With two Conestoga graduates successfully finishing their final Insurance Institute of Canada (IIC) exams, Glenn Planert, coordinator of Conestoga’s Business - Insurance program, said the program has reached a significant milestone.
“These two graduates recently passed their exams and that means we now have 100 program graduates who have achieved their Chartered Insurance Professional (CIP) designation,” said Planert. “It’s great news for our program, and we’re really pleased to celebrate the success of our graduates.”
According the IIC, the CIP designation is the benchmark of insurance professionalism for individuals starting or building a career in insurance. Students enrolled in Conestoga's two-year diploma Insurance program are provided with broad exposure to business practices within the insurance industry; they also have the opportunity to gain nine of the ten credits required for the designation.
Planert added the CIP milestone is just one of many achievements for students in the program. Earlier this year, graduate Amanda Deimert was presented with the Diamond Jubilee Award which recognizes the second runner up for the top CIP graduate in Ontario. She also received the Rose Bowl Award which is presented to the top CIP graduate in the Conestoga Chapter of the Insurance Institute.
In 2017, Jeremy Newman, a 2010 graduate, became the college’s first graduate to receive IIC’s Fellow Chartered Insurance Professional designation - the highest professional designation in Canada’s property and casualty industry.
That same year, which Planert described as record-setting, Olivia Pocol was awarded the IIC’s Frank Dougan Prize which recognizes the top graduating student from a full-time insurance program in Canada. The year before, Caesar Martini, a 2015 graduate, was presented with the same award as well.
“Consecutive wins and honours are not uncommon for us,” said Planert. “For the last seven years students in the program have also been awarded scholarships from the John E. Lowes Education Fund.”
The fund is a charitable trust dedicated to offering four annual scholarships to full-time post-secondary students in Ontario studying property and casualty insurance.
Ivy Tang, one of the 2018 recipients of the scholarship, credited Conestoga faculty for students’ success and said the college’s connection to the region’s insurance sector is also beneficial.
“We are fortunate to have invitations to networking events as well as visits to insurance companies,” said Tang. “These events add another layer to our learning experience and allow us to connect class material with real scenarios while we learn from professionals that work specifically in the career that we’re pursuing."
Visit the Business - Insurance program page for more information.