2008 Chapter Activities
ATLANTA
The Atlanta Chapter filed for one hour of Ethics to be presented at their luncheon meeting and offered an additional 2 hours of Ethics just after the meeting. Elise Farnham, CPCU, was the leader of these sessions. They had over 40 attendees signed up for the lunch with a little more than half attending the afternoon session.
BLUE RIDGE
The Blue Ridge Chapter joined the meeting with the LDI (Leadership Development Institute) group for our focus on ethics on March 5, 2008. The speaker was Rev. Barry Shafer. The topic of the meeting was Achieving the Legacy You Want to Leave.
The following points were covered in the meeting:
1. Know the legacy you want to leave.
2. Live the legacy you want to leave.
3. Use all possible ways to pass on to others the legacy you want to leave.
4. Choose who can best pass on the legacy you want to leave.
5. Teach them the legacy you want to leave.
6. Teach them to teach others the legacy you want to leave.
These principles can certainly be applied to our jobs and our personal lives.
This is the second year we joined this group for ethics awareness and again it was a very enriching experience and we had a successful attendance.
BRANDYWINE VALLEY
The Brandywine Valley Chapter, due to C.E. ethics requirements of their members, moved their ethics training to October, 2007. Several of their members who needed to meet ethics requirements in DE prior to 2/08 asked if there would be anyway for the Chapter to provide this training earlier. The board made a decision that, in an effort to better serve our members, they would conduct the ethics class on October 9, 2007. The instructor was Catherine Gates, and the seminar was titled "Ethics &Consumer Protection." The seminar qualified for 3 ethics CE credits in PA and DE. The Chapter usually conducts our ethics training in March, but an exception was made to better serve our members.
CALIFORNIA EL CAMINO CHAPTER
The California El Camino Chapter brought "Leadership &Ethics: The Power to Succeed" to their chapter and invited James C. Taylor, JD, CPCU, AIC, of AIG Direct to speak at their monthly chapter meeting. His program was entitled, "Ethical Challenges in Property &Casualty Insurance - Can They Be Overcome?"
CALIFORNIA GOLDEN EMPIRE
The California Golden Empire chapter had John Pryor, CPCU complete their Ethics Awareness training in March. He did an excellent job sharing current events in the industry, across the states and in our community that directly conflicts with Ethical behavior, but also challenged us to come up with ethical behavior in the workplace. He gave us a quiz at the end of his facilitation and the answers to that shortly thereafter.
CENTRAL ILLINOIS
The Central Illinois Chapter did the following for Ethics Awareness Month:
Dr. Mike Williams spoke at the December meeting on the "Ethics of Marketing". His paper, published in the March Chaptergram, was co-written by Dr. Williams and the Ethics Committee's Jim Jones.
Jim Britt spoke at our March meetings on the ethical aspects of his book, "Building Leaders - One by One"
Their chapter is starting a monthly committee spotlight to highlight a committee to the entire chapter each month. This month they are highlighting the Ethics committee since it is Ethics month.
Response on all the above items was positive from our chapter.
CENTRAL INDIANA
The Central Indiana Chapter had a program dedicated to Ethics Awareness Month, at their March monthly meeting entitled, "Ethical Values: You know them when you see them!"
CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS
The Central Massachusetts Chapter hosted the CPCU Society's Center for Leadership seminar on "Ethical Decision Making". Roughly 15 persons signed up to attend the course. The event was preceded by a Chapter breakfast featuring Don Viewig as guest speaker. Another 12 chapter members attended the breakfast.
CENTRAL MISSOURI
The Central Missouri Chapter provided an Ethics presentation to the Chapter membership and other attendees on their I-Day, Tuesday, March 11.
March is their usual month for I-Day and providing a presentation allows them to obtain continuing education hours from the State of Missouri. They had a local individual come and speak and his presentations were entertaining and enjoyable to watch. The theme this year was "Can You Dance.....", and the presentation talked about do you not only claim to be ethical, but are you putting action to the words. There was music and some interaction among the attendees and many compliments about the presentation.
