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2009 Chapter Activities
Alamo Chapter
The Alamo Chapter invited chapter member Gary Schultz, CPCU to give a presentation
on "Ethical Fitness: An ethics workout for the insurance professional".
To prepare chapter members for this discussion, the meeting invitation included
The American College Center for Ethics' "Five Ethical Questions to Live By".
Blue Ridge Chapter
The Blue Ridge Chapter celebrated Ethics Awareness Month with a series of weekly
chapter newsletters. The brief newsletters were sent to all members each week and they
focused on the topic of ethics. Web site links were also shared in case anyone wanted to
explore a topic in greater detail.
The first newsletter covered the basics of ethics - definitions, resources for CPCU members and the
CPCU Society Code of Ethics. In the second, discussions were about how violations of
trust and improper ethical behavior helped create the largest stock investment scandal
in history. The last newsletter discussed how even the smallest violations of ethical
behavior can create significant problems.
Buffalo Chapter
The Buffalo Chapter conducted an Ethics Awareness Contest that was
distributed to the entire chapter membership via electronic mail. Participants
were asked to complete a matching quiz that paired the 9 Canons of the Code of
Professional Ethics with excerpts from 9 associated Guidelines. Some members
attempted the challenge without using any reference materials and others likely
dusted off their copy of the Code and responded in that manner. The chapter's focus was
to encourage people to use the Code as a reference, causing them to refresh
themselves with the Canons and relevant portions of the Code of Professional
Ethics.
The contest ran from 3/1/09 through 3/31/09 with a modest cash prize going to
the first response with the most correct answers.
Cedar Valley Chapter
The Cedar Valley Chapter completed their Ethics activity during the month of
February. Their theme was "Ethics and the Court of Public Opinion." What
happens when you know you and your company will be taking the right ethical
steps — but the press and local public attitude will end up making your
actions look like harassment, discrimination, corporate insensitivity or worse?
Their case was the embezzlement of funds by an insurance claims assistant,
discovered by both her supervisor and the internal auditing department.
The claims assistant admitted the embezzlement and offered to pay back the
funds. Company procedures require dismissal and prosecution.
The last part of the activity was to break the meeting into four groups.
Each group was responsible for preparing a press statement, keeping in mind
various laws regarding privacy, stating the company's actions in Maria's case.
Each group then had to answer "press" questions from the other groups about
their release.
Overall, the chapter reports they had a very good response to their activity.
Central Virginia Chapter
The Central Virginia Chapter typically has a speaker at their Ethics Meeting,
but this year, they wanted to have folks engaged in conversation and make
it more meaningful for their members than to just listen to a speaker.
The chapter held a meeting where they had their members complete an Ethics
quiz to determine if they subscribe to the Ethics of Care or the Ethics of Justice.
The chapter obtained the survey online, and the answer key explains the
difference between the two types of Ethics.
Connecticut Chapter
The Connecticut Chapter had fellow chapter member, Don Viewig, CPCU conduct a
course on Insurance Ethics entitled “It’s OK to say you made a mistake”.
It was a lively session involving role plays to test day to day ethical
decision making. The course was approved by the state insurance department
for CE credits.
Dairyland Chapter
The Dairyland Chapter had a whole day centered around Ethics and Education.
They started out in the morning with 3 concurrent seminars. One being Ethics,
another on Flood coverages, and a third on Additional Insured's. At noon during
their regular monthly meeting they had Professor Denis Collins speak on one of
the chapters of his new book to be released in June. Professor Collins has written
several books on Ethics such as "Behaving Badly a portrayal of Ethics at Enron" and
"Essentials of Business Ethics" to name a few. His topic for the luncheon talk
was presenting an ethical decision making framework.
After lunch in the afternoon they had an encore presentation of the 3 concurrent
seminars. These were the same seminars that were presented in the morning
including Ethics.
The day was open to chapter members in the state and all agents in Wisconsin and
surrounding states. The chapter wants this event to be a big event for Ethics education,
as well as a fund raiser and a way to promote involvement in the chapter.
