LAS VEGAS-Credit Union Journal asked attendees of the National Directors' Convention here, "What is your opinion of the state of director education and the reading of financial statements? What education have you taken?"
Odis Buxton, director,
Five Star CU, Dothan, Ala.
I think it is working well. In Alabama we have educational seminars that are given by the (League of Southeastern States). I have been to so many classes in the last 10 years I can't name them all, but I am well prepared.
Wayne Warfel, CEO,
Wichita FCU, Wichita, Kan.
I have a good board. Our directors are able to read financial statements. Several of our directors were in the financial field so they were pretty much up to speed already before the rule. The others were not unhappy about having to take the training.
Richard Lemoyne, director, Michigan First CU, Lathrup Village, Mich.
The new board members are going to need some of that education, and it is going to help. With directors of my age or tenure who have a financial background, we were already prepared. The new ones will have to learn credit union terminology and all the acronyms we have. I was in internal audit and accounting before I became a board member, and I've taken training since I came on board.
Sheryl Goodman, director,
UNCLE CU, Livermore, Calif.
The rule is so new it probably will take a while to reach the goal of having all board members fully trained. Our board is pretty savvy. We have quite a few people who are in the financial arena. I am an MBA, and we have two other MBAs and a PhD, plus we have the former finance director for the city.
Judy Mahaffey, director,
Chattanooga Federal Employees CU, Chattanooga, Tenn.
The rule is improving the quality of board members. We wanted to have more education-the more the better-because the decisions we make affect every member of our credit union. I just retired from the Postal Service and my job was managing the financial and HR portions of the Chattanooga Post Office. I did training even before it was required, usually workshops at conferences such as this one.
