Risky Business: Galloway College Student Places in Essay Contest

With social media now ubiquitous in most aspects of life, how do risk managers handle technology’s influence on a company?

That’s the topic Galloway resident Brian Allen tackled for Delaware Valley Risk Management and Insurance Society’s (RIMS) annual college essay competition. His answer won him third place in the contest.

Allen, a senior finance major at Saint Joseph’s University, said risk managers who have been on the job for decades may be unfamiliar with changing technologies. But they can’t afford to not learn the ins and outs of social media, he added.

“Risk managers are now dealing with social media as an everyday part of their job,” Allen, a 2008 Holy Spirit High School graduate, said.

A company can expose itself to risk from multiple fronts, Allen explained. A Twitter post on inside company information before a big announcement could become part of an insider trading case later, for example.

“Within a few hours, that post could be everywhere,” Allen said. “A risk manager would have to deal with that leak of information and how to control that.”

But companies also must be mindful of employee censorship, and need to find a balance between the risks, he added.

“Everybody is doing social media today, but social media exposes people to a lot of risks that haven't been seen before and aren't as easy to anticipate,” said Jean Heck, the Brian C. Duperreault '69 Chair for Risk Management and Insurance at Saint Joseph's.

That said, Allen noted that social media’s influence on risk management doesn’t often come up in the classroom. Changing technologies also need to be incorporated into the classroom, as well as training risk managers already in the field.

RIMS hosts an essay contest each year to encourage student involvement in the society.

Do you know a Galloway resident who is excelling in college—winning awards, making the dean's list or triumphing in another way? Send the information to anthony.bellano@patch.com.