Debra Richardson, director of a new University of Texas at Dallas concentration in risk management and insurance (RMI), plans to have students in that area equipped to fill some of 400,000 industry vacancies anticipated by 2020.
And to ensure that the RMI curriculum, which Richardson launched as part of the Naveen Jindal School of Management’s BS in Finance and BS in Business Administration programs, remains industry relevant, she has enlisted the aid of 14 local industry executives to serve as advisers.
Chris Uselton, senior vice president at Zenith Insurance Co. in Austin, attended the advisory group’s inaugural meeting in October. Uselton said when he entered the field it was rare that someone had majored in insurance in college as he had. Uselton reiterated the urgent need to address looming shortages in the profession.
Top hiring challenges include unqualified applicants and finding technology talent, according to results of a telephone survey that GreatInsuranceJobs.com, an online employment website for the industry, conducted early this year.
Although a survey analysis showed that “2014 was a banner year for hiring in the insurance industry,” with total U.S. employment reaching 2.5 million for the first time, the average age in the industry is 54, and “the scary part is that more than one million employees in the insurance industry are ready to retire in the next 10 years,” the analysis said.
Richardson said 49 students have enrolled in this semester’s introductory RMI course, Principles of Risk Management and Insurance, and another 11 in Business Liability Risk Management and Insurance, both of which she teaches.
By next spring, Richardson expects to grow enrollment by 20 percent, and will add one new course, Commercial Property Risk Management and Insurance. For fall 2016, she plans to add courses such as Insurance Contracts and Law and Enterprise Risk Management.
Dr. Hasan Pirkul, Jindal School dean, thanked the group’s members for their service. RMI, he told them, is a “critical discipline.”
As advisers took park in a roundtable discussion, they came up with several suggestions including recommending students take daytrips to their companies; that young RMI professionals visit with students on campus; mentoring; introducing RMI students to different industry roles through research projects; and case study competitions as methods to help students better understand the profession.
Members of the advisory group are:
- Jill Brooks, senior vice president of risk management, Behringer Investments
- Camille Garcia, public affairs senior manager, State Farm Mutual
- Tony Gonzalez, sales director, Texas, UPC Insurance
- Dorina Hertner, director of corporate insurance and risk management, 7-11 Corp.
- Debbie Hubbell, partner, QuestPro Consultants and Q Temps Insurance Temporary Staffing
- Jerry Kielmen, vice president and managing director, AIG Dallas
- David Lavergne, regional president, Travelers Insurance
- Gary Lindsey, sales manager, Hotchkiss Insurance Agency
- Scott Miles, chief operating officer, TexasCap Concord Insurance Agency
- Tami Rodgers, managing director, Higginbotham & Associates
- John Schramm Jr., vice president, CNA Insurance
- Chris Uselton, senior vice president, Zenith Insurance Co.
- Daryl Wigington, vice president of risk management, Ben E. Keith Co.
- Millie Workman, director of training and education, International Risk Management Institute
Source: UT Dallas
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