A Canadian University has been named as one of the best in the world for teaching risk management and insurance.
The Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary was awarded the global centre of insurance excellence (GCIE) designation by the International Insurance Society (IIS). It is one of 20 universities in the world to receive the designation and the only school in Canada to get the nod.
Designation was awarded to universities and colleges that met stringent criteria focused on course offerings, graduate and industry employment rates, as well as professional involvement.
Norma Nielson, chairholder in insurance and risk management at the Haskayne School of Business, told Insurance Business she was delighted at the news.
“It’s a genuine pleasure to be honoured in this way. It validates that we have been doing things right,” she said. “The program we offer is broad enough to cover the insurance industry well and our alumni are succeeding in the industry.
“We have highly qualified faculty members who have developed a curriculum that allows undergraduate students to concentrate on their interests. We also are small enough to support PhD students in customizing their program. All faculty members hold doctorates from top business schools and are research active. Basically, we have a good program, a good faculty and a good alumni base.”
Nielson has just seen her 40th year in insurance education – and there have been lots of changes in the classroom and industry in general since she started. But the key to insurance is learning the basics, Nielsen said.
“You have to understand the business before you can make it technological. We keep our eye on industry trends but we can’t always be too far in front or too far behind. Things have changed, but the basics will always remain the same. The question of ‘why insurance exists’ and the fundamental economics of insurance, are still the same. Students need to master that first.”
Young aspiring insurers or brokers must expand their horizons by keeping up-to-date with international insurance markets and cross-Canada trends, according to Nielsen.
“At the University of Calgary, we have been exposing our students to international markets and opportunities. This has developed a bit of word-of-mouth interest which has been serving us well,” she said. “And it serves the employers well too. They comment on how much value it adds to our students.”
The next step for the Haskayne School of Business to “expand the emphasis on graduate programs,” said Nielsen. “Hopefully the GCIE recognition will help us attract more students for both the Bachelor of Commerce program and the doctoral program.”
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