Indiana State University: A leader in insurance education

Rough Notes, Jun 1999 by Schiff, Samuel H

Students benefit from close ties to industry; program boosted by $5 million endowment

Ask most people what they know about Indiana State University and they'll likely answer "Larry Bird, the basketball player."

And rightly so, for this marvelous AllAmerican player lead the Sycamores to the 1979 finals of the NCAA basketball tournament, before losing to Michigan State, lead by Erwin "Magic" Johnson, 75-64. But schools of higher education can hardly survive on the strength of their athletic prowess-and so it is with ISU, founded in 1865 in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Since 1965, when the School of Business was established, and more importantly since 1989, when the ISU Insurance and Risk Management Program was founded, insurance education has become one of the university's strongest selling points. ISU has rapidly grown into one of just a handful of universities in the nation offering undergraduate programs leading directly to careers in the insurance industry.

The program started with a single major and 180 students. Less than a decade later, it had 55 majors, 65 minors and more than 400 students enrolled in its program, and it's still growing. ISU closes out the 20th century as one of 36 universities in North America that offers comprehensive insurance studies; one of only four such universities to offer 11 or more undergraduate courses in insurance or risk management; and is at this time the only university in Indiana to offer students the opportunity of both a major and a minor in insurance.

Currently leading this unique program is Dr. Mary Ann Boose, who came to ISU after having been a life insurance agent for more than ten years. "We believe the success of our program is the result of being very industry aware of what we teach," she says. "We do not believe in teaching only from an academic text book, but rather from a real world, working place text book."

This "real world" approach has been recognized by the Journal of Risk and Insurance, which noted that ISU offers the broadest range of undergraduate classes in North America and Independent Agent Magazine which ranked the program in the top eight nationally. Recognition also has come from the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), which has accredited both the undergraduate and graduate programs at the School of Business. Only 245 of more than 2,000 business schools and programs nationwide have received this accreditation.

The program has three full-time insurance professors, each of whom has a doctorate, professional designations and invaluable experience in the industry. "We are extremely proud of our professors," says Dr. Boose. "Each of them brings to ISU practical experience, the skills to teach well and the passion needed to impart their knowledge to our students. In addition, the professors' scholarly works are published in nationally recognized professional and academic journals on a regular basis."

Quality academic and professional preparation for ISU students enrolled in the program is provided through the guidance of the Insurance Advisory Council and is critical to the strategic planning and implementation of the Total Program Concept. "The Insurance Advisory Council consists of 23 members of the insurance industry," says Dr. Boose. "They come from major companies, including Allstate Insurance, Farmers Insurance Group, Wausau Insurance, Conseco, State Farm Insurance, Monroe Guaranty Insurance, Willis Corroon, and Northwestern Mutual Life, as well as agencies such as Forrest Sherer, Gibson Insurance Group, Sycamore Agency, and Leman Financial Services."

The Total Program Concept, which Dr. Boose cites as the backbone of the ISU insurance program, expands the student's normal classroom education. It includes generous scholarship support from the industry to attract and retain students; paid summer internships that provide careerrelated work experience to qualified students; the aggressive pursuit of nationally competitive internship and scholarship awards for ISU students; interaction among students with members of professional organizations and financial support to encourage students to begin studies toward professional designations, including four CLU courses, three required for CPCU designation, and one ARM course; off-campus opportunities to network with industry professionals via home office tours, agency open houses, state and national conferences; career counseling and job placement, and an active chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma, the national collegiate insurance society.

In addition to the Total Concept Program, ISU also provides its insurance students with practical hands-on experience. "This includes a growing number of summer internships with insurance agencies and companies," says Dr. Boose, "and a mentor program that enables students and practicing insurance professionals to develop personal relationships that provide practical insight into the industry."

Having students work within the insurance industry during the summer provides the practical work experience the program seeks, explains Dr. Boose. Thus, a growing number of summer internships for insurance majors and minors have been established. In 1996, some 18 students worked in paid internships with established regional insurance organizations. The number rose to 24 in 1997, and eased slightly to 21 in the following year.