A Direct Line Blog

By Donya Parrish, MCU VP Risk Management

We had some great discussions at the regional director training sessions last week. Thank you to those of you who were able to attend! I will be trying to share some of the topics we covered in the coming weeks, even if I can’t quite match David Reed’s energy and entertainment factor in the blog.

As you know, keeping up on all that you need to know to be an effective board member is daunting. Imagine being new to the seat and all that changes and it starts to feel like drinking from a fire hose! Here are a few of the resources you can take advantage of that are unique to credit union board members. Most are available at no charge.

• A Direct Line blog – you found it, so I hope you take advantage of this weekly post for current happenings, industry hot topics, and resources to assist you in your board role. If you want to peruse the archive of past blogs, visit the blog page. To receive a Wednesday morning email from me with the latest topic, send me an email.
• CUNA Board of Directors Community – Our national association started an online community this summer to give credit union board members a place to connect, discuss topics of concern or interest, and easily find resources. Use this guide to get started with it.
• NCUA Express – NCUA insures and regulates a majority of your credit unions. To sign up to receive their Letters to Credit Unions and keep abreast of agency notices, go to this site and scroll down to the blue box in the middle of the bottom of the page to “Subscribe to NCUA Express.” The website itself is cumbersome and confusing, but the emails provide value.
• Industry Trade Publications – There are several good publications that produce news in a daily email or a newspaper format that you can subscribe to. Whether you choose the Credit Union Times, the Credit Union Journal, CU Today, or even CU Insight, there are many ways to keep abreast of current news in the industry.

Let me know what your favorite credit union resource is, and how your board keeps up with news, regulations, and the many topics that are important to a board of directors. I can’t wait to hear what you think! Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t encourage you to visit our website to see the Resource page we keep current for you.