Fellowship Admissions Course (FAC)
The final requirement to attain the F.S.A. designation, after all other educational requirements have been completed, is the Fellowship Admissions Course (FAC). The FAC can be taken any time after all other requirements have been completed.
What is the Fellowship Admissions Course?
As actuaries assume responsible positions within organizations, they need special skills and knowledge to carry out their new roles effectively. The FAC is designed to help actuaries deal effectively with the issues and situations they may confront as they progress in their organizations. It has several goals:
- to increase awareness of professional ethical and malpractice issues and identify strategies to address them;
- to encourage actuaries to approach problem solving from varied directions/perspectives;
- to provide coaching in oral communications, an enabling skill for actuaries
In order to accomplish these objectives, the FAC has been designed to provide the actuary with opportunities to explore these issues over a 2 1/2 day period and to enhance the skills needed to be effective in these situations. The course uses a combination of lecture, case study discussion and presentation skill building.
What is the Case Method?
The case method is different from other types of teaching approaches in that it is based on actual business situations. After reading a case, participants are asked to interact with other participants in order to analyze the situation and make recommendations for its solution.
Course Topics
Professional ethics cases are used at the Fellowship Admissions Courses. The cases have been developed by practicing actuaries and reflect actual situations that they have encountered. The professional ethics cases are problems from any specialty or type of practice, which could be encountered by actuaries. A professional communications coach will offer tips and guidelines for effective presentations. During a professionalism session, a prominent attorney will discuss professionalism as a crucial element of successful actuarial practice.
FAC Course Faculty
FAC faculty members are actuaries with extensive experience in the actuarial field and in the management of organizations. All faculty members have been trained in the case method.
Required Oral Presentation
All candidates will be required to make a short oral presentation to a small group of fellow FSA candidates. For candidates earning eligibility via completion of the Decision and Communication (DMAC) Module, the presentation topic will be the same as that used for the DMAC project. Candidates qualifying for the FAC without having taken the DMAC module are free to select their own actuarial topic.
Candidates may direct questions on the Fellowship Admissions Course (FAC) to fac@soa.org.