Welcome to Governance+, formerly known as CCUBE! Your credentials give you access to some of the best educational materials for directors in the credit union industry, including all the governance content on CU Management magazine.
Use the learning plans below to guide your learning and increase your knowledge. Each plan will direct you to relevant videos, articles and whitepapers developed by subject matter experts. Use the plans’ end-of-session questions to help spur board meeting discussions.
Questions? Please email cues@cues.org.
Governance
Build a strong board by completing all the sections in the learning pathways below.
Learning Objectives:
- Define board governance and have a clear understanding of where the board's authority comes from.
- Discuss the nature of board work and how that work is addressed at your credit union.
- The role of the board and how fiduciary responsibilities apply to specific functions in the credit union.
- Describe the specific responsibilities of the board.
- Define board authority and accountability, as well as issues that can undermine board accountability.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand how board meeting effectiveness can impact board performance.
- Examples for improving board productivity.
- How creating better structure before, during and after meetings can help productivity.
- Discuss how the board’s focus on strategic issues impacts meetings.
Learning Objectives:
- The importance of balance, continuity and rejuvenation for your board.
- Evaluate and improve your credit union’s board renewal process.
- Assess and develop criteria for new director qualifications and develop a plan to recruit new director candidates.
- The advantages and disadvantages of term limits.
Learning Objectives:
- Define the responsibilities of board chairmanship, including establishing ethical decision-making practices, managing the CEO/board relationship, coaching, and fostering a strong board culture.
- Assess and develop criteria for board chair effectiveness.
- Evaluate and consider improving meeting facilitation.
- Discuss the advantages of board self-assessment.
Strategy
Plan for success by completing all the sections in the learning pathway below.
Learning Objectives:
- Why strategic planning should be considered an ongoing, integrated process in order to deliver the best possible value to members.
- Questions the board should consider in developing, evaluating, and adopting a strategic vision.
- What the board must consider when thinking strategically to establish the credit union’s mission, vision, and values.
- Techniques and governance practices used to maintain strategic focus and achieve long-term success.
- The role of the board in the strategic planning process.
Finance
Improve fiscal oversight by completing all the sections in the learning pathways below.
Learning Objectives:
- The role of the board and how fiduciary responsibilities apply to specific functions in the credit union.
- Nine specific board responsibilities.
- Common traps that hinder effectively meeting fiduciary responsibilities.
- Key risk management functions of the board.
Learning Objectives:
- How to read and understand a credit union balance sheet.
- How to read and understand a credit union income statement.
- Critical financial ratios and indicators the board monitors to evaluate credit union performance.
- The board’s role in developing and monitoring key performance indicators.
- How to integrate financial information into your strategic planning process.
Risk Management
Learn how to mitigate risk by completing all the sections in the learning pathway below.
Learning Objectives:
- The importance of taking reasonable risk to achieve reasonable return.
- Reasons why avoiding risk can cause harm to your credit union.
- Differentiate and explain the three separate approaches to risk management.
- Steps to managing risk/conducting a risk analysis, including what is involved in identification, assessment and mitigation.
- The board’s role in the ongoing risk management process.
- Reports board members should receive to track how well risks are managed within the credit union.
CEO Relations
Strengthen your board/CEO alignment by completing all the sections in the learning pathways below.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify key strategies to ensure a productive CEO/board working relationship.
- Steps the board must take to hire the credit union’s next CEO.
- The role of succession planning and leadership development in ensuring the board can respond promptly to replace the CEO should unexpected circumstances arise.
- Learn the components of an executive compensation program and identify the role of executive compensation in rewarding performance, ensuring retention, and providing incentives to achieve strategic goals.
- The benefits of an effective CEO performance assessment process.
Learning Objectives:
- Evaluate your role in hiring and retaining your next CEO.
- The role of benchmarking in developing a competitive compensation plan.
- Assess which intrinsic and extrinsic rewards will best attract your next CEO.
- How to align executive compensation with short- and long-term strategic objectives.
Learning Objectives:
- The steps involved in the CEO appraisal process.
- Define the board’s role in the CEO appraisal process.
- Learn how goal-setting fits into the performance management process.
- The differences between an ongoing appraisal process focusing on progress toward goals and midcourse corrections and an end-of-year review.
Learning Objectives:
- Steps the board must take when considering the hire of the credit union’s next CEO.
- How to identify the leadership competencies the board considers necessary to successfully operate your credit union.
- Negotiating a written contract with a new CEO as a standard step in the transition process.
- Establishing a decision matrix to clarify roles and authority for credit union functions and decisions.
Committees
Enhance committee effectiveness by completing all the sections in the learning pathway below.
Learning Objectives:
- The advantages a committee structure provides to the board.
- Key functions and structural components of a committee.
- Identifying various types of committees and understanding their purpose and requirements; including the nominating, governance and supervisory committees.
- The value each type of committee brings to the board and credit union as a whole.
- Define the relationship between the board and committees.
Advocacy
Better influence public policy affecting credit unions by completing all the sections in the learning pathway below.
Learning Objectives:
- Advantages of applying time and resources to credit union advocacy efforts.
- Identify elected officials and determine how to best increase their awareness of the credit union movement.
- Discuss the process of strategically developing politically influential relationships with lawmakers.
- The steps involved in preparing to meet with an elected official.
