USE OF TITLES AND DESIGNATIONS
Precept 12 and Section 1 of Article III of the Constitution are concerned primarily with the use of titles by members and, in particular, with designations related to the Society. The purpose of this material is to clarify the proper use of a designation. For this purpose, the term title means any title conferred by an employer or actuarial organization related to a specific position within that employer or actuarial organization. The term designation means a reference to a specific membership status within an actuarial organization.
(a) Society Titles and Designations
The designation "F.C.A.S." or "A.C.A.S." may be signed, whichever is applicable, or may be written as "Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society" or "Associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society," respectively. No person is authorized to use these designations until such use has been approved by action of the Casualty Actuarial Society. As an example of the use of titles by a member, consider a member who has the title of "Vice President-Administration" conferred by the Society and is also a Fellow of the Society. The member would sign as follows:
J.H. Jones, F.C.A.S.
Vice President-Administration
or
J.H. Jones, Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society
Vice President-Administration
An Affiliate may refer to him/herself as "Affiliate of the Casualty Actuarial Society" or "Affiliate Member of the Casualty Actuarial Society." An Affiliate may not refer to him/herself as a "Member of the Casualty Actuarial Society" and is not authorized to append CAS initials to his/her name.
The use of a Society membership designation is optional.
(b) Employment Titles
A member may have an employment title conferred by an employer in addition to the titles and designations conferred by the Society. As an example of the use of employment titles by a member, consider a member who has the employment title "Assistant Actuary" and is also a Fellow of the Society. The member would sign as follows:
J.H. Jones, F.C.A.S.
Assistant Actuary
or
J.H. Jones, Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society
Assistant Actuary
The use of a Society membership designation is optional.
(c) Society Business
A member of the Board of Directors may use the designation "Member of the Board of Directors, Casualty Actuarial Society" only when dealing with Society business or when authorized to speak for the Society. This authorization principle applies to all elective or appointive positions in the Society. Regardless of offices held, either elected or appointed, the member may never speak for the Society or for one of its committees unless authorized to do so by the Board of Directors.
(d) Non-Society Activities
A member may not include on a letterhead or signature block any references to Society titles and committee membership held in the Society, except when used for Society business.
(e) References
It would not be a violation of Precept 12 to refer to offices held in the Society in biographical material of any type (including material in connection with a book or article written by a member) or in connection with other generally published material. It would not be a violation to refer to offices held in the Society when giving testimony in a court of law or before a public body, provided it is made clear that the member does not speak for the Society or one of its committees unless specifically authorized to do so.
It would not be a violation to use such biographical material when appropriate in announcing a member's promotion or change in employment or on any similar occasion. The ultimate test is whether the reader could be led to conclude that the member is speaking for the Society or one of its component parts.
