SOUTH BEND, Ind. — During an address at the Big Ten Credit Union Conference held at the University of Notre Dame, NCUA Vice Chairman Rodney Hood announced his "Blueprint for 2020″ Initiative to bolster the bonds between colleges and credit unions.
Calling his new initiative the "Blueprint for 2020: A Plan to Strengthen the Future of Credit Unions," Hood stated, "I would like to work with a group of credit union and university leaders to develop a program that fosters future credit union leaders."
He noted that as the Baby Boomers retire, there will not be enough Gen X and Y candidates to replace them. "While hedge funds and private equity are the careers du jour, America's financial services providers will need dedicated professionals in marketing, operations, accounting, risk management, compliance, and sales in order to remain viable, sustainable, and competitive," Hood remarked during his speech.
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"I intend to convene an informal study group of college officials and credit union leaders to draft a framework that can be used to attract well-trained and highly competent new credit union employees, board members, supervisory committee members and credit committee members," he said.
Vice Chairman Hood credited Campus Federal Credit Union President/CEO John Milazzo, in Baton Rouge, La., and Georgia State Federal Credit Union President/CEO Tyrone Burke with helping to inspire the idea. Campus FCU had used an intern in some of its strategic planning while Georgia State used an accounting student, according to Hood.
"What we at Campus Federal have done is we use [Louisiana State University] as a resource," said Milazzo. The credit union takes on interns who actually earn school credit in addition to a stipend and a good r?(C)sum?(C) experience. From Milazzo's perspective, "It also gets them introduced to what credit unions are all about and what opportunities there are in credit unions." He emphasized that what Campus Federal has done can really be adopted anywhere and credit unions can use interns across various disciplines.
Campus Federal is also about to roll out a remedial skills program with Baton Rouge Community College. He noted that credit unions and other financial institutions have trouble obtaining entry-level employees and then they need basic training. Students learn basic money handling and other skills, taking the credit union or other institutions the graduates decide to work for, out of the training.
In Hood's mind, participants in this 2020 Initiative would include credit unions with accredited colleges and universities in their fields of membership with the goal of creating credit union internship and mentoring opportunities for college students; strategic consulting projects for MBA students on timely issues; establishing relationships with representatives from college career planning and placement offices to participate in career fairs; creating programs, symposia and curricula for students to receive academic credit while interning at credit unions; providing low-income designated credit unions with contributions to pay for summer interns; and cultivating new board members, supervisory
committee, and credit
committee members for the credit union system.
Hood noted in a follow-up interview that the credit union community is losing a lot of critical people and he sees it as a potential safety and soundness issue. "[The initiative] is something I'm excited about because I think it really strengthens the future of credit unions," he said.
He pointed out that banks often have long-standing relationships with colleges and universities and are invited to their career fairs whereas credit unions have not been as involved. Hood hopes that the initiative will help credit unions "come up with a pool of future leaders, future employees for credit unions."
Some credit union leaders have been working on similar efforts within their institutions and the point of the working group is to create a roadmap for others "so no one would have to reinvent
the wheel."
No date has been set yet to get this working group up and running. "We're looking now to involve stakeholders and to give it some structure," Hood said. He said he would like 12 to 14 college-affiliated credit union leaders in the working group, but the results "can be applied to any credit union."
The vice chairman said that Duke University Federal Credit Union President/CEO Lee Fogle had already expressed a strong interest in the initiative. "We've had interns in the past," Fogle said of his credit union, "where they shadow management around and learn the operations." He also said that the business school performed a study for Duke University FCU providing strategic ideas on how to better serve their members regarding locations, ATMs, and convenience. The credit union implemented some of the ones that were relevant to credit union operations. Fogle also pointed out that the current chief operating officer came from Duke through an
MBA internship.
Use of the "blueprint" would depend on the credit union, Fogle advised. "We do not have a management development program here. We're too small," he said of the $77 million asset credit union. While Duke University FCU may not pursue it, he definitely sees a value and any credit union really could use it depending upon how its resources are allocated. He hypothesized it would probably have to be a larger credit union.
Hood suggested that progress could be measured by tracking the percentage of career fairs involving credit unions; the number of internships at credit unions; membership growth among Gen Y-ers; and the number of new employees with core competencies for the future financial services landscape.
"I care about risk management and safety and soundness and I think this project in and of itself will help mitigate risk," Hood concluded.
NCUA is walking the walk and working with colleges and universities to cultivate its own new staff as its workforce ages. The agency also recently held a graduation ceremony for its management
development program.
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