MADISON, Wis. (10/23/08)--Four new self-study courses have been developed by the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) to help credit union volunteers understand important credit union operational issues and their responsibilities as board members. The courses are part of CUNA’s Volunteer Achievement Program (VAP), which provides credit union volunteers with learning opportunities to hone their decision-making abilities. Participants also can complete exams online and receive their results immediately. The new course topics are:
* The Supervisory Committee's Role in Finding Fraud (course V304), which helps committee members keep an eye on potential risk and stay abreast of industry trends so they can spot fraud and potential fraud. The course identifies potential areas of concern, such as: cash, loans, credit cards, share draft accounts, dormant accounts, general ledger accounts, repossessed collateral, investments and the Internet; * The Basics of Risk Assessment for Volunteers (course V305), which explains how to identify risk and determine what the supervisory committee’s priorities are; * Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) for Directors (course V426), which provides a comprehensive overview of BSA, including BSA policy, risk assessment, ongoing training, and suspicious activity report filing. It also details specific board actions to stay on top of this issue; and * The Supervisory Committee's Role in Due Diligence (course V303), which outlines the details to ensure adequate transparency with third-party vendors. It also clarifies necessary ongoing communications with credit union management in regard to this process. The course is set for release in spring 2009.
VAP offers more than 40 core knowledge courses for directors in: credit union and board of director fundamentals, leadership, finance, human resources, credit committee/lending, marketing, planning, regulatory compliance, supervisory committee and technology.