Many CAS members have expressed concerns to senior leadership regarding a recent email that sought to influence their vote on the CAS Bylaws proposal that is on the 2021 CAS elections ballot. The email contained misstatements, and we believe it is important to clarify those misstatements.
The Bylaws proposal consists of three main changes endorsed by the Board of Directors, two of which were recommended by CAS legal counsel to reflect best practices in association management.
The third change, and the one mentioned in the email sent to members, is the proposal to retire the Executive Council (EC) layer of governance. This is the result of the Board’s adoption in 2020 of a new volunteer-staff model, based on recommendations from the member-led Future of Volunteerism Task Force. The new model proposes sunsetting the EC, assigning accountability for CAS operations to the CEO, establishing the Operational Oversight Committee, and changing the title of volunteer Vice Presidents to Senior Advisors. Members can read more details about the evolving volunteer-staff model on the CAS website.
The email sent to members falsely asserted that a “Yes” vote on the Bylaws proposal would result in a far-reaching transfer of power within the CAS from members to staff. This is not true. In fact, the current Vice Presidents of the EC have disproved this assertion in their own words through a set of testimonials on the CAS website. For example,
“[T]he Board is responsible for setting strategy while the Executive Council has been responsible for operational execution. The reality is, at least on the Professional Education (PE) side, that the CAS Chiefs and their staff have the operational execution down and are well suited to deal with the changes and challenges that happen in the PE space. And for some time now, the Professional Education VP has been serving as a senior advisor to the CAS staff.”
- Amy Juknelis, VP-Professional Education
As illustrated by this VP quote and others, the proposed change has already been occurring, with an increasing level of execution authority assigned to the staff over the years. Going forward, the CAS Board will continue to set strategic direction as it always has, the Operational Oversight Committee, a committee of the Board, will monitor the CEO and CAS operations, and Senior Advisors will continue to advise staff.
After extensive studies, discussions and debate spanning several months, the Board voted unanimously in favor of placing the proposal on the ballot, believing that the proposed changes will better enable the CAS to serve its members and more efficiently support the Society’s current and long-term strategic direction.
Therefore, we believe all Fellows should vote “Yes” on the Bylaws proposal.
Of greater concern to members receiving the email was the promotion of a website and the points of view expressed there, particularly regarding the CAS’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) initiatives. CAS members in general have shown strong support for our DE&I guiding principles and action plans, as evidenced by the growth in our Diversity Impact Group and increased member engagement in DE&I activities and educational opportunities. In addition, in our 2018 Quinquennial Membership Survey, over 70% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the CAS has a role to play in helping to build a more diverse profession. Finally, employers of our members have expressed their support for CAS’s DE&I efforts, believing it is a business imperative to enhance the diversity of the actuarial profession.
With the overwhelming support of our members and employers, the CAS Board DE&I Committee was formed to spearhead diversity initiatives across the organization. The Committee will continue to support the CAS’s efforts to remove barriers to entry for under-represented groups without lowering our rigorous standards and encourage an inclusive and welcoming actuarial profession.
The CAS is fully committed to improving and promoting DE&I in all of our efforts and understands that some members may not agree with the Board’s decision to confront these issues. Our leaders have already addressed this publicly and reiterated our support for DE&I initiatives in a recent CAS announcement. While we are open to differing ideas on how we pursue our DE&I initiatives, we will not entertain further debate on the question of whether the CAS should be committed to DE&I initiatives. Furthermore, we stand by all of our staff and volunteers who are executing our DE&I strategy and will not tolerate personal attacks on them.
Finally, CAS members expressed concerns about how they were included on the apparent mass email distribution list. While we’re still reviewing CAS website logs to determine whether the CAS online directory was used inappropriately, we note that the Terms of Use of the CAS membership directory (paragraph 21) expressly forbids use of directory information for such emails.
This is your professional society, and voting members have the opportunity to elect candidates to the Board of Directors who best represent your priorities for the CAS. In preparation for casting your ballot, voting members are encouraged to review the following materials available on the CAS website to make your own decisions regarding your Board of Directors ballot:
Meet the Candidates
Videos recorded by the candidates
Biographical information
Statements on why the candidate wants to serve in a leadership position
Statements about issues that are of special interest to the candidate
Candidates’ responses to questions posed by members
CAS Fellows are encouraged to review the following materials related to the Bylaws Proposal, which explain why we believe that Fellows should vote “Yes” when casting their ballots.
CAS Board Proposes Constitution and Bylaws Amendments to Streamline Governance
CAS Vice Presidents Provide Perspectives on Changing Roles
Video Message from the CAS President on the Bylaws Proposal
Recording of the Webinar on the CAS Bylaws Proposal
We welcome you to contact Mike Boa, CAS Chief Communications Officer, at mboa@casact.org with any questions about the elections, and remind you that election ballots are due by 5:00 p.m. EDT on August 31, 2021.
Steve Armstrong
Jessica Leong
Kathy Antonello
CAS Board Chair
CAS President
CAS President-Elect
