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May 07, 2024
The American College of Financial Services – an institution steeped in history – is focused on innovating for the future. The secret to our institution’s longevity is the spirit of innovation sparked first by The College’s founder, Solomon S. Huebner, PhD. Here’s a look at how we’re innovating today to help financial advisors prepare for tomorrow.
Innovation starts with great ideas. In alignment with The College’s mission, the executive leadership team identifies and vets all ideas for new initiatives and program offerings rigorously, weighing their potential to help achieve the institution’s strategic goals. A new designation program, for example, might help us:
- Enhance the education experience for learners
- Fill voids in the financial services profession and society
- Advance data-informed planning and decision-making
By adhering closely to these goals and establishing measurements to track our progress toward them, we ensure The College’s ability to deliver high-quality experiences for all our constituencies.
“It is the responsibility of The College to uphold the promises we make to our students, learners, business partners, communities, and society. Assessing and reporting on our institutional effectiveness holds us accountable and allows us to be proactive and relevant in our delivery of applied financial knowledge.”
What’s Old is New
Innovation occurs within long-standing programs, including the one that started it all: the Chartered Life Underwriter® (CLU®)—a designation program that is continuously improved, including most recently in 2022. During the latest reporting process to maintain its institutional accreditation, The College highlighted the reimagining of the CLU® through a collaborative effort led by Program Director David F. Pierce, MSFS, MSM, MA, AEP®, CLF®, ChFC®, CLU®.
Through the collection of student and course enrollment data, the program director and faculty identified a growing downward trend, necessitating a question and call to action: What was causing the downturn in student enrollment to CLU®?
The program team turned to corporate partners and alumni to explore the issue with a survey. As this pie chart shows, the majority (68%) agreed or strongly agreed with focusing the curriculum and shortening the program.
From this data, the program team went to The College faculty and leadership to propose a program consisting of four core courses plus one elective, using the Personal Pathway® delivery model.
The CLU® program is now tracking the impact of this change by looking at enrollment and course persistence. We see an early spark of progress in the enrollment and persistence of students from the first to the second course, as well as positive feedback from students.
“Streamlining the CLU® program from eight to five classes was a big improvement...the program [is] so well structured, [it] provides the ease of studying and understanding how various concepts apply in real life.”
Successful, continuous improvement is the cornerstone of a strong academic institution. And that will always require assessing existing programs for relevancy and quality, and then adapting as needed.
What’s New Now
The evolution of the financial services industry also necessitates the updates of existing, and development of new programs—a process that itself benefits from recent innovation.
When the time comes to develop a new program, the process involves internal teams—including Academics, the Institute for Learning Innovation (ILI), and more—and in some cases, additional experts and partners who help The College expand our resources and what we offer.
Happening now, The College is developing a first-of-its-kind Tax Planning Certified Professional (TPCP) Program, with the leadership of renowned subject matter expert and College alumnus Jeff Levine, CFP®, CPA, PFS, CWS, AIF®, RICP®, ChFC®, BFA™, MSA.
Read the full article and learn more about The College’s innovative program offerings, including the TPCP Program, in our 2023-2024 President’s Report.
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