Two UA Students Chosen to Attend Insurance, Risk Management National Conferences

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Two students enrolled in The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Commerce insurance and risk management curriculum have been chosen to attend national conferences.

Vanessa Rolf, 21, of Madison, will attend the Risk and Insurance Management Society’s annual conference in San Diego in April, and Jennifer Hamby recently returned from the National Association of Health Underwriters Capital Conference in Washington.

“I found out about the 2008 RIMS Annual Conference from Dr. William Rabel,” professor of insurance and financial services at The University of Alabama, Rolf said. “Throughout the application process, I had to provide essays about my career goals and objectives, why I have decided to go into risk management, what I would like to learn from the conference, and how attending the conference would help my career goals.”

Rolf, who is majoring in economics with a concentration in insurance, said she is one of 34 students from across the United States to receive the Anita Benedetti Student Involvement Program Award to attend the conference.

“This award, worth about $2,000, includes my conference fees, travel, lodging and some incidental cash. Throughout the week, we will get to meet individually with the industry’s leading risk managers who are attending the conference,” she said.

Hamby, 22, of Birmingham, is majoring in finance with a concentration in insurance. “The conference featured outstanding speakers on important topics about health insurance,” Hamby said. She said insurance representatives from Alabama who attended the conference also spent time lobbying to the seven representatives and two senators of Alabama.

“The time spent lobbying was for private sector concerns and solutions to the health care financing challenge,” Hamby said.

“I learned so much more in those four days than I ever thought possible,” Hamby said. “I hope this will help me further my career in health insurance. It also gave me a look into the lobbying business that I previously knew little about.”

The National Association of Health Underwriters represents more than 20,000 licensed health insurance agents, brokers, consultants and benefit professionals through more than 200 chapters across America.

Editors’s note: Classes will not be in session at UA March 17-21 due to spring break.