INDIANA STATE UNIVERSITY
A LEADER IN INSURANCE EDUCATION

Students benefit from close ties to industry;
program boosted by $5 million endowment

By Samuel H. Schiff

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Dr. Boose meets on campus with students in the university's Insurance and Risk Management Program. Last year 21 students in the program worked in paid internships within the insurance industry.

Ask most people what they know about Indiana State University and they'll likely answer "Larry Bird, the basketball player." And rightly so, for this marvelous All-American player lead the Sycamores to the 1979 finals of the NCAA basketball tournament, before losing to Michigan State, lead by Erwin "Magic" Johnson, 75-64. But schools of higher education can hardly survive on the strength of their athletic prowess--and so it is with ISU, founded in 1865 in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Since 1965, when the School of Business was established, and more importantly since 1989, when the ISU Insurance and Risk Management Program was founded, insurance education has become one of the university's strongest selling points. ISU has rapidly grown into one of just a handful of universities in the nation offering undergraduate programs leading directly to careers in the insurance industry.

06p93.jpg Mary Ann Boose, Ph.D., is associate professor and coordinator of the Department of Insurance and Risk Management at Indiana State University.

The program started with a single major and 180 students. Less than a decade later, it had 55 majors, 65 minors and more than 400 students enrolled in its program, and it's still growing. ISU closes out the 20th century as one of 36 universities in North America that offers comprehensive insurance studies; one of only four such universities to offer 11 or more undergraduate courses in insurance or risk management; and is at this time the only university in Indiana to offer students the opportunity of both a major and a minor in insurance.

Currently leading this unique program is Dr. Mary Ann Boose, who came to ISU after having been a life insurance agent for more than ten years. "We believe the success of our program is the result of being very industry aware of what we teach," she says. "We do not believe in teaching only from an academic text book, but rather from a real world, working place text book."

This "real world" approach has been recognized by the Journal of Risk and Insurance, which noted that ISU offers the broadest range of undergraduate classes in North America and Independent Agent Magazine which ranked the program in the top eight nationally. Recognition also has come from the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), which has accredited both the undergraduate and graduate programs at the School of Business. Only 245 of more than 2,000 business schools and programs nationwide have received this accreditation.

The program has three full-time insurance professors, each of whom has a doctorate, professional designations and invaluable experience in the industry. "We are extremely proud of our professors," says Dr. Boose. "Each of them brings to ISU practical experience, the skills to teach well and the passion needed to impart their knowledge to our students. In addition, the professors' scholarly works are published in nationally recognized professional and academic journals on a regular basis."

Quality academic and professional preparation for ISU students enrolled in the program is provided through the guidance of the Insurance Advisory Council and is critical to the strategic planning and implementation of the Total Program Concept. "The Insurance Advisory Council consists of 23 members of the insurance industry," says Dr. Boose. "They come from major companies, including Allstate Insurance, Farmers Insurance Group, Wausau Insurance, Conseco, State Farm Insurance, Monroe Guaranty Insurance, Willis Corroon, and Northwestern Mutual Life, as well as agencies such as Forrest Sherer, Gibson Insurance Group, Sycamore Agency, and Leman Financial Services."

The Total Program Concept, which Dr. Boose cites as the backbone of the ISU insurance program, expands the student's normal classroom education. It includes generous scholarship support from the industry to attract and retain students; paid summer internships that provide career-related work experience to qualified students; the aggressive pursuit of nationally competitive internship and scholarship awards for ISU students; interaction among students with members of professional organizations and financial support to encourage students to begin studies toward professional designations, including four CLU courses, three required for CPCU designation, and one ARM course; off-campus opportunities to network with industry professionals via home office tours, agency open houses, state and national conferences; career counseling and job placement, and an active chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma, the national collegiate insurance society.

In addition to the Total Concept Program, ISU also provides its insurance students with practical hands-on experience. "This includes a growing number of summer internships with insurance agencies and companies," says Dr. Boose, "and a mentor program that enables students and practicing insurance professionals to develop personal relationships that provide practical insight into the industry."

Having students work within the insurance industry during the summer provides the practical work experience the program seeks, explains Dr. Boose. Thus, a growing number of summer internships for insurance majors and minors have been established. In 1996, some 18 students worked in paid internships with established regional insurance organizations. The number rose to 24 in 1997, and eased slightly to 21 in the following year.

