CAS Completes Second Annual CAS Student Central Summer Program!

The CAS Student Central Summer Program recently wrapped up its second offering of the program. This free virtual program was originally established last summer to fill the void created by students having their internships cancelled. The initial offering was so well received that student participants and volunteer mentors resoundingly recommended it be held again, and 2021 saw an expanded and enhanced program.
Designed by practicing actuaries, the program aims to support students’ career growth by providing technical and soft skill development, as well as mentorships and networking opportunities. Over the course of eight weeks, program participants:

• Completed weekly modules that focused on a variety of P&C topics including pricing, reserving, and data visualization.
• Connected and networked with mentors for weekly cohort meetings.
• Worked with other students in their cohorts on a case competition addressing a real-life actuarial problem, and presented their final projects to a panel of practicing actuaries.

A key component of the summer program experience for the students was having access to practicing actuaries. CAS members across more than 50 companies volunteered in a variety of roles to help make the program a tremendous success for the second year in a row. In total, 72 P&C actuaries served as mentors, 20 as webinar presenters, 12 as mock interviewers, 9 as “Ask an Actuary” panelists, and 18 as case competition judges, all demonstrating their commitment to helping students who represent the future of our industry and the actuarial profession.

Using the feedback from last year’s participants and volunteers, the CAS Student Programs Working Group took on the task of making updates to the curriculum as well overall enhancements to the program. One major change from last year’s offering was to have more touch points with the students that took part in the independent, self-paced version of the program. Networking events like mock interviews and Ask An Actuary, an interactive career panel, were added so that these participants would have more access to practicing actuaries as well as their peers. Additionally, as most internships were not cancelled this summer, an emphasis was placed on recruiting students and career changers from non-traditional backgrounds as well as those who had not had much exposure to the P&C actuarial field.

In total, 154 students were awarded certificates of completion for the mentor-led program. They represented 17 countries and more than 100 different universities. Additionally, over 80 students, who represented 13 countries and more than 50 different universities, were awarded certificates of completion for the independent, self-paced program.

Thank you again to all of the volunteers that helped make this year’s program a success! Please be on the lookout in the upcoming months for information regarding plans for 2022.