Meet me, Mike Ward! I am a team of one in Strategic Planning and my sole purpose is to try and stop the University from breaking. I look after Risk, Business Continuity and Incident Management.

Bow Valley Parkway just outside Banff in Canada

What do I do?

For Risk, I maintain the Corporate Risk Register. This is a list of ‘big things’ that could do the University harm, either through external factors outside of our control (upcoming reduction in 18 year olds as a proportion of population) or strategic internal problems (do our buildings meet our staff and student needs). These risks are managed by senior staff, and presented to the Board of Governors and the Audit and Risk Committee so they can be assured we are taking these issues seriously.

Incident Management and Business Continuity often overlap when they occur. Both of these disciplines are concerned with minimising the impacts of any disruption the University may face. For example: Incident Management starts at the point somebody says “Oh no, a fire!” This kick starts a whole rush of activity which is coordinated by staff that have received Incident Management training. At the point we are stood in a fire damaged, soaking wet room saying “Well now what are we going to do?”, Business Continuity kicks in. Here we shift our focus to identifying creative ways of continuing to operate with whatever resources (stuff) we have left.

When not professionally worrying about things that could go wrong, I can be found at home spending more time building computers than actually using them!

How to find me

I am based on Level 1 of Oneleven.

You can contact me on x4696; or email me at michael.ward@shu.ac.uk