Georgian College
The Benefits and Pensions Course at Georgian College is the brainchild of David Blevins, President and Founder of the Blevins Insurance Group. Recognizing the problem of finding people trained and qualified in group benefits, David came up with a creative solution - attract people right out of school. Traditionally people have migrated into group benefits from individual insurance or human resources because Benefits and Pensions courses were not always offered in universities and colleges, but David Blevins changed all that. Supported by others of influence in the insurance industry David connected with the decision makers at Georgian College. The next challenge was to have the courses accredited by the CEBS (Certified Employee Benefit Specialist) program. After the accreditation process was completed Tanya Dawber, Vice-President, Sales & Consulting and Beth Stefaniuk, Vice President, Administration stepped in and took over the planning. As a result we are very proud that Georgian College now offers Benefits and Pensions, a 42-hour credit course. Tanya Dawber has been instrumental in helping Georgian College develop the content for the course and she now instructs the course as well.
The Benefits and Pensions course, using a combination of classroom and online instruction, reviews various government and employer sponsored pension and benefit plans as well as current related public and legislative issues including:
- Retirement plans and employee benefits
- Workplace wellness programs
- Employee and family assistance
- Work/life balance
- Disability management
- Alternative work arrangements
- Government and legislation
- Smoker/non-smoker rates for group insurance
- Long-term care
Students in the Benefits and Pensions course will learn the latest techniques for benefit plan management with respect to plan design, communication, costing and administration, giving them a better understanding of how to design a benefits program that is consistent with human resources policies. The work in spreading the need for education and training in the insurance industry continues. Georgian College is encouraging their peers at other colleges to offer similar courses in the hope that these types of courses will be offered Ontario-wide and eventually Canada-wide. We are very proud to have been the catalyst for change in the insurance industry.