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More than 400 students, including Stacie Ervin (center) and Jim Phillips, are enrolled in the Insurance and Risk Management Program. About 30% of those in the program are either majoring or minoring in insurance and risk management.

The efforts of ISU's insurance and risk management curriculum to work for both students and the industry have resulted in successful funding efforts and a 100% placement record of its insurance majors. But ultimately it is (as the song goes in the musical show "Cabaret") ..."money (which) makes the world go round."

"Since 1988, our fund raising effort had resulted in industry contributions of more than $1.8 million," according to Dr. Boose. "This money was used for student scholarships, program development, research and other related operations. The student scholarship program is particularly important, since approximately half of our enrollment consists of first-generation students." She adds that in late April some $50,000 will be added to the funding through a luncheon bringing benefactors and students together.

"The ISU program provides instant credibility and enables you to hit the ground running after graduation."

--Douglas LaFevor (class of '92), Account Executive, Henriott Financial Services, Lafayette, Indiana

The ISU program received its most dramatic and significant boost in June 1998, when Donald and Patricia Gongaware announced they were making a $5 million gift to the school, the largest in its history. Donald Gongaware retired in 1998 as an executive vice president and chief operations officer of Conseco, Inc., headquartered in Carmel, Indiana. "Neither Gongaware nor his wife had attended ISU," says Dr. Boose, "but he had been an active fund raiser and member of our Insurance Advisory Council since 1991."

The funding will be used for the creation of the Gongaware Center for Insurance Management Development. The official opening took place on March 10, 1999, with a ribbon cutting ceremony on the ninth floor of the ISU School of Business. "Gongaware has been an ardent supporter of ISU since 1991," says Dr. Boose, "and he was quite specific about how he wanted the money spent, stating that he did not want a building named after him and his wife."

The Center will be headed by Steven H. Pahl, a 23-year veteran of the industry, who notes that "with the increasing complexity of the insurance and financial services industries, a real premium will be placed on those executives who have the vision and skills to take their businesses forward profitably. Thanks to the Gongawares, we believe we are now in a strong position to make the ISU Insurance and Risk Management Program the equivalent of baseball's farm system, not for major league baseball players, but for the next generation of insurance leaders."

The Gongaware Center will include additional programs and scholarships, more internships, a development program for executives, seminars and lectures. Thus, this program within the existing ISU effort will place even more emphasis on real life experience and situations.

Two graduates--Douglas LaFevor and Karen Mullenix--attest to the success of the ISU insurance program, one which Gongaware, when he was at Conseco indicated was considered by the company as a primary source of professional insurance talent.

LaFevor, a 1992 graduate of ISU, was originally a finance major with a minor in insurance. Following a summer internship with Monroe Guaranty Insurance, he "got hooked" on the industry. "In addition to the superb classroom work, the intern program offered me the real world flavor that could not be found in a class," he says.

"The ISU program," he adds, "provides instant credibility and enables you to hit the ground running upon graduation, and there is no reason why someone from the program can't land a job in the industry." Following three years at Monroe Guaranty, LaFevor is presently an account executive with Henriott Financial Services, in Lafayette, Indiana.

Mullenix, who graduated in 1996, was initially undecided about the insurance program. "But I had heard great things about the professors, and particularly the small classes and frequent one-on-one approach, which I thought would be most helpful," she says.

After her internship and graduation, she speaks positively of her experience, which "gives students a complete college education and prepares them for a career in the industry." Mullenix is currently an agent with the Ashley & Spillman Agency, a division of Dimond Bros., in Paris, Illinois.

"The donation from the Gongawares will certainly help put our program at or near the top in insurance education nationally," says Dr. Boose. "But it is not the only one in the country--others, including the College of Insurance, in New York, also offer degrees in insurance. However, we believe that we have the right combination that offers students the greatest opportunity for employment in the industry."

She also notes that Indiana is ranked fourth nationally when it comes to the number of insurance company home offices and Indianapolis is ranked as the third largest insurance center in the nation. "Come to ISU and you will have a pipeline to a growing and expanding industry," she says.

So, while Larry Bird remains the most famous attendee of ISU, perhaps by 2025 the most prominent names in the insurance industry will have gotten their start at the Insurance and Risk Management Department at the School of Business at Indiana State University. *

©COPYRIGHT: The Rough Notes Magazine, 1999