About the Book
- Page ID
- 48948
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)CIS 95C: Risk Assessment and Mitigation – A Practicum is a hands-on, scenario-based learning experience that transforms students from passive participants into active risk leaders. Rather than teaching risk through abstract theory or simplified definitions, this book immerses learners in a dynamic simulation—one grounded in realistic constraints, emotional complexity, and cross-functional decision-making.
Throughout this practicum, students step into the role of an embedded risk analyst at Self-Managed Diabetic Care Inc. (SMDC), a fictional but highly realistic healthcare startup developing a data dashboard for diabetes self-management. Through twelve milestone scenarios, students must navigate uncertainty, analyze systems and signals, collaborate across stakeholders, and make tough decisions under pressure.
🎯 Who This Book Is For
This OER textbook is designed for:
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College students studying risk management, systems design, or project-based leadership
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Early career professionals looking to sharpen their decision-making, communication, and analysis skills
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Educators seeking authentic, assessment-aligned materials for team-based or independent coursework
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Healthtech and product management learners exploring risk beyond compliance
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Anyone ready to learn how people, systems, and uncertainty collide in real-world projects
Whether you're new to risk or looking to develop deeper fluency, this book gives you space to practice, reflect, and grow.
📚 What Makes This Book Different
1. A Complete, Real-World Simulation
You’re not just analyzing risk—you’re embedded in it. From regulatory ambiguity to emotional impact, from stakeholder silence to technical failure, the SMDC simulation creates conditions that mirror those found in high-stakes environments like healthcare, fintech, and social impact tech.
2. Emotional and Behavioral Dimensions
You’ll engage not just with logic and tools—but with emotion, hesitation, and silence. Through models like SEW (Sensation–Emotion–Want) and frameworks for team culture and memory, you’ll explore how people actually react to uncertainty.
3. Problem-Based Learning (PBL)
Each milestone begins with a memo from a stakeholder and ends in a high-impact deliverable. Along the way, you’ll use real tools—Risk Breakdown Structures, matrices, decision trees, contingency plans—and learn to ask the right questions, not just fill in forms.
4. Role-Centered and Team-Aware
Whether working individually or in a team, students are asked to adopt the perspective of clinicians, engineers, PMs, legal advisors, and patient advocates. This trains both technical fluency and role empathy—skills essential to 21st-century project work.
5. Reflection and Leadership Integration
Each chapter includes structured prompts that ask:
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What did you feel?
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What did you assume?
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What changed your mind?
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What would you do differently next time?
Risk management becomes a leadership development experience.
🧭 How to Use This Book
Each milestone module follows a consistent, student-friendly structure:
🔹 Scenario Brief
A memo from a stakeholder launches the problem context
🔹 Plan of Attack
Step-by-step guidance for how to approach the deliverable
🔹 What You Will Submit
Clear expectations for outputs: tools, charts, syntheses, and decisions
🔹 Learning Resources
Templates, risk strategy guides, collaboration tools, and reflection frames
🔹 Reflection Questions
Prompts to explore mindset, emotion, teamwork, and professional growth
🔹 Instructor Notes
Evaluation criteria, sample answers, grading suggestions
This format supports:
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Individual and group-based learning
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In-person, hybrid, or online instruction
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Graded coursework, bootcamps, or professional workshops
🏗 Pedagogical Vision
This book was built on the belief that:
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Risk is not just a technical concept—it’s a human one
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Leadership is built through uncertainty, not around it
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Clear thinking under pressure can be taught and practiced
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People don’t grow from perfect conditions—they grow from challenge
Students aren’t just learning how to fill out a matrix—they’re learning how to listen to discomfort, translate signals across silos, and create structures for resilience.
By the end, students will have:
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Designed professional risk tools
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Facilitated stakeholder collaboration
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Practiced systems thinking
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Built a comprehensive portfolio of risk decisions
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Found their voice as risk-aware collaborators and leaders
💛 Dedication
This book is dedicated
Dr. Ray Bareiss
My mentor, teacher, and guide.
Dr. Bareiss fundamentally shaped the way I think, lead, teach, and solve problems. His passion for learning, his gift for making complexity accessible, and his unwavering belief in the potential of his students have stayed with me long after our time together.
He taught me:
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to question deeply,
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to design thoughtfully,
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to communicate clearly,
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to teach with purpose, and
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to lead with integrity.
His influence lives in this book, in every effort to help students grow not just as project managers, but as thoughtful, capable professionals.
Although he passed away in January 2024, his impact continues through the lives and work of those he inspired. I am honored to carry forward a small piece of what he shared with me.
Thank you, Dr. Bareiss.
Your lessons continue to guide this journey.