Description: The actuarial profession has been questioning the continued applicability of its historical paradigm and principles over the past decade. The author feels actuaries should stick with their historical strengths.

Description: This article from SOA president David Holland, speaks to the need of the actuarial profession to consistently evolve with the needs of the 21st century.

Description: A summary of potential future software-induced changes to the insurance industry, with a particular emphasis on machine vision technologies.

Description: A roundtable discussion of changes in the nature of actuarial work and the skills actuaries will need to be successful in the future.

Description: This is the editor letter for this issue. It summarizes the contents of the articles in the newsletter and the theme of the issue.

Description: The SOA Competency Framework for Actuaries is a powerful tool to enable you to Design Your Future by prioritizing your continuing education goals over time.

Description: This presentation proposes a solution to the student actuarial paradox “I mastered the syllabus but failed the exam,” by utilizing the two-dimensional syllabus vehicle which pedagogically focuses on the two dimensions of content and problem difficulty. This presentation advocates the PMR characterization of three levels of problems difficulty: Plug-ins (easy), Monkey-wrench (intermediate), and Research-type(hard) questions. PMR was developed by examining difficulty levels in SOA exams, and problems of various software vendors. The author's students routinely score high on the SOA FM exam; it is hoped that these methods will assist other instructors in their quest for good pedagogy. Very briefly: “Plug-ins,” refer to multi-part problems, for example, calculating the price of an annuity that is first increasing and then level; “Monkey-wrench” problems specifically refer to plug-in multi-part problems where one component is a monkey-wrench, an issue the candidate has not previously encountered. It might be a non-typical modeling or it might be a non-typical algebraic simplification or it might be an unexpected integration of distinct modules in a manner that the candidate has not yet seen. “Research-type questions” refer to problems requiring some type of experimentation for example, looking at initial cases, seeing a pattern and then applying methods

Description: Profiles the Actuarial Science Program at the University of St. Thomas, in St. Paul, Minn. From Conversations, Winter 2000.

Description: Describes Six Sigma and how actuaries can use it.