Brown’s Executive Sponsors are a subset of the President’s Cabinet. Members include: The President, the Provost, the EVP Finance & Admin, the EVP Planning & Policy, the VP & General Counsel, the SVP for Advancement, the VP Campus Life, the VP Human Resources, the VP Research, and the Chief Risk Officer. The Executive Sponsors are responsible to oversee Brown’s URM process. This oversight role is manifested in the action of the Executive Sponsors, including:

• Ensuring that the risk priorities and risk management activities are aligned with the strategic plans and priorities of Brown, as well as with its mission, vision, and core values.
• Reviewing, challenging, and concurring with the CRO’s proposed ERM strategy, risk appetite and risk tolerances.
• Responding to significant fluctuations in University’s performance and or deviations from our core values.

Brown’s Risk Management Committee (RMC) serves as a forum for identification, prioritization, discussion and management of risks facing the University. RMC is endorsed by the President, Provost and Committee on Audit & Risk and plays a key role in the University's enterprise risk management process. 

The committee shall meet at least two times a year. It shall report out to each Committee on Risk & Audit meeting on progress of the URM process, issues identified and/or progress made on prioritized risks. Every year the Committee will update, and refine if warranted, the University’s Risk Inventory. The Committee is chaired by the University's CRO. Membership is comprised of senior administrators from across the University. The members shall have specific areas that they are responsible for monitoring. If a member cannot attend a meeting, he/she should send a substitute. The RMC shall be staffed by the CRO. Minutes of each meeting will be maintained.

The Risk Management Committee (RMC) is responsible for the following duties: 

• Facilitating risk identification, prioritization and mitigation strategies related to:
  • Governance and Strategy – Risks affecting or resulting from efforts by the University to conduct the policies, actions and affairs of Brown, in pursuit of its strategic objectives.
  • Community Expectations – Risks arising from our continuous efforts to meet or exceed the expectations of each of the members of the communities we live, work and serve, including our students, donors, sponsoring organizations, alumni, and the citizens of the communities in which we operate.
  • Safety, Security & Compliance - Risks to the safety of all members of the University and surrounding communities, as well as for the security and protection of Brown’s assets, and those affecting our compliance with all relevant laws and regulations.
  • Financial & Environmental Sustainability - Risks affecting Brown’s productivity, quality and efficiency, as well as those affecting the growth, protection and management of financial assets, risks related to the enrollment of students, and those affecting our ability to achieve environmental sustainability goals.
  • Communication & Alignment – Risks that affect Brown’s efforts to establish an organization and culture that supports exceptional collaboration, communication and cooperation to achieve superior outcomes.
  • Talent – Risks that affect Brown’s ability to attract, hire, train and retain the best talent to achieve our strategic goals.
  • Technology – Risks that affect Brown’s ability to provide and maintain technology that facilitates the achievement of world-class results in all aspects of the Universities operations inside the classrooms/labs and out.
• Ensuring that faculty, students and staff are aware of their responsibilities with regard to compliance, safety and ethics as members of the Brown community.
• Ensuring that information regarding policies and procedures, training, oversight functions, and internal controls, especially in areas subject to regulation, are coordinated and disseminated.

The Corporation works with and through the President and the University’s ERM Organization, through its Committee on Risk & Audit, to ensure that Brown operates in the best interests of all its stakeholders, including: students; faculty; employees; customers; University partners; the federal, state and local government; taxpayers; and all of the communities in which the University operates around the world. In order for the Corporation to achieve this objective, management has the responsibility to provide to the Corporation all information necessary or appropriate to enable them to discharge their duties and responsibilities.