Message from Interim Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz on new vice chancellor for institutional integrity and risk management

Dear Carolina Community,

I am pleased to share that George E. Battle III, a Carolina alumnus ’95, ’99 (JD) and former student body president, has been selected as our first vice chancellor for institutional integrity and risk management. This new senior leadership position is responsible for several critical functions, including central compliance; risk management and enterprise risk management; public safety; environment, health and safety; emergency management; and ethics education and policy management.

Until now, these functions have been distributed among multiple administrative areas on campus. This new position will coordinate functions that have historically been decentralized at Carolina. Safety-related incidents — both recent and in the past year — have made it clear that we need a central office to coordinate public safety and risk management across the entire University. This new reporting structure is a significant step in putting a greater emphasis on a comprehensive approach to campus safety.

George, a noted North Carolina attorney, has an impressive and extensive legal background in litigation, regulatory compliance and enterprise risk management. For the past nine years, he has served as general counsel to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, one of the largest public school districts in the country, overseeing the district’s legal department and leading organizational risk management efforts. In this role, he has elevated the district’s legal outcomes, expanded in-house capacity, and supervised the development and implementation of board policies.

Prior to that, he worked for Carolinas Healthcare System, providing legal counsel and advisory services for one of the nation’s largest public health care systems. In that role, he led a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act compliance program implementation and provided counsel for the Institutional Review Board, the Institutional Ethics Committee and the Administrative Policy Committee. George brings a wealth of experience in health and education law, corporate governance, employment law, commercial contracts and government.

One important part of George’s new role will be to help Carolina further address the emerging national issue of safeguarding academic research and educational activities from the threat of improper influence by foreign governments and outside entities. George also will help us establish a University-wide enterprise risk management operation that will better position us to identify, assess, manage and mitigate risks that may impede the University’s academic mission or strategic objectives. In addition, George will be responsible for conventional risk management functions, including insurance and emergency planning, and all aspects of campus safety.

This position is critical to meeting important University needs and follows a year-long strategic analysis of risk management and campus safety functions. My decision to appoint George to this role came with the support of my senior leadership team. I am confident that he has the right mix of skills and expertise to quickly succeed in making a positive impact at our University.

My entire leadership team and I are deeply committed to ensuring that our campus, as well as the surrounding areas, are safe for our students, faculty, staff and visitors. George will start his new position in January 2020. Please join me in congratulating him and welcoming him back to campus.

Sincerely,

Kevin M. Guskiewicz 
Interim Chancellor