Risk Management Training for Administrators

Build an Action Plan

Whether your program is small or large, wilderness-based or study abroad, you have a responsibility to your staff and participants to invest in risk management planning. Building a comprehensive risk management plan can feel daunting. Our goal is to provide you with a structured approach and tools to build a risk management plan appropriate for your organization. At NOLS, we’ve spent more than 55 years managing risk in wilderness environments around the world, and we’re always learning. Join us to connect and share your valuable experience with peer programs, and let us share our experience and lessons learned with you.

In this training for outdoor professionals and program administrators, you will build an action plan to improve your organization’s risk management practices. Instructors will help you identify your program’s strengths and areas for growth. You will also learn a framework for designing risk management systems that meet the unique needs of your program.

If you oversee a program that takes people off the beaten path, you are a good candidate for this course.

Participating Organizations Include:

• Outdoor education programs
• Colleges and universities
• Study abroad, international programs, and travel companies
• Military outdoor programs
• Camps
• Wilderness therapy programs
• Guide services
• Adaptive sports and recreation
• Scientific research entities
• Others operating in remote environments

Outcomes and Benefits to Your Program:

• Learn a structured approach to designing a risk management plan.
• Analyze your approach to risk oversight; risk-mission alignment and activity selection; staff hiring and training; equipment, food, and transportation; and emergency and crisis planning.
• Participate in exercises to help you evaluate your approach to staffing, contracting, and serious incident response.
• Learn effective practices and dialog with peer organizations.

Tools and Resources:

• Risk Management Action Plan Workbook
• NOLS Crisis Management Template and NOLS Wilderness Medicine Protocol Package
• Resource examples and templates, including a risk release, health form, orientation checklist, transportation policy, and more

Course Policies

Please review our registration and cancellation policies.

Scholarships: Scholarships are available for this course. We know programs of all sizes and resources benefit from this training. Our goal is to provide access to this training for more people through financial assistance. Scholarship amounts vary between $200 and $600. This is dependent on the number of applicants per course and the amount of funds we have available.

To apply for a scholarship:

1. Register for the course that works best for your schedule. All applicants must pay the $300 deposit to reserve their spot. Scholarship amounts will not cover the $300 deposit. The deposit is refundable 30 days and greater from the start of the course. Please see our cancellation policies for more information.

2. Fill out the NOLS RMT Scholarship Application at least 60 days before your course starts.

Applicants will be notified 35-45 days before the start of their course whether they have received a scholarship.

Discounts: 10% discount for NOLS grads, AEE individual members, and AMGA members. 15% discount for AEE accredited programs. Discounts cannot be combined.

Skills Learned: Organization or program-level risk management

Certifications: Certificate of Completion