CENTRAL NEW JERSEY
The Central New Jersey Chapter President, Richard B. Comer, CPCU, ARM, ARe, AIM, hosted the chapter's ethics meeting. He did research online and read "How Good People Make Tough Choices," by Rushworth M. Kidder. He did a "book report" and discussed the process of decision making. He primarily reviewed the basic concepts of making tough choices in right vs. right situations and used 8 examples from the book. Feedback was positive and they liked the examples. He also presented the authors' rules of thumb--his general choices in most situations as each situation is often different.
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA
The Central Pennsylvania Chapter had a monthly luncheon meeting, with guest speaker Marsha Egan, CPCU.
CHARLOTTE
The Charlotte Chapter utilized the CPCU Society's leadership/ethics program offerings and had a speaker come to the chapter. Good attendance and good networking was achieved.
CLEVELAND
The Cleveland Chapter wanted to come up with a speaker that oozed ethics. They thought, who should be more ethical than a judge? With this, they proceeded to contact a few judges set up a breakfast meeting for 1 CE on March 11th titled "Ethics for Breakfast? What's For Lunch?"
Judge Markus took them on a history lesson back in time by beginning with Socrates, logos, pathos, and ethos. He discussed philosophy, religion, government, human relations, or persuasion along with the creation and explosion of formal codes. Throughout his interactive discussion he reviewed and highlighted the CPCU and AICPU Codes of Professional Ethics and finished with any enforcement issues.
Judge Markus has been part of virtually every mechanism for conflict resolution. After serving as an Editor of the Harvard Law Review, he began his professional career as an appellate attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, where he briefed or argued cases in the Supreme Court and every federal appellate circuit. He then moved to Cleveland, where he was lead counsel for trials or appeals in state and federal courts in Ohio and nine other states. He was National President of the Association of Trial Lawyers, and State President of the Ohio State Bar Association and the Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers. He has been a Common Pleas and Appeals Court Judge in Cuyahoga County; and a "visiting" judge in thirty Ohio counties, five Ohio appellate courts, and the Ohio Supreme Court. Judge Markus has been a Law Professor Harvard, Case Western Reserve, and Cleveland State Universities. He also served on faculties for M.I.T., the Ohio Judicial College, the National Judicial College, and the N.Y.U. Institute of Judicial Administration. He presented more than 550 seminar lectures for lawyers and judges in forty-two states and four foreign countries. He published more than fifty professional articles and three legal texts, including an annual revision of the Ohio Trial Handbook every year since 1972 and portions of the Ohio Judges Resource Manual. He is currently a professional arbitrator and mediator listed on panels for the International Center for Public Resources, the American Arbitration Association, and the National Arbitration Forum.
COLORADO
The Colorado Chapter placed an Ethics ad, co-sponsored by the Society, in the Denver Business Journal, which is a weekly business publication. The ad included a comment regarding their March meeting on the 18th.
At their monthly luncheon, they had Brigadier General Watkin speak about ethics. This was approved for one hour of CE credit for ethics in CO.
Additionally, area insurance carriers such as Colorado Farm Bureau and National Farmers Union placed the ad on their websites. Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association also placed the ad on their website.
They asked other insurance-related organizations to do the same, such as the Professional Independent Insurance Agents of Colorado, Risk Insurance Managers, Insurance Women of Denver, and Blue Goose.
Lastly, they placed the ad on their Chapter website and will have two ethics articles in their March newsletter.
CYPRESS GARDENS
In recognition of Ethics Awareness Month, the Cypress Gardens Chapter of the CPCU Society created a college scholarship for Polk County High School Seniors.
Through coordination with the Polk Education Foundation, the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter Society has provided a $500 scholarship to one deserving high school student. Student applicants were asked to submit an essay on the importance of ethics in their lives and the world at large. The board of the Cypress Gardens Chapter was impressed with the quality of the essays received for judging.