Great Smoky Mountain Chapter
The Great Smoky Mountain Chapter had a guest speaker, Dallas Reynolds, who is a local
attorney. He discussed the ethics climate in our society. The chapter held a 3 CE credit
class following the guest speaker for the community. The class was led by a national
instructor and expert witness in the claims arena, Kathy Robison, CPCU.
Hawaii Chapter
The Hawaii Chapter had two guest speakers to celebrate Ethics Awareness month.
The first was Keith Hiraoka of Roeca, Louie, and Hiraoka, LLP a law firm. Keith
opened up the discussion with some thoughts about ethics generally (1) the Golden Rule
(“do unto others as you would have them do unto you”) and (2) Momma’s rule (“what
would your Momma say”) and ethics in the insurance industry.
That was followed by a very colorful presentation by Robin Campaniano, CEO/President
of AIG Hawaii, who spoke about the ethical issues surrounding AIG. However, true to
Robin’s style, he made a few compelling arguments. In the end attendees all
recognize the importance of AIG’s continued success in insurance and the negative
impact this has had for all.
It was a very timely discussion given the current challenges in the industry and the
chapter was so very thrilled to have both speakers, especially Robin’s willingness
to speak to the combined group of Hawaii Chapter members and Society of Financial Service
Providers.
Houston Chapter — 2009 Chapter Ethics Award Winner
Congratulations goes to the Houston Chapter!
The Houston Chapter was recognized at this year’s CPCU Society Leadership Summit in Phoenix
as having created the most unique approach to Ethics Awareness for 2009.
On Friday, April 24th, the Chapter was awarded $100 and a commemorative
certificate in a presentation attended by 2008-2009 CPCU Society President and Chairman Marvin Kelly, CPCU, MBA, and the leaders of many other chapters. See photo.
For their Ethics Awareness Month activity, the Houston Chapter held a combined
meeting with the RIMS Society Chapter of Houston. Attorney Jamie Cooper with
Martin, Disiere, Jefferson & Wisdom, LLP a law firm in Houston, Texas,
presented one hour of Ethics continuing education in the form of the game show
Family Feud.
There were approximately 100 in attendance. The room was divided in half and
each side worked as a team to answer and the activity created a good natured
competition.
Attendees had a great time learning about ethics in regards to claim handling.
Land of Lincoln Chapter
As you may be aware, Illinois has received a lot of press about their (now impeached)
governor. The Federal charges and the following impeachment may have been a surprise
to many people in the United States, but in Illinois many were wondering
what took so long for this to occur.
With our tumultuous government Ethics Awareness is at the tip of most people's mouths.
To keep the subject matter current the chapter changed their program in March to be a type of
2-part series. The series started in February where the Land of Lincoln
Chapter was invited to an Insurance Professionals of Central Illinois meeting
where their speaker was Illinois State Representative Raymond Poe. Representative
Poe presented the chapter with the framework of how the state is supposed to be run and what
has actually been happening.
The second part of the series was the chapter's March meeting where they invited
the Insurance Professionals of Central Illinois to join them and the speaker was
Kent Redfield, professor emeritus of Political Science at University of Illinois
- Springfield. Dr. Redfield provided attendees with a background of how Illinois has
gotten to the current (and unfortunate) position. He talked about how ethics are
on everyone's mind in Illinois - especially in government.
This 2-part series provided both the Land of Lincoln Chapter and the Insurance
Professionals of Central Illinois a better insight to Illinois government
and it's ethics...or lack thereof.
Maine Chapter
The Maine Chapter presented a successful CPCU Society Center for Leadership course,
"Leadership and Ethics: The Power to Succeed" which was facilitated by Bill Senecal, CPCU.
There were good discussions, thought provoking questions, and much participation.
Mid-Tennessee Chapter
The Mid-Tennessee Chapter held two educational programs and a luncheon. The first session,
“Six Catastrophic Policy Coverage Gaps You Weren’t Aware Of,” explored several
potentially serious coverage gaps in most personal and commercial lines policies.
The second program, “Under Siege: Insurance Industry Claim Practices,” was an interactive
session that explored recent charges by the trial lawyers’ bar published in a scathing
indictment of the insurance industry. They offered prizes during the morning sessions.
