The upheaval of the coronavirus pandemic has brought Debra Richardson, director of the Risk Management and Insurance (RMI) Concentration at the Naveen Jindal School of Management, a superabundance of teaching material.
“We have completely rewritten our lesson plans for the rest of the semester,” Richardson said. We are focusing our efforts on the pandemic and the new risks it presents individuals and organizations. This is risk management in action for all of these companies dealing with the crisis. It provides our students with valuable experience in leadership in a crisis.”
Richardson is founder and director of RMI programming in JSOM. She launched the concentration in 2015, after joining JSOM from the University of North Texas, where she was a leader in its RMI program.
Richardson previously spent 31 years in the industry, working with leading insurance carriers. From those days, she has carried forward a wealth of credentials that testify to and aid her expertise. Her designations include:
- CPCU — Certified Property Underwriter
- CIC — Certified Insurance Counselor
- CRM — Certified Risk Manager, and
- AINS — Associate in General Insurance.
Pandemic Takes Studies From Theory to Reality
Under her direction, RMI has grown from two classes with a total of 60 students its first year to seven classes with 250 students. Richardson also recruited several adjunct professors.
“My goal has always been to introduce students to a career that they probably never heard of or considered,” Richardson said.
One way she has worked to show students the enormity of the industry is to take them on field trips, visiting top companies and participating in conferences across the country. Richardson herself has raised the money to fund the trips.
With trips canceled indefinitely, Richardson is concluding the semester under unusual circumstances. “It’s a stressful time,” she said, “but it also provides a unique teaching opportunity.”
“Risk management is a major part of our economy, but for our students, it has all been a theory or concept they were learning,” Richardson said. “The pandemic has allowed us to take the study of risk management from theory to reality. Every email we get with directives about how to keep employees and customers or clients safe, food handling or working remotely due to the pandemic has passed through a risk-management department. It is the practical application of everything students have been studying.”
Backed by Top Insurance Industry Supporters
JSOM’s program has built a reputation for producing well-trained graduates, and that has attracted the support of top corporations in the industry.
The Independent Insurance Agents of Dallas (IIAD) recently donated $80,000 to fund a new $10,000-a-year scholarship to be shared by two RMI students beginning with the 2020-2021 academic year.
Other organizations that have donated $12,500 or more include:
- Higginbotham & Associates
- Houston Marine & Energy Insurance Conference
- The Insurance Council of Texas
- State Farm
- Texas Mutual
- Texas Risk & Insurance Professionals
- Travelers
“Throughout this situation, our industry supporters have been contacting me to ask if there is anything more they can do to help us,” Richardson said. “It reflects their support of the risk-management program at the Jindal School and their recognition of the high quality of the graduates from our program. Career opportunities in this field were incredible before COVID-19. After, the need for highly trained professionals who can immediately have a positive impact will be even greater.”
The funds are used to sponsor student attendance at industry conferences, networking events, off campus “Executive Experience Days” and educational sessions across the country.
RMI Students Have Competitive Advantages
One highlight of Richardson’s tenure has come through relationships and negotiations with The Institutes in Malvern, Pennsylvania, and The National Alliance for Insurance Education and Research in Austin. She has succeeded in getting each to allow her students to obtain waivers for up to four rigorous national examinations they must take to earn professional certifications.
“The Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), comprised of eight postgraduate examinations, and Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC), comprised of five examinations, are highly sought-after standards of excellence that set one apart professionally,” Richardson said. “Our students gain a competitive advantage merely by having some of these exams completed before graduation.”
In 2016, Richardson was able to launch a chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma, the insurance industry’s premier collegiate talent pipeline, on the UT Dallas campus. The award-winning Beta Phi chapter has been ranked superior for three consecutive years, based on accomplishments in community service, alumni relations, chapter management, membership development, and diversity and inclusion. On May 8, the chapter will participate in a virtual graduation ceremony with other Gamma Iota Sigma chapters across the United States.
“I believe that dealing with COVID-19 is ushering in new and innovative ways of doing business. It is bringing about a shift in our way of thinking about how business is done. It also has shown the strength of the human spirit during a crisis,” Richardson said. “Throughout this entire ordeal, it has been about people — protecting them and supporting them. That tracks with risk management’s mantra to protect the only asset that matters—the human asset.”