The winning essay was written by Aaron Meadows. He has been invited to read his essay and accept his award during the chapter's March meeting at the Lakeland Yacht Club. Education Chair, Robin Clark, will also present Aaron his scholarship at his school's awards night to be held in May.
The foundation of his essay regarding honesty, integrity and responsibility are also the underlying fabric of the Code of Ethics each CPCU member is sworn to uphold.
DEEP SOUTH
The Deep South Chapter had a speaker from the Insurance Commissioner's office as a guest at their February Chapter Meeting.
GOLDEN GATE
The Golden Gate Chapter hosted our big "All Industry Day" on Thursday March 6, and Mt. Diablo and Santa Clara Valley chapters also participated. Golden Gate will host a luncheon in mid April with a discussion on Ethics by Kirk Denibem.
GREATER DETROIT
The Greater Detroit Chapter CPCU is hosting a CPCU Ethics Leadership course on March 18, 2008.
GREATER MILWAUKEE
The Greater Milwaukee Chapter is hosting two events; one being a CFL course on Ethics and then a luncheon speaker meeting with Steven Foster as the presenter. Steven is a National Director, Deloitte &Touche LLP, Regulatory Consulting Practice; former Virginia Commissioner of Insurance; and Past President of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). He is speaking on Ethics in the Insurance Industry from a Regulatory and Compliance Perspective.
GREATER RICHMOND
The Greater Richmond Chapter scheduled two CFL courses to be presented on March 26, 2008 - "Leadership &Ethics: The Power to Succeed" and "Leaders and Decisions - Meeting Ethical Dilemmas Head On."
HAWAII
The Hawaii Chapter's ethics awareness activity was a joint luncheon meeting with the Society of Financial Service Professionals hosting 3 prominent industry leaders as guest speakers on Friday March 28. The speakers gave their perspective on the importance of ethics in the insurance industry. They had their Insurance Commissioner, a local carrier chairman, and an agency president provide a regulatory, company, and agency perspective.
HEART OF TEXAS
The Heart of Texas Chapter bought copies of James L Britt's book "Building Leaders One on One" for distribution to Baylor students who attended CPCU Society President Jim Britt's speaking engagement at Baylor University Chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma fraternity on Thursday 02-21-2008.
The Heart of Texas Chapter met on March 28, 2008, and invited Jamie Gipe, Associate Director for Staff Development at Texas Farm Bureau Insurance Companies, to speak on Ethics. A door prize copy of "Building Leaders One on One" by James L. Britt was given at this meeting.
IDAHO
The Idaho Chapter had a 2 hour Ethics "Lunch n Learn" presented by the Idaho Better Business Bureau on March 12th; they had 26 attendees. This also fulfilled the continuing education requirements for the insurance agents that are part of the group.
IOWA
The Iowa Chapter used their March Chaptergram to spread the word on ethics. The President addressed the issue of ethics in the President's Letter. They also included an ethics quiz from the Society's website, and the Society's Code of Ethics. Their annual Ethics Day was March 27 at Drake University. Their Ethics Day program is a joint effort by the Iowa Chapter of CPCU, Drake University's Kelley Insurance Center, the Society of Financial Service Professionals, and the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors--Central Iowa. This program qualifies for three (3) ethics continuing education credits.
KANSAS CITY
The Kansas City Chapter conducted an ethics awareness event in connection with its March monthly chapter meeting. Chapter Vice President David Keleher, CPCU, led the attendees in a discussion surrounding three case studies that each presented several ethical challenges to participants. Participants were divided into three groups where each issue was discussed among the group members and a consensus reached. Then the groups were asked to share their findings with all participants.
LAKE WASHINGTON &PACIFIC NORTHWEST
The March Joint Ethics meeting for Lake Washington and Pacific Northwest Chapters was on Thursday, 3/10. The guest speaker was a corporate security investigator from Safeco who was formerly a police detective, and discussed the impacts of fraud/unethical behavior on the insurance industry.
Her presentation was approved for Continuing Education credit with the Washington DOI.
