In honor of National Volunteer Week, I’d like to share a bit about why I volunteer for the CAS Syllabus and Exam Committee. As you spend years of your journey to becoming an actuary on exam preparation, some of you probably don’t consider the massive amount of effort going on behind the scenes to compile and grade the exams and to keep the syllabus up-to-date. The Syllabus and Exam Committee (SEC) is comprised of almost 1,000 volunteers and about 150 new people are added to the committee each year. In the fall of 2020, the SEC was able to quickly pivot to Computer-Based Testing when the pandemic made it impossible to continue with paper and pencil exams. In addition to this being a benefit to the candidates, writing questions in an Excel-type environment and grading online are significant improvements for volunteers.
Syllabus and Exam Committee members have an opportunity to network with other actuaries as well as gain new friendships. Volunteers range from newly inducted Fellows to retirees. Some committee members have served for over 20 years! The Syllabus and Exam Committee is always looking for new members and volunteering is a great way to give back to the CAS. If you are interested in volunteering, I encourage you to visit the CAS volunteer page.
*To hear from more CAS volunteers, check out the videos below as part of our #CAScelebratesvolunteers campaign!
