CHICAGO — Credit Union Student Choice, a provider of higher education financing solutions to America’s credit unions, hosted its third annual Empower U Summit here.
Key topics addressed included analyzing loan performance to economic trends to unmasking student loan debt myths. The conference has grown each year, with more than 80 credit union representatives in attendance this year.
According to Student Choice President and CEO Scott Patterson, since first launching Empower U in 2015, the key goal of the event has been to help credit unions learn about all aspects of the higher education funding challenge faced by millions of families while amplifying the potential for credit unions to make an impact.
“We believe credit unions can be a transformative force to help members make more informed, smarter decisions surrounding this huge investment in their futures,” said Patterson. “By helping them identify new opportunities and sharing best practice insights, credit unions can do so much more in this space. Ultimately, by offering a holistic solution that helps members responsibly achieve the benefits of higher education, this can be of the most empowering forms of lending a credit union can undertake. Hence the name, Empower U.”
Speakers on this year’s Empower U agenda included noted student lending expert Sandy Baum, a Senior Fellow at The Urban Institute; Economist Dr. Bill Conerly; Pamela Horne, former Provost for Enrollment Management at Purdue University; Ryan Foss, managing director of Innovation at Filene Research Institute; Shann Grewal, vice president for leading student loan management firm IonTuition, and Gerry O’Brion, a nationally recognized marketing and branding expert.
O’Brion’s presentation, “What Big Brands Know,” proved to be a conference highlight as he used his vast marketing experience and case studies, including a highly relevant example from the financial industry, to help credit unions rethink how they compete in today’s hyper-competitive marketplace. Attendees walked away with a clear framework for developing their future business strategy.
“Providing our attendees with a diverse mix of content, delivered by true experts, has been a core principle since we first launched Empower U,” said Michael Weber, chief marketing
officer at Credit Union Student Choice. “Just like previous years, attendees once again gave us rave reviews on our speakers, and they really appreciated the ability to go in-depth on student lending while also gaining insight on higher-level credit union issues.”
For info on Empower U 2018: http://empoweru.studentchoice.org/request-information/
During the Empower U Conference,
Credit Union Student Choice also honored Chip Filson with the creation of a Scholarship Fund and presented the inaugural “Honor Roll’ Award to BCU.
Filson, co-founder of Callahan & Associates and a respected and influential leader in the credit union movement for more than 40 years, was also a founder of Student Choice and dedicated CUSO board member for nine years. In honor of his outstanding leadership and service, Student Choice created the Chip Filson Scholarship Fund. The $5,000 scholarship will be awarded to a Student Choice partner credit union, who will then be able to distribute the funds to members in the form of scholarships for higher education.
“It’s been a rewarding honor to be part of the Student Choice leadership team for the last decade,” said Filson. “Student Choice’s growing contributions to the cooperative system’s role in financing college for members is an exemplary model of the advantage of collaboration. The CUSO and its credit union early adopters were cooperative innovators. I see this scholarship fund as a small seed to nurture the network’s creation of ever-greater opportunities for members seeking fair solutions for higher education funding.”
According to Patterson, the intent is to grow the scholarship program in the future.
In addition, CU Student Choice said that to highlight the fantastic work that is being done by its partner credit unions in building and delivering innovative, fair value higher education financing programs to their members, it also announced the creation of the Student Choice “Honor Roll” Award – given to the Student Choice partner credit union that exemplifies overall excellence in higher education finance.
The inaugural recipient of this award is BCU, based in Vernon Hills, Ill. In conjunction with award, BCU will receive a $5,000 Chip Filson Scholarship which they can deliver to a BCU member in 2018.
"BCU is committed to offering best-in-class solutions for financing education that provide exceptional value to our members, their families, and the employer groups we serve,” said David Brydun, BCU’s vice president of Consumer Lending. “Through our valued partnership with Student Choice, we are able to deliver a highly differentiated experience that empowers our members with access to higher education and a lifetime of benefits resulting from their investment."