Ongoing professional training is part of the development of high quality professionals and is necessary for complex technical professions. As a Certified Specialist in Predictive Analytics (CSPA), you must constantly ensure you are equipped to meet the demands of changing technologies which will have an impact on the continued health of the companies and institutions you work for. The CAS Institute (iCAS) has developed a continuing education framework to help CSPAs stay abreast of emerging data science technologies and research, data privacy regulations, ethics, and professional standards of practice. One of the motivations for iCAS is to promote collaboration across disciplinary lines for CSPAs educated and trained in industries other than insurance. Skills acquired in other fields can be leveraged by CSPAs to enrich the profession by broadening the application of their expertise. iCAS gives great consideration to training and education across a wide range of disciplines in continuing education offerings.
iCAS continuing education requirements are intended to specifically promote the application of scientific methods and professionalism in the delivery of analytical business solutions under an ethical framework of professional conduct. CSPA professionals may enhance their knowledge and performance outcomes by:
- Researching emerging data science methods and findings applicable to a variety of disciplines and professions,
- Generating research directions that advance understanding and application of new technologies to the design and delivery of insurance products,
- Transforming newly acquired knowledge into tools, methods, and model validation techniques to applicable business problems, and
- Engaging in professional ethics programming to ensure their ethical use of data and applications of data science technologies.
Continuing Education Requirements must be fulfilled by December 31 of the second full year following receipt of the CSPA credential, and December 31 of every second year thereafter. Anyone who received the CSPA designation prior to 2018 will be treated as having received it in 2018 for these purposes.
Please email your Continuing Education log to info@thecasinstitute.org
CE Structure:
CSPAs will be expected to complete 60 units of continuing education relevant to the practice of predictive analytics or data science in the practitioner’s industry every two years. A minimum of 10 of these units need to be “Structured.” This means live interaction with other data science or predictive analytics professionals through a formal course, conference, seminar, or webcast with interactive Q&A in one of the content areas listed below, excluding Business Skills. The content areas are
- Ethics and Professionalism (Privacy and fairness regulations, professional standards, public policy concerns, or similar topics applicable to data and predictive analytics)
- Data Management Techniques (Data sources, database architectures, distributed file systems, and related matters)
- Predictive Analytics/Modeling Techniques (Machine learning and other statistical modeling approaches and related techniques; also survey design and experimental design)
- Industry Knowledge (Learning more about the business the CSPA is applying data science to, or could apply data science to in the future)
- Business Skills (Enhancing soft skills of the CSPA)
- Other relevant skills (Learning relevant data science skills not included in any of the above categories. For example, learning a programing language such as Python or C++, or analyzing the data science services offered by various vendors.)
A total of 30 units are prescribed and MUST satisfy the following guidelines:
- Minimum 6 units of Ethics and Professionalism
- Minimum 4 units of Data Management
- Minimum 20 units of Predictive Analytics & Modeling Techniques
A total of 30 elective units may be from any of the above six areas with the following restrictions:
- Maximum 15 units of industry knowledge
- Maximum 6 units in relevant business oriented skills
- Business oriented skills courses may not be used in fulfillment of the “Structured” hours requirement.
CSPAs are free to design their own curriculum provided it meets the above guidelines through verifiable participation. Requirements for documentation will be forthcoming. Examples of potential resources are available. Curriculum hours are subject to approval by the iCAS. One CE unit reflects a minimum of 50 minutes and partial credit may be earned (e.g. 0.6 units for 30 minutes). CSPAs may consult with iCAS on eligibility of curriculum hours prior to participating in a continuing education program.
CSPAs may count continuing educational experiences that were also used to satisfy CE requirements of other professional societies.