The day concluded with a luncheon featuring Senator Bill Frist, MD.
Senator Frist, served as a senator for 12 years and was the Majority
Leader of the U.S. Senate. He has practiced medicine for 20 years and is a
pioneer surgeon in heart and lung transplantation. Senator Frist shared his insights
into what he believes the future may hold for the industry and our country given the
political and financial developments of the past year around the world. In addition,
Senator Frist has a new book coming out entitled, "A Heart to Serve: The Passion to Bring
Health, Hope, and Healing". The book focuses on his belief that we should use our
positions of trust to help others, risk failure, challenge the status quo, and
above all, have a heart to serve.
In addition the chapter shared a newsletter with it's membership titled "The Importance
of Living with Integrity" by Scott Hunter. It reminds readers of the importance of
ethics and integrity in our work and our lives during these challenging times.
Minnesota Chapter
The Minnesota Chapter held its annual ethics event titled "Do the Right Thing:
Building Strong Ethics in a Weak Economy". This event was held in conjunction with
the Center for Ethical Business Cultures (CEBC), which is affiliated with the
University of St. Thomas, in the Twin Cities. The CEBC is a not-for-profit organization
which assists business leaders in creating ethical and profitable business cultures
at the enterprise, community and global levels.
The presenter was Bob Shoemake, Director of Programs and Membership for the CEBC,
now celebrating its 30th anniversary year. The presentation was followed by
a networking reception. Bob stayed following his presentation, as did everyone who
attended, and the group had a roundtable discussion on, among other things,
the numerous cases involving ethics which are dominating today's news headlines.
Following the presentation, Bob was presented with a donation from the chapter
for the work being done at the CEBC. The donation was presented by Matthew J.
Clysdale, CPCU, the current President of the chapter.
San Diego Chapter
The San Diego Chapter had Dean Calbreath, business writer with the San Diego Tribune
and co-author of the book "The Wrong Stuff" about convicted congressman Duke Cunningham.
Mr. Calbreath spoke about their investigative reporting and how they uncovered his unethical bribe
taking. Mr. Calbreath autographed books at the end of the meeting.
Sierra Nevada Chapter
The Sierra Nevada Chapter invited CPCU’s and their guests to an Ethics Awareness
Meeting. They held a round table discussion on the following topics:
- Creating an Ethical Organization, presented by Wayne Carlson, CPCU
- Ethical issues in the current economic crisis
- Legislative update: concerns with state government
- Pass the stress test: CPCU ethics scenarios
- The current state of Insurance education in Nevada
- Recent decisions of the Boston Federal Reserve regarding Financial Holding Companies
- The EU de Larosiere report and the proposed supervisor to watch banks and insurers
- John Grove’s article on Due Diligence in the February CPCU News
- Selection of Chapter Officer to attend the Leadership training in Phoenix on April 22-25.
There was a reception with light refreshments with a wine tasting and water tasting.
They also asked for donations for FISH and the Food Bank.
Vermont Chapter
The Vermont Chapter had Kim Dubrul, a Personal Coach from the
"The Coaching Center of Vermont" speak at their meeting.
Kim adapted the subject of ethics into a lively discussion germane to the current
events in the insurance industry. There is a certain personal anxiety in the
industry these days trickling down from national events and her presentation
helped bring a lot of that anxiety into context for the group.
Westchester Chapter
The Westchester Chapter, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year,
distributed an ethics quiz at the Westchester E-Day. Chapter board member
Kimberlie Cifieri, CPCU, of AIG, discussed the quiz with Carla Baron, commercial
lines manager for Keevily Spero Whitelaw. The quiz was also distributed via
email to chapter members.
Wichita Chapter
The Wichita Chapter welcomed award winning journalist, KAKETVs Larry Hatteberg,
as their speaker. Larry's topic, Ethics In Journalism, addressed the real issues
that he faced when covering the BTK Murderer, Dennis Rader, in Wichita from the
70's through his capture, and eventual imprisonment in 2005. Larry discussed the
life changing events and issues that both he and the news station faced "being under
a microscope". The Ethical dilemma faced by receiving correspondence from BTK,
the publics right to the information, and the station's responsibility to the police.
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