LONG ISLAND
The Long Island Chapter invited John DiLiberto, CPCU to speak at their dinner meeting; the title of the presentation was, "Ethics, Had Enough?"
LOS ANGELES
The Los Angeles Chapter utilized a program up on the CPCU Society website. "Street Level Ethics" was delivered by Sandy Masters, CPCU.
MARYLAND
The Maryland Chapter made arrangements to offer the Leadership &Ethics - The Power to Succeed course for their membership. They offered this course in 2 locations, Baltimore and Hagerstown, to allow more members an opportunity to attend. The courses were offered on March 25th &26th.
They also worked on an "ethics" article for the Chaptergram. One of their members, Catherine (Cathy) Gates, CPCU wrote the article. Cathy has been involved with ethics classes for the Society and their chapter.
MID-MICHIGAN
The Mid-Michigan Chapter is having their "Ethics Awareness" meeting in April this year because the college students who are putting on the program were on spring break during the time of our March meeting.
MINNESOTA
The Minnesota Chapter held three ethics activities this month. Their first activity was a chapter breakfast meeting with a presentation by Tim Gephardt, CPCU of MN Lawyers Mutual. This was a very good presentation on the history of the AICPCU / CPCU ethics and their application in today's workplace.
They planned an ethics quiz with the winner receiving a free lunch at our All I-Day, and also hosted the CFL program, "Leaders and Decisions - Meeting Ethical Decisions Head-On," on March 18, 2008.
MT. DIABLO
The Mt. Diablo Chapter did the "Ethics Quiz" at their March chapter meeting/luncheon as an icebreaker. This quiz was utilized as it is located on the CPCU Society website.
NEBRASKA
The Nebraska Chapter had a "Leadership and Ethics: The Power to Succeed" program on March 20th in celebration of Ethics Awareness Month. They offered this program to our New Designees at a special price. In addition, they made a special point to invite both the Lincoln Claims Association members and the Lincoln Insurance Women organization members to attend.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
The New Hampshire Chapter held one ethics event in January, wherein they offered "Leadership &Ethics" in conjunction with the CPCU Center for Leadership. In March, they had a joint meeting with the chapter and the New Hampshire Insurance Women's League, wherein Robert Blood, CPCU, ChFC, CFP,CLTC, financial advisor with Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, was the speaker. Bob shared some of the philosophy behind business ethics and how it is applied to our professional and personal lives and discussed the Rotary 4-Way Test. The test is a 24-word code of ethics, adopted by the Rotary in 1943 and has been translated into more than 100 languages and published in thousands of ways. It is a guide for sales, production, advertising and relations with dealers and customers for various businesses.
NEW YORK
The New York Chapter ran an ethics program on March 28, 2008, entitled "Accountability: The Ethical Imperative."
NORTH CENTRAL FLORIDA
The North Central Florida of the CPCU Society held their March Ethics Awareness luncheon meeting at the Gainesville Country Club in Gainesville, Florida. The guest speaker was C. Richard Parker, Public Defender for the Eighth Judicial Circuit. Mr. Parker presentation focused on ethics as it relates to the legal profession coupled with ethics as it relates to insurance. He did an outstanding job in establishing how the ethical frame work of both professions has served to allow both to grow and prosper. Mr. Parker discussed how following the established ethical standard might, on occasion, be the unpopular path to follow but, in the long run, the ultimate result proves it to be the proper decision. He illustrated this point in the decision his office, and he personally, made to defend a serial killer. Although this was a high profile case, with overwhelming evidence linking the defendant to the murders, the decision to provide the best defense available is grounded in legal ethics and not in popular opinion. Mr. Parker compared this to decisions we, as insurance professionals, must make. Our decisions must be based on ethics and not what would be the popular decision or most convenient decision at the time. Mr. Parker's presentation provided us with a better perspective on ethics and how ethics come into play in the decision we make on a regular basis.
The overwhelming response for the audience was extremely positive.
