Marching on Towards the CAS Centennial

Why Interim Milestones are Important

by Aaron M. Halpert, Chairperson,
Long Range Planning and CAS Centennial Goal Implementation Committees

About one year ago, Steve D’Arcy wrote an article for The Actuarial Review that summarized the CAS planning process as embodied in the CAS Centennial Goal (CG). Steve presented the evolution of the CG and how it has, in fact, become the focal point of the CAS long-term planning process. The CG states:

“The CAS will be globally recognized as the preeminent resource in educating casualty actuaries and conducting research in casualty actuarial science. CAS members will be recognized as the leading experts in the evaluation of hazard risk and the integration of hazard risk with strategic, financial, and operational risk.”

For those of you who have attended CAS meetings in the ensuing twelve months, you may have heard frequent reference to the CG in a variety of settings. Many of you have also participated in the breakout sessions aimed at refining the goals underlying the CG. This targeted effort is no coincidence, as the CG increasingly serves as the guiding light for many CAS activities.

In this article, I’d like to share with you how the CAS is developing a framework for assuring that we reach our CG in 2014, our centennial year. Those of you involved in corporate planning know that ten years can be both a very long time and still pass very quickly. Without a formal roadmap, including short-term milestones, it is quite likely that the long-term goal would remain a distant ideal, one that has little chance of being attained. Certainly if we wait until 2014 to see whether we’ve reached our goal, it will be too late!

For this reason the CAS Long Range Planning Committee (LRPC), working with the CAS Board, has established interim milestones to help gauge progress towards the CG. These milestones are referred to as SAM goals. The acronym derives from the fact that these goals must be Significant, Attainable, and Measurable.

The SAM goals focus on a number of items such as the development of partnerships with international actuarial associations, educational assistance, curriculum enhancements, continuing education, volunteerism, CAS Web Site hits, research funding, and liaison programs. Although each SAM is unique, they all represent significant goals that are attainable with the right amount of enthusiasm and dedication from CAS members.

A complete list of the SAM goals appears on page 2 of the LRPC Final Report for 2003.

Currently the LRPC, with considerable support from the CAS office, is developing a set of metrics to evaluate our society’s progress on the SAM goals. For each goal, the CAS Office has developed a starting benchmark metric value as of October 1, 2003 so that future values can be compared and progress can be measured over the course of the next 10 years. For example, using the SAM goal focusing on volunteerism, the starting benchmark value is 27 percent. In other words, currently approximately one in four CAS members volunteers for CAS activities (serving on committees, task forces, etc.). With the starting point etched in stone, progress towards the SAM goal of “at least 50 percent of CAS members will volunteer for CAS activities” can be monitored periodically on a continuing basis.

Similarly, for the SAM goal relating to the number of University Liaisons, the starting benchmark values are 162 for the U.S. and Canada, and 10 for other countries. Clearly we still have a lot of work to do before we reach the SAM goal of 250 and 50 University Liaisons, respectively.

By establishing the starting benchmark values, the CAS can monitor progress on each goal and redirect resources if needed. For example, if volunteerism rapidly increases, while the number of liaisons stagnates, one can quickly reallocate CAS resources to help address the shortfall in the liaisons’ goal. This effort involves not only the LRPC and the CAS Board—all CAS members have a role to play. The LRPC is studying how it will keep members informed on the Society’s progress, via the CAS Web Site.

As with any goal-setting process, it is vital that the entire structure be dynamic and reflective of the ever-changing environment in which the CAS operates. While the CG will likely stay fixed as the foundation of CAS long-term goals, the SAM goals will, by necessity, continue to be works in progress. Consider, for example, the recent challenges to the actuarial profession’s credibility arising from reserve deficiencies. Clearly this presents a challenge in achieving the CG. Will we be viewed as “the preeminent resource in educating casualty actuaries?” Can this “crisis in confidence” inhibit our ability to “be recognized as the leading experts in the evaluation of hazard risks?” Perhaps new SAM goals need to be developed that directly address this issue.

The LRPC is currently conducting a scan to examine the domestic and global environments within the CAS and within other organizations and professions that affect the CAS, to determine if the strategies used to achieve the SAM goals or the goals themselves need modification.

As Steve mentioned last year, the SAM goals “are all important aspects of the Centennial Goal. Each one is attainable, although many will require significant efforts to achieve….” The SAM framework is a powerful tool for the CAS to evaluate progress towards our CG. With a focused analysis of our environment and disciplined measurement of progress on the SAM goals that reflect that environment, we will not have to guess whether we’ve done all we can to reach the CG in 2014. We will already know the answer!