Education and Strategic Planning - Vital Board Responsibilities

Twice a year the UFirst Board of Directors spends an extended period of time meeting with the management team and a professional facilitator. This semi annual planning and educational sessions took place last week on Friday afternoon and evening, 6/27 and Saturday morning 6/28. The UFirst Board is a volunteer group of people who come from a variety of backgrounds (see Board Profiles). Each of us brings our own areas of expertise, gifts and talents but we are not experts in financial institutions. Each member takes our board responsibilities seriously and so we spend time reading information provided by our NCUA examiners, the management team, our consultants and other credit union professionals.  This material along with educational and planning sessions help us to develop the knowledge we need to fulfill our role as responsible board members. We have been fortunate to have Phil Frani to assist us. His background in bank management and knowledge of credit union operations through his work with the Credit Union Association of New York has provided us with invaluable guidance for over five years. This year Phil provided us with an outline for understanding the concept of Asset Liability Management as well as helping us to formulate our strategic plan.

NCUA, the government regulator for all credit unions, recently revamped their examination process to emphasize areas that they believe are critical to credit union operation. One of these areas is Asset Liability Management. All credit unions are required to have an ALM Committee made up of both board members and credit union management. This committee is requred to report to the board on a regular basis, so the entire board must have a clear understanding of ALM. As you might imagine, this is not an easy concept to grasp. It requires an understanding of how all parts of the credit union operation work together in balance: Capital, Income, Loans, Shares, Assets and Liabilities. It is in this balance and the management of each component separately and together that our credit union remains on firm financial footing. The board spent Friday afternoon and evening reviewing these concepts as they apply to UFirst.

Saturday morning was spent reviewing our strategic plan which has become a working document for our credit union. We began by reviewing the credit union financial reports. In addition we examined and discussed a variety of products and services which we plan on initiating during the next year. I'm certain if you asked each member of the board they would tell you that we emerge from these sessions revitalized in our commitment to the success of UFirst and the financial health of our members.