Insurers partner with colleges to promote insurance talent development
Insurance organizations are exploring opportunities to develop talent and promote insurance education by entering partnerships with educational institutions and developing supplemental digital solutions to enhance insurance education courses. Here are a few highlights of recent collaboration announcements that emphasize digital solutions and talent development for the insurance industry.
The National Alliance for Insurance Education
The National Alliance for Insurance Education launched its first set of virtual reality experiences for its insurance and risk management courses. The addition was announced at the Culture and Values conference, which emphasizes the significance of innovation, and attendees were able to participate in a demonstration. The first phase of the interactive VR experiences is available for the The Certified Risk Manager (CRM) Principles of Risk Management course, which focuses on methods of analytical risk identification, financial statement analysis and enterprise risk management. The virtual reality experience acts as a supplemental lesson to the risk management course and consists of a number of virtual locations in which participants learn to identify and assess potential hazards and risk exposures according to each setting, which include a convenience store, pizza parlor and a barber shop.
“Being new to an industry or really trying to grasp what a risk manager does in the property and casualty world, and with being able to actually be in an environment with all the noise with all the distractions, you can really gain experience without actually having to be in those locations [with virtual reality,]” states Will Hold, president and CEO of the National Alliance. “Once you experience that, then you can also understand [the industry] better, your frame of reference definitely broadens and you’re able to really then help clients out or help your employer out… and be more valuable at a much quicker rate.”
For the Principles of Risk Management CRM course, the National Alliance piloted a web browser virtual reality experience for participants who do not own VR headsets, available here with the password, “VR” and, although less immersive, enables users to gain the same skills and educational benefits as headset-users.
The Standard and Morgan State University
The Standard announced a partnership with Morgan State University to promote diversity in actuarial science through scholarship and internship opportunities. Morgan State University is the only historically Black college to offer a bachelor’s degree in actuarial science, which is a part of its School of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences’s mathematics department. The Standard’s scholarship program will aid underserved students with financial support and also offer paid internship opportunities.
“Historically, there have been a number of systemic barriers to creating diversity in the profession… [such as] lack of awareness about the profession and financial barriers,” explains Sally Manafi, vice president, corporate actuary and chief risk officer at the Standard. “Education is expensive. And so we feel by providing the support, we are creating the opportunity for someone to potentially pursue this career path who also has a financial need… And then with the paid internship, it really gives the intern the opportunity to have some real life experience to understand what kind of work they might see. It also gives them the opportunity to get familiar with the Standard and make them think about a future career there.”
VIU by HUB and Arizona State University
VIU by HUB recently announced that it is providing a customized personal lines digital broker solution for Arizona State University alumni, and also plans to implement executive mentorship and talent development opportunities for current ASU students. VIU experts may lead in opportunities and speaking engagements such as speaking to a class or at a conference.
Mike Keegan, managing director of Strategic Partnerships for VIU, says “They have several incredible programs at ASU… [VIU by HUB is] making those kinds of opportunities available to work with ASU work, and not just with the Alumni Association, but with the various schools within ASU’s footprint and help them in that regard.”
VIU by HUB also hopes to engage in internship or mentoring program opportunities for students in the future.
“We view it as a way for us to truly partner in the insurance aspect in both providing choice and a top notch insurance experience, in this case for the Alumni Association, but [also] then how we work and truly partner with the university to help them in, any of their needs, or give them access to some of our expertise and resources,” Keegan states.
