Southeast regents to consider actuarial science option

When Southeast Missouri State University students go for bachelor's degrees in math next fall, they could have another option -- actuarial science.

Options are areas of emphasis, and for math, those include math education, pure mathematics and applied mathematics/statistics, Math Department chairwoman Tamela Randolph said.

Actuarial science applys mathematical and statistical methods to assess risk such as life expectancy in the insurance industry and future stock performance in the financial industry.

And just because actuarial science doesn't sound as if it could add up to a rewarding career, there are benefits. The median pay exceeds $87,000 a year, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts the demand for actuaries to grow by 27 percent between now and 2020, according to information from Southeast.

To answer that demand, the Southeast Missouri State Board of Regents will consider adding the option to the university's math degree. If approved, it would be available beginning in fall 2014, Randolph said.

Regents will meet at 8 a.m. Saturday at the Drury Plaza Hotel at the Arch in St. Louis.

Randolph said the idea has been in the works for five years, but seriously for the last two. The math department worked with the College of Business, specifically the departments of accounting and economics and finance, in preparing the program of study, the information said.

Randolph said the idea came from students' desire for the option and faculty members getting questions from students.

"This major will be very appealing to students who have strong math skills and are looking for a lucrative, stable profession," information from the university says.

"There aren't very many programs like this around in our area. That would be a selling factor for us," Randolph said.

Emmanuel Thompson, an actuarial scientist who had been at the University of Calgary, has been hired to oversee the program. Thompson said most actuaries work for insurance companies and governments or do modeling to help predict how stocks will do in the future.

Degrees

Regents also will consider adding sustainability and construction management as minors. No new resources are needed for either one, information from Southeast said.

The sustainability minor would come under the environmental science program in the College of Science, Technology and Agriculture. It would be a complementary minor to degrees in agriculture, biology, chemistry, economics, engineering technology or technology management.

Sustainability refers to the long-term health of the environment.

"Sustainability has become a major topic in industry and in education. Southeast Missouri State University has an ad hoc Sustainability Committee formed by President [Kenneth] Dobbins, and Southeast is a member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education," the information said.

The construction management minor would be under the department of industrial and engineering technology in the College of Science, Technology and Agriculture. It would be complementary for related degrees, such as the bachelor of science technology management program, which has areas of emphasis in facilities management and sustainability, and sustainable energy systems management, among others.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

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