Human First, Secure Always: Building Collaborative Cybersecurity Culture

Cybersecurity is no longer an IT department problem: it is an institutional survival question. Yet most higher education institutions still treat cybersecurity as a technical function disconnected from enterprise risk governance, and AI adoption is outpacing the policies meant to guide it. The result? Vulnerable institutions make reactive decisions in a threat landscape that demands strategic foresight. This interactive session bridges the gap between cybersecurity operations and institutional risk strategy by introducing the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Cybersecurity Integration Framework, a practical model developed from over 30 years of IT services experience and refined through teaching ERM at Columbia University. Attendees will explore how to transform cybersecurity from a siloed IT concern into a shared institutional responsibility, leverage AI literacy as a force multiplier for security culture, and connect risk governance to the decisions that presidents, provosts, and boards actually make. Leave with a self-assessment tool, a 90-day action plan template, and a peer network ready to collaborate.