This template aims at facilitating the identification of risks and their corresponding impacts. The outcomes of the assessment using this template should be summarised and transposed to Western Sydney University risk assessment worksheet at a later stage.
Risk Source (1) / Consequences: possible areas impacted by the risk issue identified (2)Risk categories / Risk issue identified / Image and reputation of the University / Financial / Business/ Investment activities / Governance/ Management controls effectiveness / Teaching/ Learning/ Research activities / Administrat-ion & Operation – effectiveness and efficiency / IT technology, & facilities / Compliance with regulations & policies / Legal liabilities / Environment/ WH&S/ Fixed assets/ Infrastructure / Socio-political/ International/ Community engagement / Other areas/ activities (please specify)
Financial / (Illustration example)
Significant government funding cut / The University is unable to finance essential operations and services / The quality and scope of academic activities will be adversely impacted due to lack of sufficient funding / The quality of admin. services also affected due to reduced resources / Up-to-date IT facilities installation may be delayed thus affect other areas’ services and operations / Essential maintenance work may be delayed or cancelled which leads to the run down of facilities and buildings
Note:
(1) Refer Western Sydney University risk category list
(2) The consequence of a particular risk can impact multiple areas
This checklist is not intended to be designed as an exhaustive list and is provided only as a guide/sample for consideration. Staff should consider their own situation and environment before making use of it in their assessment.
WESTERN SYDNEY UNIVERSITY RISK CATEGORY LIST
Academic (Course load/ logistics) / Student load by course and campus, Staff student ratios, teaching loads, admission processes and standards, student progression and retention rates, mode of delivery, changes of student profile and market demands, course and unit coordination capacity and load of academics, levels of administrative and technical support for academic activities / Poor staff/ student ratios in some programs. / Major decline in student progression rates and
serious incident of academic misdemeanor – the University reputation/ enrolments suffer
Academic (Course
curriculum/ quality) / Quality/ standard of academic program/ course contents, planning strategy for course offerings, approvals and monitoring process for courses and units
/ Prolong course approval process that delay
the marketing or offer of new courses / Programs/ courses loss industrial/ professional
accreditation or special funding from authorities
Academic (Research) / Research income, research load, research work and staff, research capacity, intellectual property, patents, ethical conduct in research etc. / Poor research student ratios in some
educational programs Dispute in IP / Major decline in research projects and research income – poor ERA rating that impacts the University reputation. Outcomes of major research program not protected and “lost”
Behaviour / Staff attitudes to risk, risk culture: staff reckless (disasters), staff conservative (opportunities lost), staff uptake of policies / Staff occasionally take uninformed risks, staff
are only sometimes too conservative / Staff reckless – disasters; staff conservative – opportunities lost
Environmental / Water, soil, air contamination, asbestos, waste management, incidents causing damages, injury/ death, environmentally triggered emergencies (Work Health & Safety risks) / Slips, trips and falls – minor WHS issues / Major hazards, pollution, asbestos, injury or
death
Financial / Reductions in income, liquidity, financial loss, insurances, debt, budget overruns, tenders / Impact less than say $10,000, manageable / Impact exceeding say over $2m, significant
impact on budget
Infrastructure / The physical fabric of the University, buildings, roads, pathways, utilities (electricity, water) / Burst water creating disruption lasting
several hours / Major fires destroying many buildings – academic activities disrupted for a considerable period.
International / Overseas ventures/ reputation/ program disaster, relationships with overseas universities / Relationship with overseas university broken / Overseas reputation disaster, several programs
collapse
Legal / Contracts and agreements, high profile litigation - financial and reputational impact / Some chance of litigation, insured / High profile litigation, major financial impact
Legislation / Breach, financial penalty/ impact on reputation, laws, regulations, codes, affecting the University / Minor breach – minor penalty / Major breach, financial penalty and impact on
reputation
Organisational / Strength of policies and procedures, planning, staffing, morale, training, ethical culture, leadership and management / Staff lacking some skills; weaknesses in some admin. processing systems / Unethical culture, high staff turnover, no plans, very poor systems
Political / Ability to respond to major changes in education policies, level of government consultation / Some change but highly consultative / Major change in government and policies on
education
Reputation
(local International) / Damaging media reports, employability of graduates, research links, regional involvement / Brief mention in paper / Full article in press, front page, ICAC report
Technology / Strategic direction of IT, reliance on ecommerce/ email/ internet, student records system, library, university systems / Network down for 1 day / Student records system broken and data not be recovered, Student blended learning environment portal is down for more than one week
SIMPLE GUIDELINES TO USE THE ASSESSMENT CHECKLIST
If we think of risk as an event or an issue or development that could stop or impede your unit/operations from achieving its objectives, what are the risks that concern you the most and what are the possible cause and consequence if these events occur to your unit or the University?
(e.g. Too many inexperience casual staff in the University may affect the quality of services to students/staff etc)
- Risk issues raised must have a situation/condition (cause) and a corresponding (impact) to you/ your organisation/unit/operation.
- Use the checklist provided to identify what areas/activities of the University has been/ will be impacted and briefly and duly describe what the consequences are (please refer to the example provided).
3. These Risk issues and events form the basis for assessment and evaluation.