As president of the CPCU Society, a community of credentialed insurance professionals who promote excellence through ethical behavior and continuing education, I have seen what education means to our nearly 28,000 members. In fact, it is one of three most important CPCU values, which also include ethics and experience.
Professionals holding the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter Professional Designation are known as top technicians in the property and casualty industry. For more than 60 years, the CPCU Society has helped CPCUs, as well as non-CPCUs, stay on top of their profession by providing continuing professional and technical education. The national CPCU Society helped local chapters present a record 61 programs on technical topics last year. Additionally, the society developed 48 educational seminars for its 2004 Annual Meeting and Seminars in Los Angeles last October.
The society's special-interest sections produce quarterly newsletters and symposia for their members in areas such as claims, loss control, reinsurance, and personal lines. One such section, the Consulting, Litigation, and Expert Witness Section, worked last year with the International Risk Management Institute to provide material for a new book that IRMI published about a highly litigated, one-page insurance endorsement known as the MCS-90, which is required by the Motor Carrier Act of 1980.
The society recognizes that, today, employers expect more from their employees than just technical expertise. The CPCU Society National Leadership Institute is specifically designed to meet the professional career development needs of CPCU Society members, as well as other insurance professionals within the industry. The Leadership Institute has many courses designed by insurance professionals for insurance professionals to provide the best leadership educational resources available.
The number of NLI courses has increased as the society continues to address members' growing needs for skills in finance, communication, and negotiation. We surveyed employers and members to develop new curriculum areas. Last year, we added 14 new CPCU volunteer instructors at the Leadership Summit meeting in Tampa, Fla. The Leadership Institute will present most of those courses during the Society's Leadership Summit in Phoenix, Ariz., April 13-16.
Some of the CPCU Society National Leadership Institute courses include: Effective Communication Skills, Finance for Non-financial Managers, Developing Resilience in a Rapidly Changing World, Time Management, Facilitative Leadership Skills, and Practical Techniques in Project Management. Two new courses have been added for 2005, Strategic Thinking and Planning, and Persuasive Communication for Leaders.
In addition to our annual meetings, leadership summits, and regional and local educational events, the society has 14 special-interest sections, including one dedicated solely to claim professionals. The claim section is the largest of the special-interest sections, with more than 1,400 members.
Members of the claim section have a lot planned for this year. They will produce four or five newsletters about claim-specific issues, one or two seminars for the 2005 Annual Meeting and Seminars in Atlanta, and one or more educational events for presentation at the chapter level. They also will continue to add material to their web site, as well as interact with the Property Loss Research Bureau and other claim organizations.
Founded in 1944, the CPCU Society's mission was to "meet the career development needs of a diverse membership of professionals who have earned the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation, so that they may serve others in a competent and ethical manner." This mission may be even more critical today because of the multiple uncertainties that can plague an insurance professional's career. Practically anything, ranging from the economy and terrorism to technological innovations, can change the way we do business overnight. This industry demands that its practitioners be knowledgeable and accountable, or they run the risk of becoming replaceable.
Donald J. Hurzeler is the 2004-2005 president of the CPCU Society.
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