Description: In the past few years, SoA members and leaders have raised questions about future needs for actuarial skills, globalization of markets, and the appropriate focus of the present education system in preparing actuaries for their professional futures. As a consequence of these questions, the SoA Board of Governors set aside a major portion of its January 1994 meeting to discuss the education of actuaries, with primary consideration being given to a longer horizon than the immediate future. Chris Daykin, representing the Institute of Actuaries, reported that the Institute was incorporating fundamental changes to its basic Education and Examination [E&E] system. These changes were aimed at focusing more on fundamental principles and away from details of practice.

Description: This is a letter from Jan M. Hoem to Arnold F. Shapiro about Exposed-to-risk considerations based on the Balducci assumption and other assumptions in the analysis of mortality.

Description: This is Mr. Hilary L. Seal's response letter to Editor Arnold F. Shapiro in regards to the 1983.1 ARCH's document on number of deaths observed in a mortality study.

Description: The purpose of this brief presentation is to make the actuarial research community more aware of the Committee on Knowledge Extension Research CKER and the role it plays both within the Society of Actuaries' research functions and with other actuarial organizations, particularly the Actuarial Education and Research Fund AERF.

Description: This is a letter from F.G. Reynolds, University of Waterloo, to Mr. C. Smith, Cologne Life Reinsurance Co. As an assignment the author had the students in his Risk Theory class extend the method of Trobliger to three levels of risk. Both the data of Trobliger and the data of Thyrion, which can be found on pages 27 and 16 of Seal's Stochastic Theory of a Risk Business, were fitted.

Description: The basic thesis of this paper is that student capability to iNteract with new problems can be significantly increased by frequently exposing them to Written derivations, verbal-Intuitive justification of formulae and core sets of Comprehensive techniques by which to approach problems. Both instructor composition of problem resources for presentation and student practice of these problem resources can be achieved by semi-mechanical procedures accessible to everyone. For brevity we shall refer to this type of instruction by the acronym WINC. Presented at the 30th Actuarial Research Conference, August 17-19, 1995, Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania

Description: In this paper we will describe how richer actuarial programs can be provided if a number of schools with smaller programs combine resources by forming a regional cooperative or consortium. We have already formed our own consortium, the Southwest Actuarial Education and Research Consortium SWAERC. The strategies proposed here have already been used in SWAERC, and we will illustrate each of them by describing our own experience with it.

Description: This paper attempts to broaden awareness of the Actuarial Faculty Forum AFF within the academic actuarial community and to stimulate some conversation about the future role of this organization.

Description: This is a letter to readers of The Actuary from Arnold Dicke and Walter Lowrie to solicit opinions on the problem which seems to crop up each time an examination is to be set.