COVID-19, Cancelled Internships and the Launch of the CAS Student Central Summer Program

In April 2020, word began to spread that actuarial students were having their summer internships shortened, altered and in some cases, cancelled altogether. CAS President Steve Armstrong approached the University Engagement Committee (UEC) and proposed that we find a way to assist these students by offering a program that would help them gain knowledge and experience similar to what an internship would have offered them.

The UEC immediately jumped into action and formed a task force to develop and launch the program by the start of summer. Erin Olsen, FCAS, Chair of the Task Force said, “Enabled by the catalogue of materials the committee has been developing over the last seven years, CAS volunteers and staff were able to quickly and thoughtfully create a program that would recreate some of the internship experiences that students were missing out on.” These materials were incorporated into a series of eight weekly modules that covered Intro to P&C and Excel, Data Visualization, Ratemaking, Reserving, Predictive Modeling and Soft Skills. The program culminated with an Auto Safety Features Case Competition, in which participants 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 actuarial mentors. CAS members across more than 50 companies, including Travelers, Uber, Willis Towers Watson and many others, banded together and showed up in a big way to accommodate the larger than expected number of participants. In total, 94 P&C actuaries signed up as mentors, 23 as webinar presenters and 19 as case competition judges, all demonstrating their commitment to helping students who represent the future of our industry and the actuarial profession. Speakers like Claudine Modlin and Jacqueline Friedland jumped at the chance to present to these students!

The program was officially announced in May 2020 and over 630 students applied to participate! The CAS was able to accommodate 155 students whose internships had been cancelled into the mentor-led program and offered an independent version of the program to the remaining applicants.

The 155 students, who represented 11 countries from more than 70 different universities, were organized into 31 cohorts that met weekly. These teams also competed in the case competition.

Here is what some participants had to say about the program:

	I was really disheartened when I was notified my internship got cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. There were very few companies looking for interns at this point so I was worried I wouldn’t have the chance to gain any hands-on experience in the actuarial field. I’m truly grateful for the CAS summer program because I was able to gain hands-on experience while also meeting current and aspiring actuaries. —Victoria Pommells, Georgia State University
	The CAS Summer program has been a great introduction to the P&C actuarial industry. Interacting with mentors and fellow students has been an amazing and informative experience. I am grateful to the CAS for providing this opportunity for students that had their internships canceled due to the pandemic. —Thong Nguyen, Roosevelt University
	Being a part of the CAS’s Summer Program has provided me with the opportunity to learn from talented and established actuaries as well as get hands-on exposure to complex problems being tackled today. Each presentation and module were unique and challenging, and our mentors were always encouraging our team be creative along the way! —Shannon Parker, DePaul University
	The CAS Student Central Summer Program has opened the door into my career and totally enhanced my perspective about the P&C industry. The program consisted of project-based modules that focused on a variety of P&C topics … This experience has bridged the gap between learning things and implementing them into reality through hands-on weekly projects. Moreover, attending weekly meetings with team members and mentors played a crucial part in this journey, as it helped me to correct my mistakes and to be prepared for my career in the actuarial industry. —Manikanta Andhavarapu, Memorial University