Member Update

June 30, 2022

As I celebrated my daughter’s graduation in June, I was reminded of how joyful the time of year is on our member campuses, with commencements and reunions. But with all these activities, United Educators’ (UE’s) 35 years of education experience teaches us that it is also a time of heightened risk.

When accidents occur, we’re here to provide essential coverage, offer timely and relevant risk management content and services, and work collaboratively to resolve claims to achieve the best outcome for all parties involved. Watch this short video to learn about how our Cool Head, Warm Heart® philosophy brings a thoughtful, compassionate response to claims.

We’re also improving our services to make them more secure and accessible by offering the convenience of submitting a claim online so we can ensure that your claim or incident is promptly assigned to a UE Resolutions team member with the substantive and geographic experience needed to provide support and guidance.

But UE is not only here for you when a claim occurs — we want to be your trusted partner to help you navigate and manage some of the most significant risks facing education today. Our Risk Management Premium Credit (RMPC) program enables eligible members to earn credit on their renewal premium by conducting specific risk management activities. This year, we’re expanding the RMPC program to include a special partnership with The Jed Foundation to help support student mental health.

Finally, as Education’s Answer, UE is committed to ensuring that our members have access to information regarding significant developments in education law. As you’re no doubt aware, last week, on the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the Department of Education shared proposed regulatory changes to Title IX. While it may be a considerable time before the department issues final regulations, we’ll examine the proposed changes closely and share insights in the coming days.

We remain focused on our mission to serve you on these and other important liability topics. Let us know if there’s anything we can do to support your institution.

Sending our best wishes for a safe and healthy summer and our gratitude for your partnership with UE.

Best,

Ellie Kennedy Headshot

Ellen Kennedy

Vice President of Resolutions Management and General Counsel

Previous Updates

April 8, 2022

Spring is a busy time for educational institutions, so we want to be sure you’ve seen recent updates about your UE membership.

On March 18, we hosted UE in Brief: Top Risks in 2022 — UE Insights on Member Losses. You can watch the webinar recording for K-12 schools or higher education online.
We marked the 35th anniversary of our founding on March 24. Watch this short video highlighting our landmark achievements as a captive insurance company. Also read our CEO and President Janice Abraham’s reflections on our recipe for success serving education.
As we all consider the challenges and opportunities ahead, I invite you to take a few minutes to read this article on steps we can take together to combat social inflation.

We are proud to serve our members with extensive risk management support, individualized underwriting, and thoughtful claims resolution.

Thanks for being a valued partner.

Best,

Joe Carter Headshot

Joe Carter
Vice President, Business Development and UE Experience

Dec. 3, 2021

Thank you for partnering with us to address the challenges our schools and campuses face. As a member and an owner of United Educators (UE), your input is essential to our shared endeavor. We are grateful for campus leaders on our Risk Management Advisory Committee (RMAC) who regularly advise us on challenges facing education and all those who contributed their views in this year’s Top Risks Reports for K-12 and higher education, and our diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) survey. Your input helps UE in anticipating emerging risks and informs the risk management programming we provide as a benefit of membership.

While top risks reflect differences across our membership, topics that consistently rise to the top include enrollment, COVID-19 and future pandemics, data security, facilities and operational pressures, sexual and employee misconduct, student health and safety, funding, and regulatory compliance (including Title IX). We want to assure you that UE experts are continuously developing resources to address liability risks and support your enterprise risk management (ERM) efforts.

You can draw upon our deep library of resources as well as risk advisors to help plan your risk management efforts. Contact us at risk@ue.org if there’s anything we can do to help with your ERM planning for 2022.

I also want to update you on UE’s Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Alliance (IDEA), an internal working group established in 2020 to embed increased awareness of and sensitivity to DEI into our operations and culture. UE’s executive leaders are actively involved and support the work of a cross-functional team of staff drawn from across UE’s operations. Some recent milestones include company-wide unconscious bias training to foster a culture of belonging, launching our Defense Counsel Development Program to grow a more diverse panel of legal experts to best fit the needs of resolving claims, and reconstituting the RMAC to better reflect the diversity of our membership.

We look forward to your continued engagement and input. Thank you again for partnering with us to help keep our educational communities safe.

Best,

Constance Neary
Vice President for Risk Management

Sept. 13, 2021

While September marks the traditional Back to School season, 2021 continues to bring new twists to life on our campuses. At United Educators (UE), we are not only tracking the impact of the delta variant of COVID-19, but we are tracking broader risk issues for the education community.

Mental health is a growing concern for individuals and for campuses of every size and type. Research findings from The Hechinger Report on depression and anxiety signal that the pandemic’s toll is steep.

As many of us return to campus after a long hiatus the potential for “roaring 20s” excesses abound. We know that alcohol is a contributing factor in many types of UE claims, such as Greek activities, student sexual assault, hazing, and study abroad. A recent UE Risk Management Insights blog gives practical tips for limiting the influence of alcohol in student claims.

Sadly, student opioid overdoses are also on the rise. As more overdoses occur in K-12 classrooms, organizations like the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) are encouraging schools and districts to include naloxone nasal spray in their opioid overdose response. You can learn more from UE’s Risk Management experts about how to respond to student opioid overdoses.

We are mindful of these ongoing challenges as well as the recent damages from Hurricane Ida impacting our members and brokers in Louisiana, Mississippi, and up the East Coast, as well as the wildfires in the west. Our team here at UE is committed to helping all our members maintain a safe environment so your educational communities can thrive. Let me know if there’s anything more we can do to support you as we mark the return to school in both traditional and innovative ways.

Best,

Janice M. Abraham
President and CEO

Member Update

Previous Updates

April 2022 Update From Joe Carter

January 2022 Update From Janice Abraham

December 2021 Update From Constance Neary

September 2021 Update From Janice Abraham