MADISON, Wis. – Credit union volunteers can find out how to create viable strategic plans in a challenging economy during the first of several upcoming audio conferences offered by CUNA.

During the Board Scenario Planning for a Challenging Economy audio conference on April 28, board members will discover what information to pay attention to in order to create, adapt, or reconfigure their strategic plans in a viable way. This session will identify trends of savings and loan activity, weigh the influence of future economic events on growth patterns in 2009, and analyze and establish standards against which credit union performance can be measured.

Board Scenario Planning for Developing and Maintaining an Effective Collections Department, taking place May 5, examines successful and effective credit union collections programs with member service as the centerpiece. This operationally focused session will also provide creative tools for assisting members in financial need while creating a more efficient collections process.

Working Your Portfolio Using Loan Modifications in This Economy walks attendees through underwriting practices and creative ways to minimize the effects of charge offs, repossessions, and bankruptcies. This May 11 audio conference will also feature success stories from credit unions that are using loan modifications to help the member during a financial crisis.

On May 14, learn about check hold time frames and how they can be used to help protect the credit union from fraud during Regulation CC: Check Holds and Other Checking Account Issues. This offering also covers holds on cash, Check 21, notices, disclosures, stop payments, and more.

Delinquencies and Loan Loss Reserve Funds on May 18 offers regulatory perspective on how to adequately and fairly fund a credit union’s allowance for loan and lease losses account. The impact of the current economy on lending and collections will be discussed, along with the importance of loan portfolio diversification.

Finally, credit union professionals can ask and get answers to their most pressing compliance questions during Pressing Credit Union Compliance Issues on May 21. The conference will address the most popular hot-topic issues – as determined by feedback received from credit unions. Participants can help build the agenda by e-mailing their questions to cucomply@cuna.coop before the conference.

For more information, go to training.cuna.org, and click the “Audio Conferences” link