NORTHERN WISCONSIN
The Northern Wisconsin Chapter sponsored "Leadership and Ethics: The Power to Succeed on March 31st 2008, in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.
Their unique approach to this program was to offer it to all insurance personnel in our area, CPCU's and Non CPCU's as a way to promote CPCU, Ethics and interest in CPCU, as well as provide a service to the industry and the public at large.
Their chapter felt it appropriate to provide the program at as nominal cost as possible to promote Ethics and Ethical behavior.
NORTHEASTERN NEW YORK
The Northeastern New York Chapter held two ethics awareness activities; a guest speaker discussed "Ethics and Identity Theft" at their monthly meeting on March 18, 2008. Their chapter also sponsored the course, "Leaders and Decisions - Meeting Ethical Dilemmas Head-On" on March 25, 2008.
NORTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA
The Northeastern Oklahoma Chapter is celebrating Ethics Awareness April 16, 2008, with an open meeting, inviting other insurance professionals. Dan Ramsey, President of the IIAO is teaching a two hour class with C.E. Credits available to agents and adjusters.
OMAHA
The Omaha Chapter held an ethics seminar entitled, "Insurance Ethics: Good Ethics is Good Business." This course was designed for licensed agents and adjusters that deal with ethical situations and decision making every day. The speaker was Dr. Andrew Gustafson, Associate Professor of Business Ethics and Society at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.
ORANGE EMPIRE
The Orange Empire Chapter added an ethics presentation to their chapter monthly meeting.
OREGON
The Oregon Chapter presented "Leadership &Ethics - The Power to Succeed" and invited the Allstate agency force, as well as their chapter members, for a great day of networking and attaining ethics education and CE credits.
PHILADELPHIA
The Philadelphia Chapter had a March breakfast meeting which began with President-Elect Dawn Upperman introducing the topic "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Ethics in 2008." Past-President Marty Frappolli welcomed the speaker, Clarke Peterson, CPCU. As the Principal Consultant of Atlanta Leadership Consulting, Peterson offered insight into the importance of ethics in leadership and how managers with poor ethics could cause the downfall of their company.
PIEDMONT NORTH CAROLINA
The North Carolina Piedmont Chapter sponsored an Ethics class, as well as promoted ethics at their March meeting. Their speaker, NC Insurance Commissioner Jim Long mentioned Ethics in his talk to the group. Lastly, Matthew Smith, CPCU, chapter president, made a presentation to a local Chamber of Commerce meeting about Ethics.
PRESQUE ISLE
The Presque Isle Chapter had Judge Stephanie Domitrovich - Erie County Court of Common Pleas, will give an Ethics Awareness presentation to our members entitled "An Ethical View from the Bench" on March 26, 2008. She described ethical dilemmas that she has faced as a Judge and how she has handled them.
In addition, at 2 of the chapter's monthly meetings, Pat Murphy, CPCU, chapter president, presented a short ethical case study and polled the audience / opened the floor for discussion about how this could best be resolved. This activity only lasts about 5 minutes, but keeps the idea of ethics on everyone's mind throughout the year.
RHODE ISLAND
The Rhode Island Chapter invited the president of Narragansett to speak at their past presidents appreciation dinner on March 25, 2008. Joseph L. Wiest, CPCU, ARC, ACP, Corporate Compliance Director of Market Conduct at Travelers Insurance; Hartford, CT, was the author of the June 2007 CPCU eJournal article, "An Effective Compliance and Ethics Program is an Ethical Compliance Program."
SACRAMENTO VALLEY
The Sacramento Valley Chapter had a 4-hour ethics CE course presented; case studies and role playing was included in the course.
SAN DIEGO
The San Diego Chapter had two speakers from the L.A. Office of the National Insurance Crime Bureau. They did a presentation on how to spot unethical and illegal activity in the insurance industry. It was a very interesting presentation and it was well received by our members.
SAN GARBRIEL VALLEY
The San Gabriel Valley Chapter hosted an Ethics Workshop on 3/2/08. The workshop was filed for 4 hours of CE credits with the CA Department of Insurance.
