Program led by former N.C. chief deputy insurance commissioner will prepare students for careers in insurance and risk management industries
Dr. Michelle Flynn Osborne saw firsthand how lack of insurance can exacerbate the already tragic events that require unexpected assistance. A college student at the time, Osborne’s boyfriend was killed in a car accident, and his parents’ grief was exacerbated by hospital bills, accident expenses and his funeral.
Just 22 at the time, Osborne — a music major who saw little future in it because of her stage fright — decided she didn’t want her family to be further burdened should tragedy strike. So she made the very adult decision to buy life insurance. Struck by her maturity, the agent asked Osborne if she would be interested in a career in the insurance field, starting with door-to-door sales and cold calls. She would go on to excel in the field, ultimately leading to the position of chief deputy commissioner for the North Carolina Department of Insurance under Commissioner of Insurance Mike Causey.
Osborne shared this story Tuesday in front of a full auditorium in the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business to celebrate a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Campbell University’s Risk Management Institute (RMI) and the new room down the hall that will house it. Led by Osborne, a Campbell MBA graduate and current associate professor and department chair for business administration and economics, the institute — thanks to $2.5 million in funding from the General Assembly — will aim to “cultivating the next generation of risk management leaders” in the insurance field and strive to become a resource for the state office Osborne once helped lead.
“The insurance industry is in need of new, young employees, because it’s an industry where more than half of the workforce is set to retire in the next few years,” Osborne said. “Students don’t realize the great opportunities in a career in risk management or the insurance industry. You make a good living, and you get to truly help people.”
Undergraduate business students at Campbell can student risk management as a concentration in any of the school’s nine majors. Graduate students can select risk management as part of their MBA curriculum, both in-person and online. According to Osborne, Campbell’s RMI offers hands-on mentoring from industry veterans, valuable internship opportunities, professional licensing preparation and global exposure through overseas travel programs.
The remodeled area that will house the RMI includes a large meeting room, a smaller study area and a podcast room. Roughly 25 undergraduate students are currently taking Osborne’s risk management class, and nearly 50 graduate students have signed up for the course in the MBA program. Those numbers are expected to grow as the program grows.
“We’re not just teaching insurance and risk management. We’re studying cyber security. We’re studying AI. Statistics,” Osborne said. There’s constant reading up and studying what’s new in the industry and what’s new in the world.”
The launch of the program comes just months after one of the biggest natural disasters in North Carolina’s history, Hurricane Helene, which killed nearly 100 people and caused almost $60 billion in damage in the state alone. More than 70,000 homes were damaged in the western part of the state by catastrophic flooding, landslides and fallen trees.
A report by the Federal Emergency Management Agency stated nearly 93 percent of the flood damage homes verified by FEMA lacked flood insurance.
Dr. Kevin O’Mara, dean of the School of Business, called the RMI just one in a long line of unique and relevant majors and initiatives at Campbell, joining the trust and wealth management program, the Center for Financial Literacy, student-run investment funds and the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program that offers free tax preparation for Harnett County residents.
“We have quite a bit of focus in the financial service industry already, and now we are adding the Risk Management Institute, which will be offering incredible experiences, internships and career opportunities for our students, qualified graduates for the industry and assistance to the State of North Carolina’s reputation as a national leader in insurance,” O’Mara said. “Dr. Osborne has a passion for her students. She has an enthusiasm for this program, a desire to partner with the industry that she’s so proud of and a commitment to help her state. We cannot wait to see what she will do for our students, the industry and the community.”
Leaders from the industry were present at Tuesday’s ceremony, as were state representatives from the General Assembly and North Carolina Department of Insurance. Causey delivered a message via video saying he believed Campbell was “poised to make a significant impact” on the state,” and State Sen. Jim Burgin — owner of C&D Insurance in Harnett County who led the charge to get grants approved for programs at Campbell and Fayetteville State University — said the program wouldn’t have been possible without Osborne’s vision.
“She has the knowledge and connections to pull people together, and if you’ve ever been to one of her classes, you’ve seen her enthusiasm,” Burgin said. “The professors I learned the most from in my college career were the people who had actually done the job I wanted to do. That experience is invaluable.”