Consultation

Best Practices for Campus Health and Safety

Overview of Our Consulting Options

NCHERM Group services are custom-tailored to your needs. We don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to client service. We prefer to explore your needs together, and create a consulting package that gives you the services you need, at a price you can afford.

Our fee commitment to you: NCHERM is organized as a not-for-profit corporation. Our commitment is to do everything we can to work within your budget. Colleges have varying financial resources, and we work with our clients to make our services affordable for your community.

NCHERM consulting services are available as on-site workshops and off-site services. Off-site services are billed on an hourly basis. For projects of defined scope, NCHERM also offers “not-to-exceed” caps and flat-fee quotes. On-site services are billed on a “menu” basis. We have almost 25 different workshops, trainings and programs that we offer our clients. We also offer to address topics that you suggest that are not part of our regular offerings, so the possibilities are extensive. Our basic unit of consulting time is a one-day (8 hour) campus visit. Half-days are available only as additions to a one-day visit. Our most popular package is a day-long visit of workshops and trainings, coupled with a program for students in the evening. Multi-day visits are available, and are priced on a declining scale—the more you do with us, the less we charge for the package.

We have flat-fee retainers for long-term and large-scale projects, and as part of our Special Counsel program.

We also have packages that provide you with visits from more than one of our consultants, either in alternation or as a team.

Our consultants are also available to you as expert witnesses.

THE NCHERM CONSULTING PHILOSOPHY

The loyalty of our clients is very strong, and something for which we work very hard.

When you call the NCHERM offices, you will get Brett Sokolow or Samantha Dutill on the phone. Samantha Dutill serves a NCHERM’s Executive Director. She is here to help you with any inquiries you may have. We believe in the personal touch, and that means taking every call personally. Further, our clients always have Brett Sokolow’s cellular phone number, in case they need to reach him to address an emergency or crisis. We also forward calls to our home in the evenings—if you need us, we believe in being there for you. Emergencies don’t confine themselves to regular business hours, so neither do we.

Share with us your goals, and we’ll help you to change your campus culture. We will problem-solve to help you achieve your goals in an environment of minimized risk, best practices for the field, and enhanced student health and safety. We are not your General Counsel. Our job is not to say “No” to your good ideas. Instead, we want to work with you to find effective strategies to accomplish your goals.

Our clients like that Brett Sokolow’s knowledge of case law and legislation informs our approach, but NCHERM’s advice is not legalistic. There are plenty of lawyers in higher education. Our approach is informed by a blend of law, risk management and student development. Our understanding of developmental theory and practice means that we’re all about educating students—just like you are. And it means that we are in a unique position to understand how to foster culture change on college campuses—we see a college campus as a community—we pay attention to the details of campus politics and culture—we honor campus traditions—we develop holistic approaches that foster shared governance and neutralize turf battles—we streamline bureaucratic systems—and keep the student central to everything we do.