U of S : Communications : OCN : Apr 9, 1998

Given the choice between playing Nashville or handling a University's insurance matters, most people would probably choose the former.

Not so. Nowell Seaman, manager of Insurance Services, who has done both and finally prefers the latter. What's more, he believes he has the best job on campus.

"In fact," he adds, "it's the most interesting job in Saskatchewan. Every time I pick up my telephone - and I hear from some departments weekly - the insurance problems posed are different and often complex. Solving them might involve visiting research sites on or off campus and making a judgment as to how best to facilitate the work of professors and projects within the limitations of remaining insured."

Seaman's duties include overseeing all property, crime, and liability insurance on campus, as well as the placement and management of coverage. He also develops "sound loss-protection programs" for the University.

To Seaman, wrestling with the various insurance conundrums on campus is tantamount to the challenges of a chess game.

For example: a professor in Mechanical Engineering has been invited to study the effects of microgravity aboard NASA's experimental aircraft (aka "the vomit comet"). However, the space agency does not provide insurance or accept liability for injuries. Finding a way to insure the participants as well as University interests enables the project to go ahead.

Seeking cost-effective, flexible insurance to cover the hundreds of other projects taking place in this multi-faceted institution involves many considerations, he says.

More than 350 structures

"The University owns more than 350 building structures. When you consider the widely-divergent purposes of these units - from those that exist primarily as classroom and office space to those used for experiments or that house various computer facilities - you begin to appreciate the complexity of our insurance coverage."

He says the University's deductibles vary, but on large property items it's $50,000.

"If we went with, say, a $1,000 deductible, our insurance costs could rise by as much as $250,000 a year. So for smaller items, I manage a self-insurance fund."

Through Seaman, the U of S has also become part of CURIE - the Canadian University Reciprocal Insurance Exchange, an insurance cooperative serving 45 Universities outside Quebec.

"Since [in CURIE] the Universities in effect act as their own insurance company, they share in the profits. After belonging for five years, we hope to get as much as 40% return on our premiums."

But Seaman says his greatest expenditure of time and expertise is to assist the various departments across campus with risk management problems, a responsibility he shares with Security Services, Occupational Health & Safety, and Computing Services.

"Because the worst type of risk is one you don't know about, we encourage a risk-conscious environment."

Given his earlier interests in music and drama, Seaman's interest in insurance was no foregone conclusion. He got into it by accident.

After graduating from high school, he enrolled in the School for Performing Arts in Winnipeg and landed some minor roles in local theatre and summer stock productions.

But after a year, he realized that playing his guitar - something he'd done since boyhood - had greater appeal and he formed a band called Breezin' and started playing professionally.

"You could characterize our type of music as straight ahead rock and roll. We played for clubs and colleges across western Canada, playing the local scene in Saskatchewan in the summer and moving on to the warmer climes of B.C. in the winter months."

After three or four years of this, and while practising his guitar one or two hours a day, Seaman cast about for a career with more security.

He chose an insurance brokerage firm and started a four-year program in insurance and risk management through the Insurance Institute of Canada.

"Until 1992, when the University of Calgary developed one, you couldn't take a university degree in this area in English Canada. Risk management as an area of expertise is relatively new to Saskatchewan. Our professional association is still only 25-persons strong."

Despite immediate success in the field - Seaman soon began teaching the very courses he had just taken - he couldn't resist another go at the music world.

An offer I couldn't refuse

"In 1990, the long-time lead guitarist for the Warner recording artists MidSouth quit. I got a call from the lead vocalist inviting me to replace him. MidSouth had had Grammy nominations in the past, so it was an offer I couldn't refuse. Shortly after taking a leave of absence from my brokerage firm, I found myself playing at the Grand Ol' Opry in Nashville and beginning a 40-state tour."

At first, he says life with the band was "tremendous fun."

"I remember saying to the shotgun-toting security guard at the Warner Bros. complex on Nashville's Music Row, 'Do you know many Canadian musicians would give anything to be here?' to which he replied, 'Do you know how many American musicians would give anything to be here!'"

But the endless routine became boring.

"After as long as 36 hours on the bus, you roll into town and start setting up your sound equipment. Then it's on to the performance, after which you sign autographs, take down the equipment, and get back on the bus. After a while, you begin to envy people who live ordinary lives.

"I still talk to the guys in the band every week, and I'm grateful for the experience. But I've never had delusions of stardom and as a musician, I've always known that there are no guarantees."

Seaman attributes the success he's had in the music world to two things - working hard and showing up on time.

Although he's given up thoughts of being a full-time musician, he spends some spare time doing local sessions. And of course he's part of the 10-member U of S House Band, formed for the 90th anniversary picnic last summer.

"We found that there was demand for us at many U of S functions, such as the Christmas dance and the Huskie football home opener."

- Sigrid Klaus

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