Insurance & Risk Management Course Descriptions
IRM 221 Principles of Insurance & Risk Management
Three semester hours. Prerequisites: none; BUS 212 recommended. Offered Fall and Spring Semesters. An introduction to the concept of risk, the process of risk management, and the field of insurance, including fundamental doctrines, historical background, social value, economic influence, loss exposures and protection, insurance regulation, insurance carriers, reinsurance, marketing, underwriting, and claims adjusting. This course includes examination of the Michigan Essential Insurance Act and how this law addresses the social responsibility of the insurance business and its attempt to address social injustice. This course will also help students prepare for the INS 21 national examination administered by the Insurance Institute of America.
IRM 322 Personal Insurance
Three semester hours. Prerequisites: IRM 221; BUS 212 recommended. Offered Fall Semester. Designed to cover policy provisions, and concepts common to various personal multiple-line property, casualty, life and health contracts. This course will also help students prepare for the INS 22 national examination administered by the Insurance Institute of America.
IRM 323 Commercial Insurance
Three semester hours. Prerequisites: IRM 221; BUS 212 recommended. Offered Spring Semester. Designed to cover policy provisions, and concepts common to various commercial multiple-line property and casualty contracts. This course will also help students prepare for the INS 23 national examination administered by the Insurance Institute of America.
IRM 324 PC Insurance Statutes & Service
Three semester hours. Prerequisites: IRM 221. Offered Spring Semester. This course examines The Michigan Insurance Code as it relates to the general provision of insurance regulation and laws pertaining to property and casualty insurance. Topics include a review of statutes on Licensing, Unfair Trade Practices, and Insurers’ Authority to write business in the State of Michigan, the Essential Insurance Act, No-Fault, Workers Compensation, the residual market in Michigan and the Michigan Guarantee Fund. This course also provides the foundations of customer service for the property and casualty insurance agency business. This course will also help students prepare for the State of Michigan Property-Casualty Agents Licensing Examination and the AIS 25 exam administered by the Insurance Institute of America.
IRM 330 Ethics and Presentations
Three semester hours. Prerequisites: Junior Standing or instructor approval; THR/COM 203 (Public Speaking) recommended. Offered Spring Semester. This course meets the Service Learning requirement. This course explores the ethical philosophies found in the world of business, including an examination of corporate social responsibility. Interactive group learning with a major emphasis on oral presentation is designed to enhance skills in critical thinking and professional business communication. Concrete dilemmas invite participants to reflect on their own moral values and analyze them in a safe environment. The course culminates in presentations to groups outside of the Olivet College community.
IRM 350 Negotiation & Persuasive Presentations
Three semester hours. Prerequisites: IRM 221; IRM 323 (may be taken concurrently). Offered Fall Semester. An examination of negotiating techniques, construction of a persuasive argument, assembly of information to support positions and proposals, use of spreadsheets and presentation software to create professional documents and presentations to support positions and proposals, such as the development of a new product or the sale of a new insurance coverage to a risk manager or new exposure to an insurance/reinsurance underwriter.
IRM 418 Independent Study
One to three semester hours. Prerequisite: instructor permission and Academic Performance Committee approval of course outline. Offered as announced. Independent readings and research on special topics.
IRM 454 Risk Management
Three semester hours. Prerequisites: IRM 221, IRM 323, BUS 316, BUS 317, and MTH 232. Offered Fall Semester. This course examines the process of risk management for a private firm, in-depth, using many of the concepts and tools studied in other insurance courses. Topics include the identification and analysis of loss exposures, examination of alternatives to traditional insurance, and the use of forecasting, cash flow analysis and information systems in the risk management process. This course will incorporate the use of case studies and a risk management simulation “game” exercise. This course will also help students prepare for the ARM 54 national examination administered by the Insurance Institute of America.
IRM 482 Studies in Insurance & Risk Management: Variable Topics
Three semester hours. Prerequisites: IRM 221, 322, 323, and have senior standing or permission. Offered as announced. An examination of selected areas of concern or interest not intensively covered in other courses. The focus will be substantive as well as analytical. Topics may include such areas as further investigation into reinsurance, claims, commercial underwriting, surplus lines insurance, employee benefits, estate planning, ethics, financial analysis and management of insurance companies, risk management alternatives – financing or control, international risk management, or any other insurance topics where there is student interest in or business community need. May be repeated for credit with a different topic.
IRM 483 Agency Operations
Three semester hours. Prerequisite: IRM 221. Offered Fall Semester. This course is designed to cover the operational management of an insurance agency. It examines all aspects of management such as personnel, sales, and marketing. Further topics are agency image, legal, and ethical practices. This course will also help students prepare for the AAI 83 national examination administered by the Insurance Institute of America.
IRM 490 Strategic Management of Insurance Enterprise
Three semester hours. Prerequisites: IRM 221 and MTH 232; IRM 322 and 323 recommended. Offered Spring Semester. This course examines the strategic management of an insurance company with a focus on financial management, U.S. regulation and an overview of operations in a global marketplace – including consideration of differences in culture, language, regulations, laws and political risks. The core operations of marketing, underwriting, reinsurance, ratemaking, and claims adjusting are studied. This course will incorporate the use of an insurance company financial management simulation “game” exercise. This course will also help students prepare for the CPCU 520 national examination administered by the American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters.