In June 2017, the CAS chose Ball State University, St. John’s University and University of Wisconsin–Madison to receive the second annual CAS University Award. The CAS University Award Program was created to facilitate the promotion and sharing of ideas for property-casualty curricula and research within academic communities. These schools were selected for their achievements in exposing students to the property-casualty insurance industry through their curricula, research, engagement and innovation.
The competitive selection process involved 17 schools throughout North America and Asia that responded to a call for nominations.
“We continue to receive impressive applications for the CAS University Award Program from schools in North America and around the world,” said Chris Coleianne, FCAS, who chaired the program in 2016 and 2017. “We are excited to see the activities taking place within universities to prepare the future members of the CAS.”
Meet the 2017 CAS University Award winners in the following brief descriptions.
Ball State University
Professor Gary Dean, FCAS, heads up the actuarial science program at Ball State University, which consists of four faculty members and 150 actuarial students. The university was recognized for its development of materials and coursework that support the broader property-casualty community (including work published by Professor Dean, who has written and co-written CAS syllabus materials), as well as its risk management classes that use insurance company simulation software. Ball State also offers courses supporting evolving actuarial practices, including generalized linear modeling and the R programming language.
The Ball State capstone course applies these practices as teams design private passenger automobile rating plans, develop reports supporting the plans and peer review the work of other teams.
St. John’s University
With 11 full-time faculty members and 166 students, the actuarial science program at St. John’s University includes two CAS Fellows, both of whom have been awarded the CAS Woodward-Fondiller Research Prize. St. John’s program faculty recognize the importance of property-casualty actuarial education and research; they have made significant efforts to introduce actuarial students to interesting and relevant property-casualty issues. An example is an insurance exercise run by the program that centers on replacing students’ multipurpose identification card; the exercise illustrates property-casualty principles and exposes students to pricing, parameter risk and morale hazard in a relatable way.
St. John’s maintains strong connections within the insurance industry, hosting its Executive Speaker Series that provides regular opportunities for students to interact with experts from the property-casualty industry. The school has the support of a highly influential board of overseers, which provides students with numerous and valuable opportunities to enhance their actuarial careers through internships and full-time positions.
University of Wisconsin-Madison
The actuarial science program at University of Wisconsin-Madison, led by Professors Jed Frees, Margie Rosenberg, and Peng Shi, consists of 11 faculty members and 421 actuarial students. UW–Madison is recognized for providing students with numerous support systems, one of which is its Technology Enhanced Learning Program that includes web-based videos produced by students that are available online. Per UW’s estimates, they have garnered more than 90,000 views. Students in the UW-Madison program also have opportunities to meet with many property-casualty companies in a variety of settings, from formal presentations to “real-world” insurance company simulations. In addition, faculty members serve as editors for various insurance journals and have published a number of recognized papers focused on property-casualty issues, thus extending the program’s reach beyond the campus.
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The three winning schools will each receive a grant of $5,000, and will be honored at the 2017 CAS Annual Meeting in Anaheim, California, on November 5-8, 2017. The CAS is excited to have completed its second successful year of the award program and is pleased to recognize the work of these honorees in preparing the next generation of CAS property-casualty actuaries!
