Feb. 10, 2003 – The designation Certified Insurance Service Representative, or CISR, was recently conferred upon 15 V.I. insurance professionals associated with six local agencies in ceremonies held for the first time in the Virgin Islands.
The CISR designation is awarded by the Society of Certified Insurance Service Representatives, a not-for-profit organization devoted to providing a practical program that stresses the understanding and analysis of risks and exposures for all employees of insurance agencies, companies and related businesses.
William T. Hold, chief executive officer of the society, which is based in Austin, Texas, conducted the ceremony, presenting the conferees with their CISR pins. David Ridgway, V.I. Insurance Association president, introduced Hold at the ceremony, held at the Buccaneer Hotel on St. Croix.
To qualify for the designation, the conferees completed five day-long courses consisting of instruction followed by examinations.
The program is offered throughout the United States and its territories, "and the CISR designation is the only truly national customer service designation recognized from one state to another," John Harper, V.I. Insurance Association public relations officer, said.
The association sponsors educational programs on a regular basis for insurance agency customer service representatives on St. Croix and St. Thomas. Plans call for making the CISR conferring an annual event in the territory.
According to Hold, "Those receiving the designation are to be commended on their dedication to professionalism as evidenced by their completion of the program and their commitment to continuing education." The society, now in its 17th year, has conferred the CISR designation on some 17,000 persons nationwide.
Those receiving pins in the territory were:
Anita M. Berry, Theodore Tunick & Co.; Mary C. Brown, Marshall & Sterling Co.; Norma I. Concepcion, St. Croix Insurance; Carmen M. Corcino, Marshall & Sterling St. Croix; Patricia A. Duval-Santiago, Marshall & Sterling St. Croix; Steve M. Henry, Inter Ocean Insurance Agency; Shelia L. Jasper, Jasper Enterprises; Patricia E. Knight, Marshall & Sterling St. Croix; Kay M. Lineham, Marshall & Sterling; Elizabeth A. Mahoney, Theodore Tunick & Co.; Brenda A. Sells-Lawrence, Red Hook Agencies; Lynne Suzanne Shackell, Theodore Tunick & Co.; Lorraine Smith-Galiber, Marshall & Sterling Insurance; Lorie K. Sparks, Marshall & Sterling Insurance; and Monique M. Vanterpool-Chetran, Theodore Tunick & Co.
Also receiving the Certified Insurance Counselor, or CIC, designation were Corcino, Knight and Sells-Lawrence.
Hold also is co-founder and president of the Society of Certified Insurance Counselors, president of The Academy of Producer Insurance Studies and co-founder of the Certified Risk Managers International Program. He previously was vice president of the National Association of Independent Insurers and has served as a consultant to the American Trial Lawyers Association, the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Transportation Department and the Texas State Board of Insurance.
He has held faculty positions at the University of Wisconsin, where he received his doctorate in 1967, and at The University of Texas at Austin. His writings have been published in numerous academic and trade journals including the Journal of Risk and Insurance, the Insurance Law Journal, and the CPCU Annals. He is the author of several books on insurance subjects.
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