ATHENS, Ga.–The Southeast Regional Credit Union Schools (SRCUS) is reporting two student groups have been recognized for outstanding white papers during the 2021 session of the Southeast CUNA Management School.
The SRCUS reported the “Excellence in 3rd Year White Paper” was awarded to Bridgett Griffin, Enrichment FCU (Kennesaw, Ga.); Tracey Linder, Purdue FCU (West Lafayette, Ind.), and Gretchen Lino and Stacie Reed of IBM Southeast Employees CU (Marietta, Ga.) for their research on “Voice Banking Technologies.”
“With such a dramatic increase in consumer usage of voice technology, their study of how this technology can be implemented by credit unions provided a timely and thorough overview of the development of voice banking technology, security and privacy concerns, the member experience, and research on current financial institutions usage of voice technologies,” the SRCUS said.
The white paper also detailed recommendations for credit unions to consider as they move forward with implementation of voice banking technology, including conducting focus groups, ensuring sound project management, providing training for employees, and deploying the new technology to members, according to the organization.
The group concluded “voice banking technology is here to stay” and recommended that “credit unions need to implement these new technologies into the products and services offered to members” in order to remain in the forefront, the SRCUS said.
The “Best 3rd Year White Paper Presentation” was awarded to Margie Burton, Associated Credit Union (Norcross, Ga.); Lisa Cox, CORE Credit Union (Statesboro, Ga.); Amber Crisp, Anderson FCU (Anderson, S.C.) and Crow Hunter, Peach State FCU (Lawrenceville, Ga.) for their presentation on employee engagement.
Importance of ‘Engagement’
“Credit unions’ primary focus is on the betterment of members, but it is important that credit unions ensure that employees remain engaged and satisfied with their credit union’s culture so that they can continue to provide the best possible member experience,” SRCUS said. “Based on the white paper written by the group, ‘Happy Employees, Happy Members: Improving Employee Engagement to Perfect the Member Experience,’ the group’s presentation detailed the importance of having an actively engaged workforce and how this translates into an even better member experience, the organization reported.
In addition to highlighting credit union success stories, the group provided sound recommendations that will help guide credit unions as they work to transform the culture of their organization and improve employee engagement, SRCUS said.
Southeast CUNA Management School students must complete a white paper research project prior to returning for their third year of the program. The white paper project requires students to form teams of two to four students that will work together to identify their topic of choice. The teams must involve students from at least two different credit unions to promote greater opportunities for collaboration and problem solving across credit unions.
Purpose of Project
SRCUS said the purpose of the project is to present current research, analyses, and proposed solutions for an issue affecting the credit union industry or an opportunity/decision that many credit unions are currently facing or will face in the future. The papers are submitted prior to school for grading and students must earn a passing score. Additionally, students are required to present their papers to their peers during the school’s program.