From the President: Thoughts on the Examination Process

by Mavis A. Walters

Over the last several weeks, as a result of many discussions with CAS members and students, as well as a review of the Student Discussion Forum on the CAS Web Site, I have spent a lot of time thinking about our examination process.

For those who may be unaware, there has been quite a bit of criticism directed at the Part 4B and Part 7 exams given last November. The complaints were somewhat similar: the exams were too difficult and, in the case of Part 7, too long. This has led students and some employers of those students, among others, to question whether we are deliberately trying to limit the number of new CAS members to enhance the competitive position and earning power of those who have already earned their CAS designations. Although that charge has been made before, I want to assure everyone that there is absolutely no truth whatsoever to that allegation.

The goals and objectives of our education and examination system, as stated in the CAS Syllabus, speak to developing a "thorough" and "comprehensive" understanding and a "working" and an "expert" knowledge of the syllabus material. And the exam committee’s difficult task is "to produce examinations that contain representative, high-quality questions to test candidates’ knowledge of the material," as stated in the Syllabus-not to test candidates’ knowledge of material covered in previous examinations.

Clearly what we want to do is to provide an actuarial education so that candidates who achieve their professional designations are really prepared to solve complex problems and contribute to the development of actuarial science. To that end, the Exam Committee tried to develop more thought-provoking, synthesis questions that probably required more time to answer.

I am confident that exam committee members would be the first to admit that they do not always achieve their objective: a fair, reasonable test of understanding and knowledge that can be completed in the allotted time period. Problems do arise on occasion despite everyone’s best efforts. Even though exams are reviewed by the Part Chair, the Vice Chair, the Exam Committee Chairperson and the Exam Consultant(s), sometimes an exam can produce very disappointing results.

We need to recognize that more than 260 Fellows who serve on the exam committee are all volunteers and not professional educators. They have full-time jobs with lots of responsibility, just like the rest of us. But they also are called upon to produce high-quality exams and grade those exams under very tight time frames. And, I might add, they get very little thanks or appreciation for their efforts. I believe that they do an excellent job overall on behalf of the CAS and that our exam process is just as good if not better than those of other professional organizations who operate using volunteer members.

Recognizing all of this, however, Part 7, in particular, turned out to be a very disappointing exam for everyone. Candidates found this to be long and difficult and the raw pass ratio was only 29 percent. No one is happy with these results, beginning with the exam committee members themselves. Although there were the same number of questions on the November 1997 exam as in 1996, in hindsight, this exam was too long. The committee has analyzed the exam results very carefully and believes that too many calculations were required.

On occasion it will happen that there will be exams that do not produce the expected or desired results, but this is not by design and it is the exception, not the rule. It is unfortunate, but it should not impugn the credibility of our education and examination system.

To those CAS members who might be critical of the current system I would ask you to get involved. If you think you can do it better we would welcome you as a volunteer. If you have constructive criticism then direct it to the Vice President-Admissions or to the Examination Committee Chairperson.

Finally, I believe that all of us in the CAS should recognize that we have an obligation to society at large and to our Society to maintain the high standards that have traditionally been met by members of the CAS. The designations ACAS and FCAS imply a competency to practice that none of us wants to see diluted. We will continue to struggle to find the right balance in our education and examination system and I am confident that we will continue to be successful.