CPRO-W2 strengthens your strategic risk capabilities with tailorable tools and methodologies to manage the sector’s increasingly complex risks.
CPRO-W2 is a comprehensive 50-hour professional development experience that reintroduces enterprise risk management within the context of real-world utility operations. This interactive course, designed by experts across operations, Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), and insurance, is the only risk management designation specifically designed for water and wastewater.
Two Choices, Two Tracks
Water or Wastewater
Risk managers, safety and compliance leaders, finance and HR professionals, engineers, analysts, and managers responsible for implementing risk management practices.
Participants will gain:
- Confidence navigating uncertainty
- Clear, credible risk communication
- Greater influence on capital and strategic decisions
Water or Wastewater
General managers, CFOs, senior executives, and board-facing leaders responsible for governance, financial stewardship, and strategic direction.
Participants will gain:
- Executive-level enterprise risk governance
- Financial and credit risk translation
- Stronger board confidence and public trust
“The CPRO-W2 designation and learning series delivers an important knowledge platform and goes further than any other profession-specific risk management curriculum I’ve encountered."
—Gordon Graham, MS, JD, Chair of the CPRO-W2 Advisory Board
Not ready to register? Complete the Certified Public Risk Officer – Water & Wastewater (CPRO-W2) interest form.
Contact
Dr. Lorilee Medders, CPRO-W2 Academic Advisor
Joseph F. Freeman Distinguished Professor of Insurance
meddersla@appstate.edu
T (828) 262-6234
The CPRO-W2 designation is administered by Appalachian State University and was developed in partnership with the American Association of Water Distribution & Management.
August 2025
As communities across the country face growing challenges from climate change, regulatory shifts, and financial pressures, Appalachian State University is helping prepare water sector professionals to manage risks.
In collaboration with the American Association for Water Distribution and Management, App State’s Walker College of Business has launched the Certified Public Risk Officer – Water and Wastewater (CPRO-W2) designation, a professional education program designed to strengthen enterprise risk management across the water sector.
An inaugural CPRO-W2 Master Leadership Class launched in August 2025, bringing together leaders from major utilities and water-focused Non-Governmental Organizations nationwide.
December 2022
The CPRO-W2 designation indicates a practical understanding of technical water and wastewater operations as well as the role of risk management in the industry.
Dr. Lorilee Medder, App State’s Joseph F. Freeman Distinguished Professor of Insurance, will coordinate the CPRO-W2 program.