Description: Continuation of series applying Buddhist principles to actuarial work setting. This issue discusses the challenges to actuaries posed by the coronavirus pandemic and how mindfulness practice can expand an actuary's perspective and enhance effectiveness

Description: The August/September 2015 edition of The Actuary magazine—the Society of Actuaries’ flagship publication.

Description: A flipped classroom moves the traditional lecture component of teaching outside of normal classroom time, so that lectures can be replaced with active learning activities during class time. In this talk, I first present a brief overview of flipped classrooms, with strategies for implementation and resources provided. Second, I will discuss the details of its application replacing two lectures in my third-year Life Contingencies course. Students’ responses to the technique are also provided in the form of data from anonymous post-activity surveys.

Description: Insights on the use of humor and fun in the work place as a tool for team-building, reducing stress, improving motivation and concentration, and increasing productivity.

Description: Background on, and best practices guidelines for dealing with, bid reviews and audits for Medicare Advantage plans.

Description: This article highlights the importance of communicating concisely and effectively through email and other written forums, and when/when not to use written vs. other forms of communication.

Description: A compilation of reader responses is presented to a real life situation posed involving a management, leadership, or other business decision. This issue’s case study involved a new employee being hired specifically for an expertise that then does not seem to be valued once they arrive.

Description: This editorial piece presents an exaggerated example which illustrates the problems facing actuaries in their communications to the public.

Description: In the insurance industry, machine learning models are increasingly used to make decisions that affect people's lives. In order to ensure that models are fair, they should be audited for bias. There are no hard and fast rules for bias audit; metrics that can be used to evaluate fairness vary depending on the context in which the model is deployed. In this session, we present a flexible framework that highlights key considerations in bias evaluation that can be adjusted to suit your process. In this session, we will learn about different metrics to assess fairness, discuss open source tools that can be used for bias audit, and walk through a case study.

Description: The August/September 2014 edition of The Actuary magazine—the Society of Actuaries’ flagship publication.