[red font]It depends on how long it takes for the CAS to edit the results in a way that supports its preferred spin.[/red font]
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I was going to look back and see how long it took for the 2018 survey results to come out, but the CAS site is optimally tuned for searching for information. And by “optimally tuned” I mean “largely worthless.” As in, “I can’t even find the 2018 survey results.” Maybe someone else has them.
The window closed in late November? I’d say we probably won’t hear anything until April, because data has to be compiled and presented and then all the leadership groups have to be briefed on it and discuss it and figure out what positive spin to put on things and what to sweep under the rug.
Try using the wayback machine. I have found it useful for finding old stuff on the cas website
As best as i can tell, the cas website design removed everything nice and useful about the cas website. 
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In fairness, it’s really hard to tell what users are going to do with a website.
The solution is what we do, modify dynamically. We record user interactions, then tweak.
My best converting form on a previous iteration is now my worst. No idea why.
And the cas doesn’t really have the infrastructure to do that. They have to design it once as a project then launch. And that’s what you get for the next few years.
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That doesn’t help when they’ve removed or hidden most of what i used to use. Staff contact info? Hidden. Previously released info about the CAS (like the last survey) Gone.
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Exam results, believe it or not, also jail
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Google tells me that, of articles currently indexed on casact.org, the earliest surviving reference to 2018 results (albeit not the results themselves) was in May 2019.
The Wayback Machine is being uncooperative, so I’m not having luck at getting snapshots of the web site from that timeframe.
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I believe they compare each person’s answer to the expected answer, and grade accordingly.
That’s why it takes so long.
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This probably should have its own thread re: engagement and such, but we don’t have that thread (yet?). Plus, this may serve as a precursor to the results from the pending 5-year survey.
That … does not seem like a lot of responses from volunteers, current or recent.
Um … yeah, a 20% drop-off in responses seems like a little more than slight, unless we’re comparing it against the 10,000+ total members. Probably not a big deal, though - right?
I’ll be generous here and round this down and say there’s 3,000 volunteers, current or present. That means the response rate from the target group (all volunteers, current or present) was … [does teh actuarials] … about 14%. That … does not sound like a really engaged group.
I would think people who volunteer are more likely to be engaged with the CAS than non-volunteers. If the response rate from your most engaged group is only 14%, … you’d think that might signal something is really wrong. Or, you could run with the results you get - but no organization that prides itself on doing rigorous analysis that others should rely upon and trust would ever do that, right?
Oh, I guess they will draw results from the responses received. From 14% of the population that would have been targeted with this survey - which represents about 4% of the total CAS membership. Which, yes - there were some negative responses in the survey, but that was less than 5% of total responses. Of 14%. Of ~30%. So, practically insignificant since it’s nearly 0. Meanwhile, ~80% of the responses were positive or overwhelmingly positive - and 80% of 14% of ~30% is only … [does teh actuarials] … about 3.4%, but the point is - and this is the point - it’s larger than the other number.
I want to be embarrassed, but maybe I’m stuck at the crossroads of indifference and apathy.
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I don’t remember getting a volunteer survey.
ETA: That doesn’t mean I didn’t get one, just that i don’t remember it ir didn’t notice it was a survey.
And the size of the CAS keeps growing, so a drop in responses is even bigger than the raw number suggests.
I’m going to say that this volunteer is a lie less engaged than in the past. The whole staff thing and turning most of the committees into something else is not working for me.
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Remember, this is the same organization that touted the results of its engagement survey about a year ago, and dropped this gem at the end of the 2nd paragraph:
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It’s my long-held thought that when something gets released and there’s not a lot of noise, you … wonder what’s really inside, because when things are good people tend to brag about it a lot more.
Anyway, the CAS handed everyone a report yesterday. Read when you have time, offer thoughts. I’ll try to drop some later after I’ve had time to read and think about it.
CAS_2023_Quinquennial_Survey_Report.pdf
Here’s the original questionnaire, in case you see a result and wonder what questions may have corresponded to it. There’s also the 2nd version, but I’m presuming that just shows the one question mentioned way up above was in fact removed.
Oh wow… Satisfaction has taken a nose dive.
Also, they write
Most members (80.0%) have not found it challenging to access or find specific CAS communications or resources.
As if it’s a GOOD thing that 20% of members said they had trouble.
And
Members most often prefer to contact the CAS via general email (38.2%), although they are nearly as likely to want to email an individual CAS staff person (33.4%). While 17.8% want to use a website contact form, just 5.8% want to call the CAS and 3.6% want to chat with a live agent on the website.
98 people provided comments in response. Almost half (48) indicated that prior communication experiences had been positive ones, well outnumbering those (14) who indicated that they received no response or one that was unhelpful and/or untimely.
And they seem to think it’s fine that 14 members bothered to write a comment about trying to contact the CAS and getting no response or an introduction or untimely one. That happens to be one of my pet peeves. Before the pandemic, and before the CAS removed all the individual staff contact info from their web site, i contacted the cas about all sorts of things, from “I’m on this committee and need this” to “i noticed a broken link on the website”. And i got a useful and timely response 100% of the time. Now i often wait a couple days and then get a response that isn’t very helpful.
In more neutral news, LinkedIn has beaten out other social media for how members interact with the CAS on social media. Big drops in how many members follow the CAS on Facebook and Twitter, and a big increase in how many do so on LinkedIn.
I’m disappointed that some of the DEI criticism I included in my free-text comments (e.g. continuing to have major meetings in unsafe places) didn’t even register in the report.
Not sure whether that was the the result of so few people expressing such opinions, or general polishing of the pig.
Seems favorable to me.
The CAS just got called out on the low response rate and the reason for the low response rate was that the rate is good for industry standard. Totally ducking the question about why responses have dropped for the last 20 years.
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This part is what frustrates me. There seems to be a significant disconnect between the CAS and the members. From the volunteer engagement survey to the quinquennial survey as well as candidate experience there seems to be a chasm between the CAS messaging and the word on the street.
The volunteer engagement survey has a dismal response but the CAS cherry picked the few highlights.
Ditto for the quinqennial, the official write-up has a bunch of bullets highlighting the good news that came out of the survey while only briefly mentioning in the final bullet:
“There’s an overall drop in satisfaction among members from the 2018 survey, and a call for greater organizational transparency.” and there is no mention of how to address the issues or the scope of the issues in the press release or in the round-table today in Atlanta.
Same for the candidate experience, granted perhaps we have a jaded view since we are taking hard exams, but I have friends who are accountants, lawyers, doctors, nurses, and none of them have the same vitriol that actuaries feel toward the CAS.
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