Graduation day has arrived for some lucky credit union professionals.

The National Credit Union Foundation has recently wrapped up its credit union development education training resulting in 47 credit union professionals becoming Credit Union Development Educators.

The Spring DE training was held April 29-May 6, 2015 at the Lowell Center on the University of Wisconsin campus in Madison, Wis.

One of the largest classes yet, the Spring 2015 DE graduating class not only included credit union professionals from across the United States but also Trinidad and Tobago.

DE Training provides critical lessons in cooperative principles, credit union philosophy and international development issues while incorporating challenges credit unions face today.

During the recent week-long program, participants were involved in group exercises, field trips and discussions with speakers from around the credit union system.

In addition, students are required to complete team projects to provide solutions to help alleviate or eliminate challenges in any given area. The recent graduates' final case studies, had participants tackling critical credit union issues ranging from opening an Islamic banking center, board development and recruiting including the debate over compensation, and credit union solutions to predatory lending, to providing microfinance to women in Africa, building member engagement for growth, and a small credit union merger dilemma.

“The strength of the DE program is growing, and we are excited to have already filled up the Fall DE program,” said Lois Kitsch, Spring DE Training co-facilitator and national program director for the Foundation. “We will soon open registration for the 2016 DE Training sessions.”