“The CPCU designation is not just for underwriters,” said David S. Hershey, CPCU, ARM, risk manager for Sprague Energy/Lexa International at Portsmouth, N.H. “It provides all insurance professionals an immediate means of determining the level of commitment, competency, and knowledge of those with whom you associate, compete, and negotiate.”

The CPCU designation benefits both individuals and organizations. According to Richard J. Eichhorn, CPCU, ARM, president of International Placement Services in St. Louis, Mo., “CPCU is the leader in the industry for education, and that is why I encourage our employees to continue their education,” he said. “There have been many benefits to our organization as the result of having members of our staff with various Institute designations, as well as being actively involved with the local and national chapters.”

Recent Changes

From its inception in 1942, the CPCU program has helped insurance professionals improve their effectiveness by learning to apply property-casualty insurance theory to everyday practice. As the social and business environments have shifted over the years, the American Institute for CPCU has modified the program to meet the evolving needs of individuals engaged in property-casualty insurance and their changing educational and professional landscape.

The most recent changes to the CPCU program took effect in August 2009. The first change reduced the CPCU experience requirement from three years to two years. There are a number of reasons for this change. When the three-year requirement was implemented in 1942, few insurance professionals had a college degree or technical insurance training. Today, more people than ever are entering the industry with a college degree, or they have received technical insurance training early in their career. In addition, with CPCU textbooks being used by more college and university risk management and insurance programs than ever before, the new experience requirement may encourage recent college graduates to continue their CPCU studies and earn the designation earlier in their careers.

The second change is that the exams for the following three courses will change from short-essay to objective format, beginning with those given in the Jan. 15 to March 15, 2010, testing window:

• CPCU 520 – Insurance Operations, Regulation, and Statutory Accounting
• CPCU 530 – The Legal Environment of Insurance
• CPCU 540 – Finance for Risk Management and Insurance Professionals

Numerous student benefits are associated with the objective exam format. Having more questions (85 to 100, rather than 30 to 35) will give students a greater opportunity to demonstrate knowledge of the material. The new exam format also will result in improved and more efficient grading. Objective grading eliminates the waiting period for grades, helping students progress more efficiently through the CPCU program. The new format will also allow the Institutes to provide more consistent and timely exam performance feedback to help non-passers better prepare to retake an exam.

Finally, the objective exam format will help the Institutes offer even higher-quality questions because it allows pre-testing of questions to ensure that the questions appearing on the exams are clear and accurate.

FAIA Courses

All courses in the CPCU program are designed for self-study, the study method that most students choose. However, for those who prefer the support of a classroom and an instructor, the Florida Association of Insurance Agents (FAIA) sponsors courses for the CPCU program. Information is available from FAIA's Teri Clow at 850-893-4155, ext. 335 or [email protected].

“The foundation of understanding of our business has been the most valuable thing that I got from my CPCU,” said Lisa H. Harrington, CPCU, vice president of education at FAIA. “I am able to apply the appropriate reasoning to nearly any situation because I have a good base from which to draw. It has also been useful because I learned so much about nearly every aspect of the industry — the 30,000-foot view, in a manner of speaking.”

Each year, the CPCU designation is formally conferred at a ceremony held in conjunction with the society's annual meeting and seminars. The 2010 CPCU conferment ceremony will be in Orlando on Sept. 25, 2010.

Anita Z. Bourke, CPCU, is executive vice president at the American Institute for CPCU/Insurance Institute of America in Malvern, Penn. She may be contacted at [email protected].