Transparency Project Continues: SOA Education department

[campbell]

In this season's issue of The Future Actuary, there is an article on the Education Department of the SOA (http://newsmanager.commpartners.com/soaf/issues/2008-03-24/1.html)

Lots of great details on how the entire exam process is administered (if you scroll down a lot) -- you get a little bit of info as to why it takes so long for multiple choice exam results to come back:
For paper-based multiple-choice exams, it takes ACT about five to seven weeks to receive, inventory and scan all of the answer sheets, and to produce statistical reports for each exam. The statistical reports include simple statistics on exam performance as well as statistics on exam difficulty and reliability.You'd think ACT could turn it around a little faster than that, but there ya go.

You get to learn about the particular staff members involved in the process at different points, and I'm looking forward to the various modules being released for CPD purposes.

[ultrafilter]

That actually a fairly interesting article, although it brought to mind something I was wondering about a while ago. As the article mentions, there's a significant amount of work that goes into preparing one of the preliminary exams. Once they're all computerized, a lot of that won't be necessary any more. What are the plans after that? Each fellowship exam twice a year, maybe?

[bdschobel]

Yeah, maybe. The Advanced Finance/ERM exam will be given twice in 2008. That's a start!

Bruce

[Beaver]

I didnt see that the AFE exam is on the fall 2008 schedule. Is this something that hasn't been announced yet?

[mlschop]

Yeah, maybe. The Advanced Finance/ERM exam will be given twice in 2008. That's a start!

Bruce

Is that because it's tied to CERA designation?

[EaglesFan]

Yeah, maybe. The Advanced Finance/ERM exam will be given twice in 2008. That's a start!

Bruce

Yay!!!! That is AWESOME News! Thanks Bruce for making this happen.

[bdschobel]

Is that because it's tied to CERA designation?Yes, but it's also a pilot project. Let's see how it goes, and maybe we can expand the effort.

Bruce

[_BullDog_]

Yes, but it's also a pilot project. Let's see how it goes, and maybe we can expand the effort.

Bruce
Does the SOA plan on offering the FET exam in May of 2009 as well? If not then I could see people being hesitant to take AFE in the fall if passing would mean they'd have to wait another year to take FET.

Either way, this is a good move.

[mlschop]

Does the SOA plan on offering the FET exam in May of 2009 as well? If not then I could see people being hesitant to take AFE in the fall if passing would mean they'd have to wait another year to take FET.

Either way, this is a good move.

Yeah I just thought about that. However, if it's tied to accelerating potential CERA credentials, I doubt FET would be added.

Since Bruce said it's a pilot, they might use AFE to see if they have difficulty coming up with questions and/or how candidate marks look.

[Ju]

I for one would be happy - it's my last written exam, and with DMAC only open for two years, I would like as many chances as I can to take AFE. Not that I want to take it more than once...

[Bühlmann]

I for one would be happy - it's my last written exam, and with DMAC only open for two years, I would like as many chances as I can to take AFE. Not that I want to take it more than once...

I've personally discussed this with Bruce already (thanks for always listening btw), and I would really really really like to see the FSA exams be given twice a year at some point. I had to sit out from the May CSP exam because of work circumstances. I would love to not have to wait a whole year to take the exam, but I have no choice.
When I get my FSA, I will gladly help on a health track FSA exam committee. I know that resources are the core issue, and I'm willing to do my part.

[JMO]

:bump:
Is there some place a list of the membership of the E&E steering committee, or whatever it is called that oversees the whole process?

[campbell]

This:
http://soa.org/leadership/committees/exam-basic-edu-committees/edu-exam-steering-coord.aspx



Page to link to all SOA committees:
http://soa.org/leadership/committees/committees.aspx

[JMO]

This:
http://soa.org/leadership/committees/exam-basic-edu-committees/edu-exam-steering-coord.aspx



Page to link to all SOA committees:
http://soa.org/leadership/committees/committees.aspx
Thanks. That was what I wanted.

[KathyWong]

The E&E leadership team is well aware of the interest in offering the FSA exams twice per year. We generally agree it would be a good idea, but as noted above, it really is a resource issue. We struggle sometimes just to have enough quality committee members for one exam offering per year. Having new FSAs volunteer is great, but often the greatest need is for experienced actuaries who can take leadership positions on the committees.

It has been a challenge to prepare for offering the fall sitting of AFE this year. Bruce helped with recruiting for the committee, and a couple of us on the leadership group worked hard to get experienced help for the group. Because of the importance of AFE to the CERA credential, the all-out effort was considered justified.

We'll need to see how that one exam goes before we start talking about expanding the idea.