdoors of an impending tornado. The new digital equipment has several new upgrades which include: interoperability with the AlertVU message system, new voice message system capabilities, two new siren locations to strengthen the message coverage, and updated digital equipment.
Pedestrian / Cyclist Safety – In an ongoing effort to increase pedestrian and cyclist safety on campus, VUPS has been working with the university and the city of Nashville to improve the audible and visual safety measures on roads throughout campus. These safety improvements include: a new crosswalk refuge at four locations on campus, audible signals at all controlled intersections on and near campus, and improved signage on 25th Ave. S. and Natchez Trace.
K-9 Additions – VUPS added two K-9 teams for explosive detection at Vanderbilt sporting events, special events, and any other large gathering. Dyno and Brutus joined Harvey in September of 2017 for a total of 3 K-9 teams.

Thank you, VUPS, for all that you do to keep our campus safe!

We recognize that there are many unsung heroes on our campus who honorably work every day to keep our campus safe in many different ways. If you have knowledge of individuals, teams, or departments that exemplify safety and protection, we would love to feature them in our next newsletter. Please email Tracy Woodard with any recommendations.

Remember to visit our website

Risk & Insurance Management is located on the 9th floor of the Vanderbilt Baker Building, 110 21st Avenue S., 615-322-2911

RIsk Management 615-322-5155

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