e-Weekly
September 2, 2009
Mica announces plan to step down as CUNA President/CEO
Dan Mica is stepping down as president and CEO of the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) effective January 2011. Mica made the announcement to the CUNA Board and executive management team on Thursday, August 27.
Additionally, Mica said, CUNA Chief Operating Officer and Chief of Staff Richard McBride is also stepping down in January 2011. McBride and Mica have been close associates for many years.
Mica commended and thanked the CUNA Boards he served with over the past 13 years as CEO, as well as each of the chair persons he served. He also commended the staff and management team of CUNA, calling them persistent, ardent and tenacious in pursuing whatever he has requested of them.
CUNA Chairman Kris Mecham said that “the board understands that this has been a tough decision for Dan. During his tenure at CUNA – longer than any other CEO – Dan has brought CUNA and the credit union movement to the highest levels of respect in Washington and nationwide. We thank him for his service.” Mecham noted that a committee will be formed to find Mica’s replacement, and that Mica will participate throughout that search.
A former five-term member of Congress, Mica represented his home state of Florida from 1979 to 1989 in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat. He assumed his duties at CUNA in July 1996. During his time at CUNA, he is credited with raising the visibility and presence of credit unions in Washington, building a powerful grassroots lobbying structure for credit unions before the Congress, and developing new and innovative products to help credit unions serve their members.
H1N1 Flu and Preparedness
Several years back, we were preparing for a disastrous event that the World Health Organization warned about called the Avian flu. That threat has never developed because the virus did not mutate to person-to-person contact. But it greatly alarmed the World Health Organization because 100% of the birds who got the virus all died as did most of the humans who caught it from close contact with birds. Had it mutated, the Avian flu could have been catastrophic, but fortunately it did not.
Instead, we the flu strain we are preparing for is less alarming because it appears to mimic regular seasonal flu symptoms with most patients recovering without medical treatment other than those over-the-counter remedies we all use for seasonal flu. Whether the H1N1 flu virus will worsen with symptoms this fall or winter remains to be seen, but the Centers for Disease Control reports that this is a new flu strain with little immunity amongst the citizenry. As a result, at the very least businesses should expect many more of its employees and members to come down with the flu this flu season.
So here we go again preparing for a potential disaster that we hope will never materialize. We want to prepare – yet we should also want it to be for naught! People still complain about all the preparation that took place for Y2K with little consequence. However, there are those who believe it was all that preparation that kept us from significant consequences. As Henry David Thoreau once said, “Never look back unless you are planning to go that way.”
The League will provide a series of articles in the upcoming weeks to help credit unions get ready for what everyone hopes will be a minor event that simply mimics a bad seasonal flu. That said, anyone who has actually had a seasonal flu understands how awfully miserable that can be! The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology reported in August that the H1N1 flu virus could infect between 30 percent and 50 percent of the American population during the upcoming fall and winter. So it is time to plan because, “He who fails to plan, plans to fail.” To start your planning, click here.
ICU Day is October 15 - materials available online
Artwork for this year's International Credit Union (ICU) Day theme "Your Money, Your Choice, Your Credit Union" and sample materials for marketing and public relations are available online from the Credit Union National Association and the World Council of Credit Unions.
Credit unions can download materials, which can be customized and include a press release, advertisement, model letter to the editor, newsletter article, proclamation, talking points, and a speech. Also, the materials are available in Spanish.
Graphics are available and include the "Your Money, Your Choice, Your Credit Union" poster. Four different logo icons and coloring pages for kids also can be downloaded.
International Credit Union Day has been celebrated every year on the third Thursday in October since 1948. On that day, credit unions offer open houses, picnics and community service events to show appreciation for their members and staff.
Click here for more information: ICU Day
http://finlit.cuna.org/icuday_buy.html
Back to school includes leave requirements for some credit unions
There are now a number of states that have provided school-based leaves of absences that allow employees to balance work/life issues revolving around school-aged children. In fact, 15 states, including nearby Massachusetts and Rhode Island, currently have such leaves.
In Massachusetts, an employer with 50 or more employees is required to provide eligible employees with a total of 24 hours of leave during any 12-month period to participate in school activities directly related to the educational advancement of a son or daughter of the employee, such as parent-teacher conferences or interviewing for a new school. Leave is unpaid; however, either the employer or the employee may elect to substitute accrued medical or sick, personal, or vacation leave for the unpaid leave. This leave, under the Small Necessities Leave Act, may be taken intermittently or on a reduced leave schedule.
In Rhode Island, an eligible employee who has been employed by the same employer for 12 consecutive months is entitled to a total of 10 hours of leave during any 12-month period to attend school conferences or other school-related activities for a child of whom the employee is the parent, foster parent or guardian. The employee may use vacation or other appropriate paid leave for any part of this leave, but the employer is not required to provide paid leave for time off under Rhode Island’s School Involvement Leave Act.
The State of New Hampshire is not mandated to provide leave for school visitation purposes, but employers in New Hampshire may choose to follow these guidelines.
For additional information, go to the individual state’s website for employers, or contact Beverly Purtell, vice president of human resource management, at bpurtell@cucenter.org.
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