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Go Abroad Fair: add international experience to your education
by Chantal Vallis
The skills and experiences you gain from traveling abroad not only add to your education, they also provide life-long personal benefits and advantages in the professional world. Through travelling students encounter new languages, approaches, cultural norms and practices that can push you out of your comfort zone. Navigating these can be exciting, but also challenging – helping to build your confidence, shape your communication skills and make you more culturally sensitive. Skills that translate well in business and can provide a competitive edge.
Rachel, an exchange student from Australia, affirms this. “Exchanges are fantastic opportunities to grow in your independence and flexibility. You're taken out of your familiar environments and forced to develop new skills and be more adaptable. That's a skill that’s valuable, no matter what you plan to do in life.”
Find out more about pursuing international exchanges and internships by visiting the Go Abroad Fair today—Thursday, September 29—in the Student Life Centre (SLC) Great Hall.
At the Go Abroad Fair you can:
- Talk to current exchange students about their home country and institution
- Hear first-hand accounts from our own Waterloo students who have attended an exchange or study abroad
- Learn about international internships, service learning programs, and field trips
- Learn about international groups and service clubs
- Talk to co-op, faculty and department representatives about opportunities abroad
Both graduate and undergraduate students are encouraged to drop by the fair, which runs from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
READI or not: Indonesian actuarial workshops begin
At the University of Waterloo’s meeting with representatives from the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, Persatuan Aktuaris Indonesia, and the Society of Actuaries were (left to right) Ken Seng Tan, University of Waterloo; Yung Wai Ling, Programs Manager, Society of Actuaries (SOA); Ann Henstrand, Senior Director, International, SOA; Fransisca M. Roeswita, Secretary General, PAI; Rianto Ahmadi Djojosugito, President, Society of Actuaries of Indonesia (PAI); Craig Reynolds, President, SOA; Colin Wilson, President, Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA); Derek Cribb, Chief Executive, IFoA; Caryn Chua, Actuary Representative of Southeast Asia, IFoA; and Bill Duggan, READI Field Director.
by Jean Lowry
On September 26th the University of Waterloo’s Risk Management, Economic Sustainability and Actuarial Science Development in Indonesia (READI) project along with its co-sponsor, Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK), brought together 95 senior representatives from universities, life and general insurance companies, Government of Indonesia (GoI), the Embassy of Canada, and national and international associations to discuss the challenges facing the actuarial profession and actuarial education in Indonesia. The $15.5M READI project is being undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada provided through Global Affairs Canada (GAC). Manulife Indonesia has committed an additional $1M in support and CIMB Sun Life has similarly provided a $500,000 donation.
The workshop “Global Trends in Actuarial Education and Professional Development”, which was held in Jakarta, allowed participants to better understand the challenges to increasing the number of qualified actuaries and developing centres of actuarial science expertise at leading universities in Indonesia.
The OJK’s Asep Suwondo, director of pension and BPJS employment supervision, identified six challenges facing the actuarial profession in Indonesia and highlighted the requirements the GoI has put on the insurance industry to employ actuaries to strengthen risk management and governance.
Rianto Ahmadi Djojosugito, president of Persatuan Aktuaris Indonesia (PAI) spoke about the urgency to bring up to a 1,000 new graduates into the actuarial profession to meet the growing needs of the insurance and pension industries.
Addressing the global context, both Craig Reynolds, president of the Society of Actuaries and Colin Wilson, president of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, presented the latest developments within respective associations, outlined their Asia initiatives, highlighted services and resources available to existing and aspiring actuaries in Indonesia, and identified potential areas for synergy with the READI project and its partners.
An executive lunch meeting provided senior university and insurance industry representatives, regulators, and senior officers from the GoI and GAC with an opportunity to discuss strategies to engage in constructive collaboration to support READI.
During the afternoon, PAI leaders held in-depth discussions with the IFoA leadership, and then with the SOA leadership, to discuss how best to address the challenges facing the Indonesia’s actuarial profession. They also discussed avenues for fostering constructive collaboration. The remaining participants participated in a breakout session focused on strengthening the actuarial science profession in Indonesia with a focus on “what's working, what's not and what can be improved”. The six breakout groups identified key issues and challenges related to strengthening actuarial science education and university-industry cooperation, generated recommendations to help accelerate actuarial science education in Indonesia and suggested potential follow-up activities to support and extend the capacity development objectives targeted by the project.
Interest in the workshop was keen with participants from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of State Secretariat, Ministry of Education and Culture, Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection, the National Development Planning Agency (BAPPENAS), and representatives from many actuarial science umbrella agencies all actively participating in the event. A firm foundation was laid for future multi-stakeholder efforts.
Thursday's notes
Due to the recent closures of University Avenue and now Columbia Street for ION-related construction work, Central Stores has been experiencing 10 to 20-minute traffic delays during peak times as drivers are detoured around. For the time being, expect some delays in normal mail pickup and delivery times. Your patience is appreciated.
Bidding in the Faculty of Engineering’s United Way Mystery Item Silent Auction starts on Monday, October 3 and continues until noon on Wednesday, October 26. Bid via e-mail to Karen.dubois@uwaterloo.ca. Everyone is welcome to join – either on making a donation to the Auction, or to have fun and bid on something! Check out the mysterious items on the auction page.
The offices of the President, Provost and Secretariat & General Counsel are inviting members of the University community to stop by and visit their Fresh Market booth and help support the United Way. The booth will be located in the Student Life Centre courtyard on Tuesday, October 4 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. You can pick up a bag of fresh veggies or fruit for $3.00 or enjoy a bag of popcorn for $1.00. They look forward to seeing you there!
It's that time of year again: The University Club is hosting its annual Thanksgiving Luncheon Buffet on Thursday, October 6 and Friday, October 7 from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.