FORT WORTH, Texas – Southwest CUNA Management School has a new director and new direction, although upon closer examination, both look very familiar. Janine McBee, who worked with the program for 12 years prior to accepting other responsibilities within Texas Credit Union League's Training Resources Department for the past six years, has returned as SCMS director. “I'm excited to be back directing the school and eager to spread the word about the program being strategically positioned as the place to send future leaders for the credit union industry. Enrollment is underway now for SCMS 2006, July 16-26 at Texas Christian University's Neeley School of Business in Fort Worth, and we're targeting attendance of 50-plus for first year enrollment,” said McBee. Southwest CUNA Management School is a three-year professional development program for individuals looking to be leaders in the credit union movement. Students complete more than 190 hours of curriculum with additional hours on their own developing a strategic business plan for their credit union. Nearly 800 credit union leaders have completed the school since its inception in 1966. Instructors consist of a mix of university faculty, business consultants, and credit union industry practitioners from geographic regions across the country. The school's new direction comes from a fine tuned strategic focus, put in place by an Oversight Committee comprised of credit union league CEOs from Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Kansas. “Everything the school does now will be based around five components: advocacy (political effectiveness), asset/liability management, innovation, leadership, and strategic planning/thinking,” McBee said. “The curriculum has gone through a full review by two committees – the Oversight Committee and the SCMS Review Committee. We literally threw everything up in the air with the attitude that nothing was sacred. We're positioned to move forward.” SCMS core curriculum is financial management, with a heavy emphasis on asset/liability management. That has not changed, according to McBee. The program will, however, expand students' problem solving abilities with the addition of three different approaches to Innovation and Strategic Thinking. First year students will utilize Symphony: Orchestrating Peak Performance, a program successfully implemented by companies such as Anheuser Busch and Hewlett-Packard; second year students will utilize Filene Research Institute's i3 (Ideas, Innovation, Implementation) program which focuses on managing, leading and creating change, and third year students will utilize Scenario Planning taught by DeLania Truly of CUNA Mutual Group. Other changes/additions to the curriculum include: expanded technology and security courses, a new course on disaster recovery: lessons learned from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, greater focus on ethics, a new course on board relations, more emphasis on political advocacy and an increased focus on human resources. McBee noted that while some courses have changed, student requirements have not. The school's second and third year students will not be negatively impacted by the curriculum changes. Another exciting change, according to McBee, is the addition of John Vardallas of the AmericanBoomeR, as the school's chief evaluator/senior faculty strategist. Vardallas has a long-standing involvement in the credit union industry, including work with the World Council of Credit Unions. SCMS is designed to broaden an individual's financial industry knowledge beyond the basics and to sharpen management skills. As such, the school also sports a new tagline this year: “Developing Credit Union Leaders at the Speed of Change.” Keeping up with change involves exploring trends, challenges and innovations, McBee said. “The program is not,” she explained, “for someone wanting to know the ABCs of risk-based lending.” SCMS scholarships are available through the Texas Credit Union Foundation. The application deadline is May 12 for the July SCMS course. -

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