The property/casualty insurance industry is changing so rapidly that continuing education has become more important than ever. And nowhere in the industry is continuing education more essential than in the professional liability arena.
Computerizing continuing ed
program makes test-taking easier
The property/casualty insurance industry is changing so rapidly that continuing education has become more important than ever. And nowhere in the industry is continuing education more essential than in the professional liability arena.
As PLUS's Registered Property Liability Underwriter program (RPLU) approaches its tenth anniversary, there are many changes in the offing. One change is the elimination of the essay portion of the RPLU exam, facilitating a move towards computer-based testing. Another change is that PLUS is promoting the RPLU program not just as a designation, but as a learning tool for corporations and employees.
The RPLU program was presented to PLUS membership in November 1992, at the annual conference. The first exam was held in March 1993, and Part II was the only course offered. Forty-nine students took the exam. The first RPLU designations were awarded to 29 people in November 1994.
To date, there are 655 RPLU designees and 3,188 registered RPLU students. The last "paper and pencil" exam was May of this year, and computer-based testing begins this month.
"We believe that computer-based testing allows students more flexibility," says Joe Monteleone, chairman of the RPLU committee and senior vice president and general counsel for Kemper Financial Protection. "We have contracted with Prometric, an affiliate of Sylvan Learning, to provide the facilities and administration for the new computer-based testing program. Prometric is recognized as the industry's leading provider of secure, technology-based assessment services."
Students can register to take a test 200 days of the year, says Monteleone. Students receive a confirmation via e-mail from PLUS once their exam registration form has been received and processed. The
e-mail will give instructions on how to contact Prometric and request a test date, location and time. Scheduling with Prometric may be done either online or by telephone, using their toll-free number
"Students will not be able to take exams at home because we need to have a secure surrounding," points out Monteleone. "Prometric provides proctors and video cameras. We believe that the Prometic test centers will make it easier for students to take exams, more so than in the past. About 95% of students in the country are not more than 25 miles from a Prometric test center. We will not have any testing in December of this year or in January 2002, so we can sit back and review the program and get feedback from RPLU candidates. We are not anticipating any problems."
Monteleone describes the testing procedure: Each exam is preceded by a system tutorial and consists of all multiple-choice questions. "We debated long and hard over eliminating the essay exams," says the Kemper executive. "There were some who felt that the essay portion of the exams gave students an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge over and above the multiple choice questions. But moving to all multiple choice questions facilitated the computer process, so we went in that direction."
Exams on the computer are pulled together at random from a file of test questions, making each exam unique. The allotted time to take a test is three hours. Students will be reminded of unanswered questions at the end of the exam. Once completed, students will be provided with their scores and will be able to review the questions and their answers. The system will evaluate their strong and weak areas of study based on the answers they selected.
"In addition to the implementation of computer-based testing," continues Monteleone, "we're looking for ways to expand the number of candidates in the RPLU program. We have 10 PLUS ambassadors visiting our corporate sponsors to encourage their employees to take the exam. Moreover, we realize that there are not many training programs in the industry on professional liability and the five areas of RPLU are great training tools and can be used as such. There is no rule that says that you have to take all five parts of the RPLU, only if you plan to get the designation," says Monteleone.
The RPLU study program consists of five parts. Part I is general & excess liability insurance; Part II is professional liability (general); Part III is professional liability (non-medical); Part IV is professional liability (medical); and Part V is directors and officers/fiduciary liability. (Part I can be waived if candidates have a B.S. degree with a major in insurance or a masters' degree in insurance, or hold one or more of the more prominent insurance designations, such as CPCU.)
Part I--areas covered include the Commercial General Liability Policy and exclusions, occurrences, coverage triggers, limits of insurance, policy conditions and CGL endorsements, miscellaneous general liability coverages, umbrella liability, general liability classification and rating and reinsurance.
Part II--includes directors and officers liability, health care professional liability, medical professional liability insurance, common policy features, coverage triggers, professional liability claims management and an overview of the professional liability marketplace.
Part III--study subjects include accounts liability, lawyers liability, architects and engineers liability, media professional liability, public officials liability, insurance agents professional liability and miscellaneous professional liability.
Part IV--offers hospital professional liability, physicians professional liability, allied health care professional liability, managed care professional liability and hospital D&O.
Part V--includes various exposures in the D&O area, particularly financial institutions and nonprofit corporations. This part also includes employment practices liability and fiduciary liability.
"The RPLU program is designed to be flexible," says Monteleone. "A candidate can take one or all courses, and study and take exams when he or she has the time. And, a candidate can now choose from 300 testing locations and 200-plus exam dates. Now, with the computer-based testing approach, we believe that the program will be more valuable than ever." *