CAS Leadership Meeting Held in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The 1997 CAS Leadership Meeting April 2 brought 40 committee chairpersons, exam committee officers, and other key leaders together with the CAS Executive Council for a full day of contemplation and discussion of the vision of the CAS' future and how individual committees could work to support that vision.

Heading the meeting was Mavis A. Walters, president-elect of the CAS. "The overriding theme for the Leadership Meeting is the tremendous growth the CAS has recently experienced. We should not assume that we can simply do in the future what we have done in the past and continue to be successful," she explained. "We must re-examine the structure and operating mode of the CAS to see if we are positioned to deal with this growth in membership," she said.

The key issues relating to the growth of the CAS and its relationships with other actuarial organizations were addressed during the general session. They were:

Independence of the CAS. CAS President Robert A. Anker outlined the issues that have arisen from the CAS' Strategic Plan and the commitments the Board has made to address those issues. He also provided further explanation of the relationship with the SOA and its North American Actuarial Journal. The Strategic Plan, Anker said, "was the first time we said we were independent. We will have to assert ourselves very differently than we have in the past."

Development of the new exam structure and joint CAS/SOA exams. Steven G. Lehmann, chairperson of the CAS Task Force on Education, reported on his group's progress toward reaching its goals and the current status of its work. He also discussed the considerations of continuing joint sponsorship of exams with the SOA. Of the exams outlined in the draft CAS Syllabus, "The first four exams are candidates for joint sponsorship," Lehmann said, "As is exam eight." But he countered that it would only work if both organizations wanted to test the same materials and concepts with similar intensity.

Participation with other actuarial organizations. C.K. "Stan" Khury, member of the CAS Board of Directors, provided an update on the status of the negotiations for the merger of the Actuarial Education and Research Foundation with the SOA Foundation. "The prospects are mixed for the relationship with the SOA Foundation," Khury explained. David G. Hartman, chairperson of the International Relations Committee, explained how the desire of the International Forum of Actuarial Associations (IFAA) to make public statements on behalf of its membership is complicated by the fact that the CAS itself is unable to make public statements without 90 percent of Fellows voting. Also, Hartman explained, "The CAS is one of five U.S. associations in the IFAA membership and shouldn't the U.S. actuarial organizations speak with one voice?"

Strategic planning and the Long Range Planning Committee's report. Committee Chairperson John M. Purple introduced three topics: the consequences of growth for the CAS, the ramifications of remaining an independent actuarial organization, and the "2020 Scenario" - a look at life and the CAS in the year 2020. "Meeting with CAS leaders has allowed us to evaluate each of these three areas in light of the recently published CAS Strategic Plan," Purple commented.

Meeting participants broke into group discussions according to functional areas: organizational support, the examination process, research, continuing education activities and policy development. The breakout sessions provided committee leaders with the opportunity to discuss and brainstorm on committee-level management issues, the ramifications of independence and the consequences of CAS growth. The results of the discussions were reported to and discussed by the volunteer leaders at the end of each breakout session.

Some of the ideas raised during the brainstorming sessions were:

Methods for enhanced communication among the CAS leadership structure, within committees and with the membership at large.

International outreach to include continuing education and non-member status for international students.

Reimbursement of volunteer expenses.

Sustaining the CAS volunteer culture, welcoming new members and additional ways to introduce new Fellows to volunteer opportunities.

Expanding the use of the CAS Web Site.