SIERRA NEVADA
The Sierra Nevada Chapter of the Society of CPCU held its annual Ethics Awareness Meeting in Carson City at the offices of Wayne Carlson, CPCU on March 7th, 2008. Attendees enjoyed a luncheon and discussed current issues, including the CPCU ethics scenarios provided by the Society. Also discussed was a letter from Tom Case, CPCU emphasizing the critical requirement of ethical behavior in reinsurance transactions. The conversations arising from these significant and timely topics were vigorous and insightful.
Members heard a report on the Chapter's research project, insurance education in Nevada, including activities of the NIEF, the Surplus Lines Association, UNLV and other sponsors.
Peggy Willard Ross, CPCU, led a discussion of the 2007 CPCU Leadership Summit in Orlando and presented ideas on how our community may assist in the education and development of insurance professionals. Members voted to support Peggy's participation in the 2008 Leadership Summit.
Jim Smith, CPCU, discussed a presentation made to the Litigation Strategy Meeting of attorneys and claims personnel affiliated with Pool/Pact on February 22, 2008 in Carson City. The topic was ethical considerations in the investigation and evaluation of Employment Practices Claims. The presentation focused on the Canons and Rules of Professional Ethics of the American Institute, the Society of CPCU, the CPCU designation and methods to protect ethical values in claims handling. The presentation was part of the Ethics Awareness Month observance and the National "Spread the Word" campaign.
SOUTH FLORIDA
The South Florida chapter invited Captain Steven Smith from the Department of Financial Services, Division of Insurance Fraud. He spoke on the status of Insurance Fraud in the state as well as provided case studies and lessons learned from closed investigations.
ST. LOUIS
The St. Louis Chapter had a member of the STL County Prosecutor's Office present at their monthly meeting. They also linked an Ethics article published by the Society written and Ed Breight- Past President of the local Chapter.
SYRACUSE
The Syracuse Chapter had Dana Radcliffe speak to their chapter on March 4. He is a Senior Lecuturer at the Johnson School of Cornell University. He discussed the process for ethical decision making and how it works in all areas of life as well as insurance. He tackled some interesting case studies that we used from the CPCU website.
UTAH
The Utah Chapter did host an annual March Ethics class, filed for CE to celebrate Ethics Awareness Month.
UTICA
The Utica Chapter posted an article entitled "What is Ethics" by Catherine Gates, CPCU, AU on their website. In addition, they posted the "Ethics Quiz", inviting their readers to take the quiz and see how ethical they are.
VERMONT
Kudos to the Vermont Chapter! It was recognized at this year’s CPCU Society Leadership Summit in Orlando as having created the most unique approach to Ethics Awareness for 2008. On Friday, April 4th, the Chapter was awarded $100 and a commemorative certificate in a presentation attended by 2007-2008 CPCU Society President James L. Britt and the leaders of many other chapters.
What the Vermont Chapter did to earn this award was to arrange a presentation on ethics in history by Art Cohn, an elite diver and historian. Cohn emphasized that dealing with ethical questions is often a difficult exercise, because there may be disagreement on what is – or is not – proper behavior in a given set of circumstances. Ethics, he pointed out, are based on one’s perspective – what looks “funny” to one person might seem appropriate to another. He used one of his own passions, underwater archeology, as an example. In finding artifacts – of which there are many in Lake Champlain – it is not always clear whether it is proper to disturb them, or what should properly be done with them. In part this is because there may be disagreement over who owns them – resulting in a frequently tense relationship between ethics and legality. In this murky area, Cohn offered a guiding light – treat others as you would like to be treated, or as you would treat a loved one.
Cohn’s talk got his listeners thinking about the importance and complexity of ethical issues – just the result that the Ethics Awareness effort is intended to achieve!
WICHITA
The Wichita Chapter had an Ethics presentation and our All Industry Day event. Carol DeVault was our instructor and did her usual fantastic job. Her program was entitled, "Defending Our Ethics."
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