When I joined the founding executive board of the Risk Management Association (RMA) at OSU my freshman year, I could not have dreamed of the success we would enjoy during these few years. We have grown from a small collaboration of students struggling to piece together a few meetings, to a thriving student organization. We have provided opportunities for Fisher College of Business students such as industry engagement and networking, case competitions, and our signature business crisis and continuity simulation exercises. Our success has been founded primarily in the aspiration and dedication of our students, along with the strong and steady support of The Risk Institute at Fisher College of Business.
This year, for the first time ever, our organization received even further support as we were fortunate enough to be a recipient of the Spencer Foundation Risk Manager in Residence Grant. For our RMIR series, we were pleased to host Ed Katersky, former Director of Risk Management for CVS, a risk industry professional with a tremendous depth and breadth of experience. During his time here, Mr. Katersky provided an enriched educational experience for our students including industry perspective based presentations in the classroom, extracurricular engagement and interaction, and one-on-one career coaching and relation. Combined, these additions provided an educational opportunity unparalleled by the traditional classroom experience, and a truly transformational moment for our students. These achievements would not have been possible without the support of the Spencer Foundation.
As part of his contributions in the classroom, Mr. Katersky spoke to both graduate and undergraduate classes related to enterprise risk, finance, and insurance. He brought the perspective of industry experience, exposing students to an understanding of how the theories they have learned in class are applied in the real world through case analyses and interactive activities. Mr. Katersky’s visit also engaged students outside of the classroom. In an event co-sponsored by the RMA and Ohio State’s chapter of the Gamma Iota Sigma insurance professional fraternity, he led an interactive group discussion with students by sharing his career experiences and giving advice for young professionals seeking careers in the field of insurance and risk. Opportunities such as this allow our students to understand the possibilities ahead of them and to become excited about their prospects in the field of risk. Mr. Katersky also spoke at a lunch for OSU students, faculty, and staff on the topic of enterprise risk management, and shared a unique glimpse into his successful business career.
The third way in which the Risk Manager in Residence program enhanced our students’ educational experience was through one-on-one interactions and relations. Mr. Katersky conducted office hours where he met with students individually, allowing them to receive personal and tailored expertise and advice. These intimate interactions provided an opportunity for students to further develop their aspirations and professional identities. Additionally, Mr. Katersky had the chance to attend a dinner with top risk students at OSU including RMA and GIS members. This was not only a great opportunity for students to interact with Mr. Katersky, but it was also a wonderful opportunity for the students to form better relationships amongst themselves and further strengthen the ties of The Ohio State’s risk community.
The mission of our student organization, the RMA, is to educate and advocate for future risk industry professionals. On behalf of my fellow students at the Ohio State University, I would like to thank the Spencer Foundation for helping us to pursue this mission and enabling us to offer such an incredibly enriching academic opportunity for our students. We look forward to continue furthering our mission by offering opportunities for our students to nurture their passion for risk management. We are hopeful that through our efforts, and with the support of organizations such as the Spencer Foundation and the OSU Risk Institute, we will make the Ohio State University the premier pipeline for successful risk industry professionals.