IRM 221: Principles of Insurance and Risk Management

About This Course

IRM 221 is an introduction to the concept of risk, the process of risk management, and the field of insurance, including fundamental doctrines, historical background, social value, economic influence, loss exposures and protection, insurance regulation, insurance carriers, reinsurance, marketing, underwriting and claims adjusting. This course includes examination of the Michigan Essential Insurance Act and how this law addresses the social responsibility of the insurance business and its attempt to address social injustice. This course will also help students prepare for the AINS 21 national examination administered by The Institutes (formerly the Insurance Institute of America.
IRM 221 is the 1st of a 3-course series sponsored by the University of Olivet. Students who successfully complete the three courses by earning an overall score of 80% or higher are eligible to submit their transcripts for IRM 252 (CPCU 555) and IRM 253 (CPCU 551 plus Ethical Decision-Making in Risk Management) to The Institutes Knowledge Group to receive a CPCU professional designation certificate of completion. NOTE: Students who earn passing scores in the IRM courses are also eligible to receive postsecondary credit if they choose to later enroll with The University of Olivet following graduation from high school. Prerequisites:  Students must be able to read and understand a college-level textbook.

Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to...

• Identify traditional risk management processes
• Identify enterprise risk management processes
• Identify alternatives to insurance
• Describe the structure of insurance contracts
• Explain risk concepts
• Explain insurance concepts
• Describe insurance market structures
• Describe insurance company operations
• Describe state insurance regulations
• Describe federal insurance regulations
• Apply property insurance policy coverage language to real-world scenarios
• Apply liability insurance policy coverage language to real-world scenarios
• Interpret coverage forms for underwriting decisions
• Identify sound underwriting decisions based on insurance coverage forms
• Demonstrate negotiating skills in collaborative environments
• Evaluate alternative viewpoints in team discussions

Course Outline:

Unit 1: Understanding Risk

Unit 2: Managing Risk and ERM

Unit 3: Insurance

Unit 4: Insurance Operations and Cycles

Unit 5: Contract Doctrines

Unit 6: Contract Structure and Analysis

Unit 7: Property and Cyber Risk

Unit 8: Liability Exposures

Resources Included: Online lesson instruction and activities, opportunities to engage with a certified, online instructor and classmates, when appropriate, and online assessments to measure student performance of course objectives and readiness for subsequent academic pursuits.

Additional Costs: Etti Baranoff, Patrick Lee Brockett, Yehuda Kahane, and Dalit Baranoff (2021). Risk Management for Individuals and Enterprises, Version 2.1. FlatWorld. ISBN: 978-1-4533-3827-8
NOTE: Students will purchase digital access to the above eTextbook and accompanying resources by clicking on a secure link in the course and making direct payment to the textbook publisher, FlatWorld. Textbook access will be limited to the first chapter until payment is made for full access.

Scoring System: Michigan Virtual does not assign letter grades, grant credit for courses, nor issue diplomas. A final score out of total points earned will be submitted to your school mentor for conversion to their own letter grading system.

Time Commitment: Semester sessions are 18-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1 or more hours per day in the course to be successful. Summer sessions are 10 weeks long: Students must be able to spend a minimum of 2 or more hours per day, or about 90 hours during the summer, for the student to be successful in any course. Trimester sessions are 12-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1.5 or more hours per day in the course to be successful.

Technology Requirements: Students will require a computer device with headphones, a microphone, webcam, up-to-date Chrome Web Browser, and access to YouTube.

Ensure that your school or district network and device administrator establishes network access permissions or exceptions for online resources relevant to the course in which you are choosing to enroll. Ref., Michigan Virtual Course Allow List

Please review the Michigan Virtual Technology Requirements.

Instructor Support System: For technical issues within your course, contact the Customer Care Center by email at CustomerCare@michiganvirtual.org or by phone at (888) 889-2840.

Instructor Contact Expectations: Students can use email or the private message system within the Student Learning Portal to access highly qualified teachers when they need instructor assistance. Students will also receive feedback on their work inside the learning management system. The Instructor Info area of their course may describe additional communication options.

Academic Support Available: In addition to access to a highly qualified, Michigan certified teacher, students have access to academic videos and outside resources verified by Michigan Virtual. For technical issues within the course, students can contact the Michigan Virtual Customer Care by email at customercare@michiganvirtual.org or by phone at (888) 889-2840.

Required Assessment: Online assessments consist of formative and summative assessments represented by computer-graded multiple choice, instructor-graded writing assignments including hands-on projects, model building, discussion-based assessments (one-on-one conversations with your teacher), and other forms of authentic assessments.

Technical Skills Needed: Basic technology skills necessary to locate and share information and files as well as interact with others in a Learning Management System (LMS), include the ability to:

• Download, edit, save, convert, and upload files
• Download and install software
• Use a messaging service similar to email
• Communicate with others in online discussion or message boards, following basic rules of netiquette
• Open attachments shared in messages
• Create, save, and submit files in commonly used word processing program formats and as a PDF
• Edit file share settings in cloud-based applications, such as Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides
• Save a file as a .pdf
• Copy and paste and format text using your mouse, keyboard, or an html editor’s toolbar menu
• Insert images or links into a file or html editor
• Search for information within a document using Ctrl+F or Command+F keyboard shortcuts
• Work in multiple browser windows and tabs simultaneously
• Activate a microphone or webcam on your device, and record and upload or link audio and/or video files
• Use presentation and graphics programs
• Follow an online pacing guide or calendar of due dates
• Use spell-check, citation editors, and tools commonly provided in word processing tool menus
• Create and maintain usernames and passwords

Additional Information: This is not a standard dual enrollment course, as it is NOT offered under the Postsecondary Enrollment Options Act. However, students who successfully complete this course may earn college credit from The University of Olivet should they choose to enroll with that postsecondary institution following high school graduation.