NICE PROGRAM
IRES members who have earned the right to put AIE®, CIE®, or CICSR® after their names also must take part in an ongoing program of continuing education known as the National IRES Continuing Education (NICE) Program. This program was established to assure the continuing integrity of the three designations by establishing minimum continuing education standards for those Society members who have earned and choose to maintain their IRES designations.
The NICE Program seeks to ensure that every active designee holder pursues a plan of continuing education throughout his or her career to remain current with issues facing the insurance industry. IRES registers, recognizes and endorses only those designees who are members in good standing and comply with the program on a continuing basis. A designee must remain as a dues paying member of IRES to be a member in good standing. The NICE Program requires 15 hours of qualifying continuing education credit to be earned and reported each year. The rules for qualifying programs were designed to ensure substance and quality, but at the same time allow the maximum flexibility to attend a wide range of educational opportunities, including those with nominal cost. Qualifying programs include, but are not limited to:
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Courses that are more than 50% directly and substantively insurance-related offered by an accredited college, university or recognized insurance education organization or sponsor such as those that IRES relies on to earn the designations.
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Seminars and conferences, such as those offered by IRES, CPCU, NAIC, SOFE and other professional associations.
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Authoring articles that have been published in recognized magazines, journals, and widely distributed industry newsletters
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Being a speaker at events directly related to insurance or insurance regulation.
Complete program details, processes and reporting deadlines are contained in the NICE Program Manual. If you have questions, please contact the IRES office.
Important Dates
The following is a summary of the annual deadlines associated with the NICE program. See the NICE Program Manual for more information about the program and its deadlines.
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Compliance Period
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From September 1st through August 31st each year.
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CE Reporting Deadline
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CE credits must be reported by September 30th of each year
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Extension Requests Deadline
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If needed, written requested prior to September 1st of each year
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Online NICE Submission Form
Important: Certificate of attendance (or other proof of completion) must be included with your submission. Designees selected (at random) for a continuing education audit must be able to provide appropriate supporting documentation for their CE submissions. You are still responsible for retaining documentation to support that the submitted credits qualify for CE credit under the NICE program. See the NICE Program Manual for more information.
All online NICE submission forms require current membership.
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Course/Seminar Submission Form
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For reporting attendance at a course or other educational program*
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Speaker/Panel Participation Submission Form
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For reporting participation as a speaker or panelist for a course or other educational program
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Published Article Submission Form
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For reporting the writing of an article that has been published
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**Credits for attending the IRES Career Development Seminar, IRES MCM® programs, IRES Webinars, and IRES Foundation School are automatically reported for members and do not need to be submitted through this form.
Extension Requests
When circumstances prevent you from complying with the mandatory NICE Program requirements, you can request a one-year extension to complete and report the required hours. Complete the online Extension Request Form. See the NICE Program Manual for more information about requesting an extension.
TIP
Keep your CE on track, check the status of your submissions and avoid duplicate submissions by regularly reviewing your NICE credits in the Professional Development section of your profile.