In addition to serving as the risk and benefits officer at theschool board of Miami-Dade County in Florida, Mr. Scott Clark isalso the newly elected president of the Risk and InsuranceManagement Society, Inc. (RIMS).

In this interview with PropertyCasualty360.com, Clark discusseshis plans for the organization, the challenges risk professionalsface, and how the perceived value of risk managers is changing in2011.

How has the perceived value of a risk manager changedover the last year or two? What makes a good risk manager in2011?

A good risk manager in 2011 must be more strategic and able toshow more value to their employer than ever before. RIMS has workedvery hard to raise the expectation bar of the risk manager bybecoming the industry leader on enterprise and strategic riskplatforms.

CEOs and CFOs are looking to increase their bottom-line numbers,and saving premium dollars on renewals during a soft market doesn'tcut it anymore. Real value is shown when the risk manager can sitand discuss strategic company issues in the C-Suite and pushstrategic risk management principles through the entireorganization.

PODCAST: Scott Clark Discusses His Plan for RIMS

What are some of the biggest challenges you see in therisk management field? What goals do you hope to accomplish aspresident?

My goals as president of RIMS for 2011include a reconnectionwith our 80 chapters, one of the greatest resources RIMS as aSociety possesses. We have created state-of-the-art professionaldevelopment strategies on enterprise risk and are now in theprocess of moving that to the next level of strategic risk alongwith a host of other initiatives to further risk managers in theircareers and knowledge base.

I want to make sure that the Chapter presidents and Chapters ingeneral understand the vast amount of resources and support thatare at their disposal from the Society. This will help the Chaptersrecruit and retain members, which in turn helps the society grow. Ihope to have quarterly webinars with Chapter presidents and amanxious to hear from them what the Society can do to assist themand the members who attend their meetings.

At our annual conference in Vancouver, we will be highlightingthe focus of strategic risk and outline our goals for aninternational presence now that a standing International Committeehas been created and chaired by past RIMS President JaniceOchenkowski.

What legislative measures at the state or federal levelwill you be advocating for or influencing? What initiatives are youcarrying forth from your predecessor, Terry Fleming?

RIMS is committed to continuing its focus on federal and statelegislative initiatives that affect its members. RIMS has and willcontinue to work with the executive branch charged withimplementation of our priorities in the financial servicesmodernization legislation, such as surplus lines, creation of afederal insurance office, and risk committees. I view this asa major priority for 2011 and RIMS wants to ensure that theagencies implement these provisions consistent with congressionalintent. As was occurring during Mr. Fleming's presidency, RIMS willcontinue to work to fight the Neal Bill and support the possibilityof an optional Federal Charter.

RIMS on the Hill (ROTH), where RIMS members meet in Washington,D.C. with members of Congress on issues RIMS' External AffairsCommittee is working on, will be augmented by regional ROTH's inCalifornia, Connecticut, and Florida.

The Miami-Dade School district is the fourth largest inthe country. How has your position as risk andbenefits officer at the school board prepared you to take overRIMS?

I believe that the level of support that I have received over my25 year career with Miami-Dade County Public Schools has providedme with a good background to share successes and strategies withfellow risk managers.

As the President of RIMS, I believe one of my responsibilitiesis to reach out to our membership and show how membership in RIMShas improved my value as risk manager to the District. RIMSmembership has allowed me to increase my skill level and associatewith some of the greatest risk management minds in theindustry.

What have been some of your risk management-relatedsuccesses at Miami-Dade School District?

As far as successes, I would point to three, with the firstbeing related to Hurricane Andrew, which devastated South Floridain 1992. Our ability to get the District back online in two weeksand the lessons we learned from that experience have resulted inour ability to create a very viable disaster recovery program.

The second success is a change in how physician-dispensedpharmaceuticals are billed and paid for in workers' compensationclaims. After realizing that the District was paying 400 percentover the state fee schedule for physician-dispensed, pre-packagedpharmaceuticals as compared to what we pay for retail at a pharmacybased on fee schedule, we sought legal advice and announced thatall physician-dispensed pharmaceuticals would be paid at the samereimbursement rate as retail pharmacies. A bill was introduced inthe Florida Legislature to affirm this practice, which we hope willbecome law in 2012. The District saved more than $750,000 in thefirst year of this practice.

Thirdly, my role as risk and benefits officer includes employeebenefits administration. For calendar year 2010, we were able tocompletely restructure the District's benefits program, resultingin a very rich benefits program for employees. At the same time, wewere able to eliminate a cost increase of $72 million that had beenquoted.