Newswise — A leading insurance industry magazine ranks the University of Mississippi's School of Business Administration's Insurance and Risk Management program among the nation's largest in terms of enrollment.
Business Insurance magazine's annual Market SourceBook ranks the UM program No. 8 with 103 students enrolled. Yet there's room for more and jobs waiting, said Larry A. Cox, associate professor of finance and the Robertson Chair of Insurance. Such high-profile recognition has been a goal for Cox.
The magazine also ranked UM eighth in its annual Guide to Risk Management and Insurance Schools in October 2002. Published in November, the latest guide is billed as the most comprehensive compilation of product and service providers for the commercial insurance industry.
"Being ranked No. 8 gives us high visibility with both the leading employers and the top students," he said. "We have had terrific growth in the number of Insurance and Risk Management majors during the past two years, yet the job market has absorbed our graduates. If anything, we need more students."
After a successful 10-week summer internship last year, one such student - senior Richie Tanner of Pascagoula - was offered a job as a commercial accounts underwriter at Travelers Property Casualty Corp., the third largest commercial lines insurer in the United States. After graduation in May, he begins work in July in Metairie, La.
"UM's Insurance and Risk Management program helped me completely get on track with what I wanted to do," said Tanner, a former pharmacy major.
He attributes the program's recent growth to professors Cox and Karen Epermanis, assistant professor of finance, along with students' access to a steady stream of industry professionals. Students are taught from the same texts used for professional insurance certifications, giving them an upper hand, Tanner adds.
" Cox and Epermanis are both very student friendly and will go above and beyond their call of duty," said Tanner, who was one of 11 interns chosen nationwide to work at Travelers. "I was amazed at how willing they were to help us.
"We also got to interact regularly and one-on-one with industry professionals," he said. "Everybody knows Dr. Cox in the insurance world."
Thanks in part to the UM program's Top 10 standing, some 25 of the most respected insurance providers and brokers visited campus Wednesday (Jan. 21) to recruit students at Insurance Careers Day. In addition, as many as 250 insurance professionals are expected to attend the school's annual Insurance Symposium Feb. 26 at the Ford Center for Performing Arts on the Oxford campus.
"A No. 8 ranking clearly catches the attention of the stronger national and regional employers," Cox said. "I am blown away by the quality of the companies now coming to our annual Insurance Careers Day."
Established in 1947, the UM insurance and risk management program focused mainly on life insurance and estate planning. Since Cox's arrival, it has emphasized commercial property-casualty insurance and corporate risk management, reflecting new trends and job opportunities.
Also getting credit for a boost in student enrollment is the program's Insurance Advisory Board, which is made up of 25 insurance and risk management professionals who help develop strategic planning, as well as provide guidance and industry information.
These changes have made UM a contender with other schools recognized by Business Insurance magazine as having similarly successful programs. The other cited schools, in order of their ranking, are 1) University of Georgia, 2) Temple University, 3) Georgia State University, 4) Florida State University, 5) University of Wisconsin-Madison, 6) Appalachian State University, 7) Illinois State University, 9) Indiana State University, and 10) California State University-Sacramento.
"We're starting to compete with these guys," Tanner said.
RSS