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Alabama
University website: https://culverhouse.ua.edu/irmas

Country: USA

The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Business has a proud heritage of teaching Insurance & Financial Services/Risk Management/Actuarial Science (IRMAS). The college offered its first Insurance course in 1921, only five years after the first university course was offered anywhere. In addition, it has offered a specialization in Insurance/Risk Management for decades. Finally, University of Alabama students have been qualifying for actuarial designations for more than a half-century and in 2007 a formal actuarial science program was established.

In keeping with the accreditation requirements of AACSB International, as well as the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, all students in the Culverhouse College of Business, take a diverse curriculum of Arts, Sciences, and Humanities, as well as a broad spectrum of business courses. Following is a brief description of the IRMAS program.

Seven IRM courses are offered. Students from any Culverhouse major may elect to take a specialization (3 courses) in Insurance & Financial Services/Risk Management (IRM). Students may also take courses as electives without qualifying for a specialization. If a course is not available for a particular subject it may still be possible to earn credit by taking an independent study course under the supervision of a professor; typically, this is done by studying for and passing a professional examination.

The Actuarial Science program prepares students to pass the following requirements: three-course calculus sequence, Verification of Educational Experience (VEE) requirements, and two preliminary actuarial examinations.

Degrees offered:
• Bachelor’s Degree in any Major at the Culverhouse College of Business - Specialization in Insurance & Financial Services/Risk Management
• Bachelor’s Degree in Finance – Specialization in Actuarial Science

Course listings:
• FI 341 Principles of Risk Management and Insurance. Every individual and organization faces risks and the possibility of loss. Losses can stem from an interest in property, exposure to liability, accident or sickness, dying, and outliving your income. This course introduces students to the principles of risk management and provides practical knowledge that will help individuals and businesses optimize results from risk management expenditures. Students learn about different kinds of insurance and develop a basic understanding of functional operations in insurance companies. The course also helps the student become a more effective consumer of financial services, and provides valuable knowledge for those interested in a possible career in the financial services industry. Finally, the student will develop a fundamental understanding of the role that risk management institutions and processes play in society.
• FI 442. Business Risk Management analyzes loss exposures facing organizations and the methods available for managing risks. Students learn about both loss control and loss financing techniques such as loss prevention/reduction, non-insurance loss transfers, self-insurance, captive insurers, and securitization. Based primarily on a book customized from materials of the Insurance Institute of America, the course makes use of cases, guest speakers and field trips.
• FI 443. Property & Liability Insurance. This course introduces students to commercial P-L coverages as well as to the principles of company operations, regulation, and accounting. Based primarily on the CPCU textbook, Insurance Operations, supplemented by other writings, guest speakers, and field trips, this course provides a broad-based exposure to property and liability insurance at the intermediate level. Students receive credit for CPCU 520, which is a major career-builder.
• FI 444. Life & Health Insurance provides an in-depth understanding of life insurance, including contracts, underwriting, ratemaking (including calculation of net and gross premiums, reserves, surrender values, dividends, asset share modeling), claims, agency law, marketing, strategic planning, and regulation. A second module of the course deals with current issues in providing and financing healthcare. Students are prepared to take LOMA or American College examinations.
• FI 360. Principles of Financial Planning. This course provides a basic understanding of personal financial planning.
• FI 460. Advanced Financial Planning. This course provides an in-depth understanding of personal financial planning.
• Legal Studies 403. Administration of Estates & Trusts covers the principles and rules of law relating to wills and inheritances, administration of estates, creation and administration of trusts, and the duties of executors, administrators, and trustees.

Admissions:
https://www.ua.edu/admissions/

Contact:
William H. Rabel, Ph.D., FLMI, CLU
John & Mary Louise Loftis Bickley Endowed
Teaching Chairholder in Insurance & Financial Services
Culverhouse College of Commerce | The University of Alabama
207 Mary Hewell Alston Hall | Box 870224 | Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0224
Phone: 205.348.8966 | FAX: 205.348.4206 | www.culverhouse.ua.edu/faculty/profile/146
wrabel@cba.ua.edu