One of the Top Risk Management Education Programs in the United States is at Olivet College...

The Risk Management and Insurance Center at Olivet College, created by the insurance industry in 1980, is considered one of the top insurance, financial planning, and risk management undergraduate education programs in the United States based on the following criteria:

• curriculum

• faculty

• co-curricular activities

• alumni involvement

• industry involvement

• industry recognition

No other program in the country offers all of the following features in one risk management program:

• Insurance & Risk Management Major, Financial Planning Major, and Insurance Claims Investigation Minor integrated with co-curricular activities

• A full four-year program, students take IRM, FP, and other business courses throughout their four-years of study; not just in their junior and senior years as at most major schools

• Small class sizes that encourage maximum student/faculty interaction

• Course materials are developed by the risk management and insurance industry, are widely-recognized and continuously updated, and also assist students in preparing for national exams leading to the ARM, AIS, AAI, AU, AIC, ASLI, ARe, ChFC, CLU, CPCU professional designations

• Emphasis on individual and social responsibility throughout curriculum, and "uberrima fides" (utmost good faith) in all risk management and insurance courses

• Frequent networking opportunities with professionals including a very active network of insurance and risk management alumni

Students that:

• Are well-rounded in business, technology, and the liberal arts with a focus on critical thinking and reasoning

• Are well-versed in the traditional risk management, insurance, and financial planning studies, offering the broadest selection of elective risk management and insurance courses

• Are well-informed in current insurance & financial planning issues and global risk management

• Are well-read with an awareness of current insurance periodicals such as the National Underwriter, Business Insurance, Best's Review, and Risk Management

• Compete in a computer-based insurance market simulation

• Analyze contacts through a rigorous process involving the Olivet College Insurance & Risk Management Program Policy Analysis Matrix

• Apply knowledge and analytical skills to real situations

• Develop skills in group collaboration and working with diverse cultures from around the world

• Are assessed in an extensive portfolio program requiring demonstration of achievement of 16 general learning outcomes and 8 learning outcomes in their major field, in addition to their course requirements, to graduate; one of the portfolio seminar sections is conducted by the Alpha Alpha Chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma student organization at Olivet College

• Are recruited for the program have demonstrated awareness of community responsibility

Faculty:

• Thirty to forty instructors from a cross section of the insurance, financial planning, and risk management professional business and regulatory community – such as agents, claims adjusters, financial planners, marketers, underwriters, and risk managers from companies such as Amway Global, Ford Motor, General Motors, Kellogg, and Steelcase

• Seven full-time professors of business and economics

• Three full-time professors of risk management, insurance, and financial planning each with over 30 years of experience in the insurance field respectively, both published, industry consultants, and serve on numerous industry committees

Co-curricular Activities:

• Weekly meetings and activities in the nationally recognized Alpha Alpha Chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma at Olivet College integrated with the curriculum topics

• Students can graduate with as many as four different professional internships

• Students conduct professional workshops and presentations in the business community on the subject of ethics

Industry Involvement

• Weekly interaction with risk management, insurance, and financial planning professionals in the classroom

• Monthly interaction with risk management, insurance, and financial planning professionals, including our alumni, in their places of business and at industry conferences

• Annual interaction with industry advisory committee of 35 professionals representing a cross-section of the risk management, insurance, and financial planning industry advising us on curriculum and co-curricular activities

Others Agree…

• Insurance Industry:  In addition to creating the risk management, financial planning, and insurance program at Olivet College, the industry continues to financially support the operations of the program and the student organization - the Alpha Alpha Chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma.

• Alumni:  Graduates of our program continue to support us financially and in many other ways.

• Employers:  Graduates are employed in the risk management, insurance and financial sectors throughout the United States and Canada.

• Gamma Iota Sigma (the international collegiate risk management, actuarial and insurance society):  The Alpha Alpha Chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma at Olivet College is consistently ranked in the top three in the nation - four times the "best in nation" - most recently 2001.

• National Professional Associations:  the Intermediaries & Reinsurance Underwriters (IRU) Association and National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices (NAPSLO) consistently select our students for their national, competitive internship programs - and as their top interns of the year; the Risk & Insurance Management Society (RIMS) consistently selects our students to attend their national conference.

• Business Insurance magazine: Olivet College is the 8th largest risk management education program in the U.S.!

• Risk Management magazine: Olivet College is one of 20 notable risk management education programs in the world!

• And of course, Parents:  Sons and daughters are sent to us from their homes throughout Michigan, the United States, Canada, and other countries.