Participants from nine credit unions recently graduated from CU*Answers’ first annual Building Solutions as a Co-Op Boot Camp. Over the course of a year, enrollees spent a total of 8 days working with CU*Answers insiders to gain a perspective on how the cooperatively owned CUSO designs and builds products and solutions, and the processes that govern its approach.
The diverse group of CU employees, whose titles range from eSolutions Manager to COOs and a CEO, brainstormed with CUSO data architects around the concepts that turn ideas into working technical solutions. “I had no idea how complex the process of design and build for the CU*BASE® system was,” said Robert Shane, COO at Preferred Credit Union. “All credit union executives should regularly train in the process of finding solutions; creatively and effectively working as a team to identify a solution that is functional for all areas of an organization.”
Of the original eleven participants, nine attended all four sessions, completing all homework assignments required to graduate, each receiving an iPad Pro for their work. As part of their final assignment, the group worked together to create a spec for a new project crowdsourcing tool, designed to allow credit unions within the CU*Answers network to vote on what projects the CUSO should work on next. They also created guides for credit unions looking to complete a custom programming project with CU*Answers.
CU*Answers CEO Randy Karnes said: “The first year of the Solutions Boot Camp was a great success and the group has laid the groundwork for a new tool to increase credit union participation in the development process here at CU*Answers. As we introduce a new group of participants with the second Solutions Boot Camp, we will continue to work towards full scale design and deployment of this new collaborative function.”
The graduates included: Angela Szatkowski, COO, Alpena Alcona Area Credit Union; Curtis Onofri, Consumer Loan Manager, Pathways Financial CU; Deb Bauer, Director of Members Services, Frankenmuth Credit Union; Deb Slaves, eSolutions Manager, Honor Credit Union; Kevin Finneran, EVP, Diversified Members Credit Union, Lindsay Beyer, Online Services Project Manager, Fox Communities Credit Union; Nick Montie, CEO, Thunder Bay Area Credit Union; Reid Lundeen, VP of Operations, FedCOM CU; and Robert Shane, COO, Preferred Credit Union.