International Branch Campuses and Unique Risk ... - NACUBO IRC

efforts for a very globally mobile population, while legal
consultants and insurance advisors can facilitate a better
understanding of the local legal and insurance system and
mitigation of the subsequent risks.
Furthermore, dialogue with other entities in the same
operational environment could prove very useful. Other
international branch campuses need not be competitors
and may serve as strategic partners for mutual future
success. Even non-academic entities, particularly global
companies with the same country of origin as the home
campus, may be a great resource to branch campus leaders,
enhancing their understanding of operations in the local
culture and context. Lastly, groups such as committees,
task forces, research groups, and think tanks, whose focus
is on long-term impacts and trends of higher education
and the country in general, may provide valuable strategic
insight for sustained future success of the branch campus.
A Look to the Future
As branch campuses increase in number in the international
market, their experiences will continue to inform
discussions and improve the ability of higher education
decision makers to make the right choices when considering
whether to establish branch campus agreements with
partners, governments, educational bodies, and corporate
entities. Case studies from real experiences will also provide
insights into particular geographical locations and the
unique risk implications for those contexts. As the international
higher education market reaches saturation points,
the continued success of established branch campuses
despite the competition may depend on the ability of
home campuses to provide the right kind of support and
the ability of branch campuses to meet their objectives,
manage exposures to risk, and build key relationships with
partners on the ground.
About the Author
Ivana Chalmers has worked at
Northwestern University in Qatar
(NU-Q) since its inaugural year of
2008. NU-Q provides undergraduate
degrees in journalism and communications.
With a diverse employee
community and students of 24 different
nationalities, this unique environment
results in a one of a kind operational context. Ms.
Chalmers is the risk assessment specialist for the branch
campus.
At NU-Q, Ms. Chalmers’ portfolio encompasses a
wide range of duties in a risk environment where precedents
are rare, established policies may be unsuitable,
and the context differs starkly from that of Northwestern’s
home campus. Her role includes assessment of risk exposures
and evaluation of insurance needs for the campus,
while serving as a point of contact to internal and external
security, legal, and risk management stakeholders. She is
a key contact for and a member of several security, safety,
and emergency management committees.
Before joining NU-Q, Ms. Chalmers worked in the
corporate media industry in London, England, and Johannesburg,
South Africa.
In 2010, Ms. Chalmers co-published a chapter for a
book, Girl Wide Web 2.0: Revisiting Girls, the Internet and
the Negotiation of Identity, edited by Sharon Mazzarella,
about young Arab women and their use of social networking
sites for expression of identity, entitled “Degrees of
Caution: Arab Girls Unveil on Facebook.” This work was
awarded the honor of ‘top paper’ in its category by the
National Communications Association (NCA), and Ms.
Chalmers presented it at the 2010 NCA conference in
San Francisco.
Ms. Chalmers is currently working towards a Strategic
Decision Making and Risk Management professional certificate
through Stanford University and holds a GCMBE
Level II Project Management certificate from Meeting
Professionals International (MPI). She graduated top of
her class from Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South
Africa, with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and media
studies, specializing in television production.
38 URMIA Journal 2011