From the looks of it, Chuck Fagan plans for CUES to learn asmuch from credit union professionals as they will learn from theorganization. He will officially take over the helm at CUES inJanuary.

“I really want to have a collaborative environment with creditunions. I want a lot of advisory group-type feedback so we canbring what the market wants,” Fagan, currently executive vicepresident of PSCU, told Credit Union Times.

Fagan freely admitted, “I know payments. This is all newterritory.” However, he added, “I think the CEO role at CUES is inlarge part relationships. The 684 credit unions that PSCU workswith and all the others I’ve met along the way are a goodstart.”

“I plan to be very market focused…I think we have an opportunityto broaden our member-facing personnel,” Fagan said of his plansfor CUES.

Fagan has been a member of CUES since 2007 through the supplierchannel with PSCU and attended a couple of conferences. He’splanning a much deeper look at CUES’ offerings and what’s workingand what’s not.

“The great team [at CUES] is the big thing for me,” Fagan said,but right off the bat, he’ll have to fill a key role. LavonneStodola who serves as executive assistant and head of humanresources will be retiring in the next few months.

Many CEOs in the credit union community will be following inJohnson and Stodola’s footsteps over the next several years, Fagannoted. With his re-envisioning of CUES, “I think it starts with thenumber of CEOs that will be retiring in the industry. How can CUESplay a role in making sure those spots are filled by other creditunion future leaders and keeping that movement philosophy in thefamily?”

Fagan pointed out during his interview with Credit Union Timesat CUES’ CEO Executive Team Network, “This is the industry I know,working at a credit union right out of school for nine years,learning what a member was and learning from the other side fromthe PSCU perspective. The money that we spend is the members'money.”

Fagan served at PSCU under Dave Serlo. “I learned so much from him about the culture of anorganization and that the little things matter. Dave was a constantwriter of cards and note cards recognizing people throughout theindustry as well as at PSCU.”

The combined cultural background is a winning combination toFagan. “I know it’s working when you don’t have to constantly say‘people helping people,’ that it’s just embedded in what you doevery day. You see that at many credit unions, and you see it inothers where it’s not quite as strong. It’s very important for thatnext generation leader to know what that difference is.”

As such, Fagan would like to explore how CUES could expand evenfurther, such as handling HR. Credit unions’ world is changingrapidly as evidenced by increased use of third-party call centers,he pointed out, something that was unheard of in credit unions notthat long ago. He added that CUES could tap the CO-OPs, PSCUs andother players for speaker support and video vignettes to helpeducate credit union executives on near-field communications andwhat EMV is.

Other potential changes are coming in delivery as well. Budgetsare a constant challenge he noted, and using his 22-year-olddaughter as an example, he said that age group wants to learndifferently. There will always be a need for face-to-faceinteraction but the maintenance in between can come otherways.

The attitude toward online learning is changing. “In today’senvironment…you’ve got to adapt to the way people do things. If youlook through a consumer standpoint and consumers want to get whatthey want when the want it.”