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

In this interview with PropertyCasualty360.com, Clark discusses his plans for the organization, the challenges risk professionals face, and how the perceived value of risk managers is changing in 2011.

How has the perceived value of a risk manager changed over the last year or two? What makes a good risk manager in 2011?

A good risk manager in 2011 must be more strategic and able to show more value to their employer than ever before. RIMS has worked very hard to raise the expectation bar of the risk manager by becoming the industry leader on enterprise and strategic risk platforms.

CEOs and CFOs are looking to increase their bottom-line numbers, and saving premium dollars on renewals during a soft market doesn't cut it anymore. Real value is shown when the risk manager can sit and discuss strategic company issues in the C-Suite and push strategic risk management principles through the entire organization.

PODCAST: Scott Clark Discusses His Plan for RIMS

What are some of the biggest challenges you see in the risk management field? What goals do you hope to accomplish as president?

My goals as president of RIMS for 2011include a reconnection with our 80 chapters, one of the greatest resources RIMS as a Society possesses. We have created state-of-the-art professional development strategies on enterprise risk and are now in the process of moving that to the next level of strategic risk along with a host of other initiatives to further risk managers in their careers and knowledge base.

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

At our annual conference in Vancouver, we will be highlighting the focus of strategic risk and outline our goals for an international presence now that a standing International Committee has been created and chaired by past RIMS President Janice Ochenkowski.

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

RIMS is committed to continuing its focus on federal and state legislative initiatives that affect its members. RIMS has and will continue to work with the executive branch charged with implementation of our priorities in the financial services modernization legislation, such as surplus lines, creation of a federal insurance office,  and risk committees. I view this as a major priority for 2011 and RIMS wants to ensure that the agencies implement these provisions consistent with congressional intent. As was occurring during Mr. Fleming's presidency, RIMS will continue to work to fight the Neal Bill and support the possibility of 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 Affairs Committee is working on, will be augmented by regional ROTH's in California, Connecticut, and Florida.

The Miami-Dade School district is the fourth largest in the country. How has your position as risk and benefits officer at the school board prepared you to take over RIMS?

I believe that the level of support that I have received over my 25 year career with Miami-Dade County Public Schools has provided me with a good background to share successes and strategies with fellow risk managers.

As the President of RIMS, I believe one of my responsibilities is to reach out to our membership and show how membership in RIMS has improved my value as risk manager to the District. RIMS membership has allowed me to increase my skill level and associate with some of the greatest risk management minds in the industry.

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

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

The second success is a change in how physician-dispensed pharmaceuticals are billed and paid for in workers' compensation claims. After realizing that the District was paying 400 percent over the state fee schedule for physician-dispensed, pre-packaged pharmaceuticals as compared to what we pay for retail at a pharmacy based on fee schedule, we sought legal advice and announced that all physician-dispensed pharmaceuticals would be paid at the same reimbursement rate as retail pharmacies. A bill was introduced in the Florida Legislature to affirm this practice, which we hope will become law in 2012. The District saved more than $750,000 in the first year of this practice.

Thirdly, my role as risk and benefits officer includes employee benefits administration. For calendar year 2010, we were able to completely restructure the District's benefits program, resulting in a very rich benefits program for employees. At the same time, we were able to eliminate a cost increase of $72 million that had been quoted.