Insurance tools in the college classroom

A student interviewed for an entry-level position with a national insurance company and was asked what he has learned about the industry in his classes. He rattled off some hands-on experiences: a project as an undergrad in which he and his team worked with a regional carrier to consolidate SaaS contract language, a cyber risk assessment provided to a local non-profit, and an insurance coverage review for another local organization. He was hired as he provided actionable experience that will be relevant to his new employer.

Making education relevant

As I have developed my curriculum, I have looked for opportunities to incorporate relevancy so students will be able to become productive to their new employers more quickly. In the insurance operations course, the assignments exposed students to several different technologies that impact various areas of insurance organizations. They started with underwriting a farm risk, then used the Gauge tool from Athenium Analytics to decide if the risk score for their specific insured needed the premiums adjusted.  The Gauge tool provided excellent visualization of various weather-related exposures to the students who have little understanding of how specific weather events may impact a risk. The other benefit is that it was easy to use and intuitively designed. The students made informed decisions as a result.

A second example was in the operations chapter, in which the students learned about loss control. They were provided a real-world case study of an injury that occurred at a construction site. They were then given access to NIXN, an artificial intelligence system designed by Mac Safety to provide site managers immediate safety feedback on what is in place as well as additional safety protocols that should be implemented.

The students applied the tool to compare what was done v. what should have been done to prevent a worker injury. The artificial intelligence engine provided a risk score before and after that was actionable if used on site. The ultimate use case is to assist contractors in lowering their work comp modification factors to help them control their premiums.

A third situation the students were provided was to adjust a claim using FileHandler, a claims management system from JW Software. The students were given a scenario that incorporated first- and third-party losses and then analyzed coverage, liability and damages. They were then to enter basic claims information and provide their adjustment recommendations in the system. The students opened reserves based on their assessments. The user experience was simple so that these novice “adjusters” were able to navigate the system to adjust their claims quickly and easily.

The benefits of using these state-of-the-art systems for the students were important as they were able to use cutting-edge technology in realistic situations. Additionally, in a later unit in the course, they learned about the challenges of data management. We discussed how limited some reporting can be if the information needed is in an unstructured format as opposed to the structured data fields. The relationships of all these lessons came together fluidly.

Addressing the talent gap

The industry’s talent gap continues to challenge leaders. Recently, I asked the leader of an insurance practice to speak to a class about his company’s future growth expectations. He stated he will need to double the number of underwriters in his company in the next few years. He has successfully hired from colleges and will look to the risk management schools providing practical experiences for new hires.

To cultivate a strong pipeline, the industry needs to proactively reach out to the universities to find out how to support their programs. Creating two-way partnerships is crucial to the student experience and viability of the programs. Providing speakers is but one way to assist schools. Other avenues include allowing students to work on projects for the firm, providing priority placement in an internship and directly funding programs.

The student who was hired by the national carrier is in their claims training program and successfully handling some complex claims. He obtained his CPCU Certificate of Collegiate Studies and plans to complete the designation. The insurance company has a great contributor in their organization as a result of his classroom assignments that were grounded in practical experience.

Gary P. Sullivan, CPCU, (gsullivan@mercyhurst.edu) is assistant professor of risk management in the Walker College of Business at Mercyhurst University. Opinions expressed are the author’s own. 

 Related:

• Today’s college students are the key to closing the insurance talent gap
• Meet the winners of Selective’s 2021 College Competition
• The 10 best undergraduate insurance programs in 2021