GRAPEVINE, Texas – Credit unions in Texas have approved a plan to shrink the league board to 12 members from 15, a move it projects will save at least $50,000 annually. The vote came during the league’s annual meeting here.
Under the new board structure, the state is being divided into four regions, each of which will have one member drawn from each of three asset categories: $50 million and less; $50-$250-million, and $250-million and larger. Randy Smith, CEO of Randolph Brooks FCU and chairman of the Corporate Governance Task Force, said the asset size classifications were chosen to reflect the growth that is expected over the next decades rather than representing current asset sizes. Board members are to serve three-year rather than two-year terms, Smith said, because of the amount of information board members must deal with and the time it takes to build expertise.
The task force declined to recommend putting term limits in place. “We talked at length about whether we should implement term limits,” Smith said. “We heard a lot of pros and cons and came down on the side of no term limits. We have not had a problem at this league with homesteaders who serve on the board forever and ever.”
With the smaller board also will come a shrinking of the executive committee to five members from seven. League subsidiary Credit Union Resources will reduce its board members to seven from 11.
The plan is to go into effect in 2012.
