1960 - 1980 | 1972 and Beyond
In February 2005, the National Credit Union Foundation presented to Dr. James D.
Likens the Herb Wegner Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honor bestowed
in the national credit union movement. To assist it in considering his nomination
for this award, the Foundation asked Dr. Jim to describe what he feels is his single
most significant contribution to credit unions? It should come as no surprise that
he chose Western CUNA Management School. What follows is his response written in
August 2004. He chose to refer to himself in the third person, as Jim.
After earning a B.A. in economics and an M.B.A. in management from the University
of California at Berkeley and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Minnesota,
Jim started an academic career in 1969 as an economics professor at Pomona College. Three years later he was invited to teach in a two-week summer conference for credit
union management people. It was called CUNA District 4 School. The school, by then
ten years old, was moving from UCLA to Pomona College in hopes of finding better
treatment from campus officials. Jim agreed to offer some courses. Three years later,
in 1975, he was asked to begin directing the school, which today is called Western
CUNA Management School.
Western CUNA Management School became Jim Likens’ life’s
work, his credit union legacy. For thirty years he has been at the helm of this
marvelous executive development program. Students from thirteen Western states attend
for two weeks over a three-year period. They live in the dormitories of Pomona College,
one of the nation’s elite liberal arts colleges, and take their meals in its dining
halls. WCMS has a visionary board of trustees, made up of influential credit union
executives and league presidents. All the league presidents of the thirteen western
leagues endorse WCMS and lend their support. A committed alumni association provides
invaluable backing.
When Jim began with the fledging school in 1972 its
enrollment was just over 100 students. This past summer almost 400 individuals attended and
a third-year class of 122 graduated.
Jim’s proudest achievement is creating a culture
at WCMS that embraces high academic standards while emphasizing credit union philosophy.
Today it is one of the premiere credit union organizations in the nation. To set a tone that stresses both subject content and philosophy, he has stressed "head
and heart" -- knowing the best strategy and tactics, while bringing passion and
commitment to the philosophy of credit unions and their allied institutions. The
stereotype of a banker is someone who is all head and no heart. The stereotype of
a credit union person is someone who is all heart and no head. To succeed in ever
changing and dangerous times, credit unions must combine head and heart, i.e., thinking
and feeling, intellect and passion. They must also lend a hand: work, contribute,
and pitch in. Jim encourages WCMS students to recognize that in order to be significant
they must engage in action to help others. He makes sure the school promotes service
to the credit union system.
The WCMS faculty is made up of carefully chosen professors,
consultants and credit union leaders. In addition to the classes taken for two weeks
over three years, students complete two projects. Project I, which is done between
the first and second years classes, assesses the history and current performance
of one’s credit union. Project II is undertaken between the second and third years;
it focuses on the future and entails completion of strategic plans for the credit
union.
The American Council on Education certifies WCMS for college credit. At the
school’s most recent accreditation meeting in Washington, D.C., the evaluators were
profusely complimentary about the quality of the school in every respect.
College
credit certification from the American Council on Education (ACE) helped greatly
to enhance the quality of WCMS. Following ACE certification, WCMS began to administer
an examination to every student at the end of each of the two-week sessions. Students
who perform well receive Honors and High Honors on their tests. WCMS also awards
Honors and High Honors to the very best of Project I and Project II submissions.
At the time of graduation, students who accumulate Honors or High Honors on four
out of five of the tests and projects graduate from WCMS with Honors. Their diploma
indicates this achievement. Individuals who achieve Honors or High Honors on all
five of the tests and projects graduate with High Honors, and this designation appears
on their diplomas as well. Only four times in the history of WCMS has an individual
earned High Honors on all five of the tests and projects. These four graduated with
Highest Honors and received an elegant diploma that attests to their special achievement.
At the end of every WCMS school session, Jim sends a letter to the CEO or Board
Chair of each student’s credit union describing what that student has accomplished.
If the student has earned any academic honors, that fact is noted in the letter.
These letters, of course, go into the student’s personnel file and word spreads
rapidly throughout the credit union about what has been accomplished. People enjoy
positive recognition; the honors program motivates WCMS students to study and master
the contents of the curriculum.
What matters most is not earning honors, however,
but learning and professional development. When people anticipate being tested they
listen differently, they study harder and they review more carefully. Indeed taking
the examination is itself a review. At the end of each session most students know
the answers to every question. As much as anything Jim has done, this program of
testing has transformed WCMS into a place where students work hard and are motivated
to learn
An important part of WCMS is class activities. These are planned and carried
out by the students themselves. In the face of an intentionally crowded calendar,
all the members of each class must come together to accomplish something significant:
a fund raising social event for the entire school. The funds raised are contributed
to WCMS for scholarships. These efforts are hugely successful. In the process people
learn about leadership, about teamwork, and about camaraderie. They form professional
networks and lifetime friendships. They learn to serve a cause bigger than themselves:
the credit union movement. In July 2004 a graduating class of only one hundred twenty-two
students donated over $28,000 to WCMS. The three classes combined also contributed
over $12,000 from a silent auction. The objective is not the money; fundraising
is the byproduct of developing service, commitment and leadership. This is credit
union philosophy expressed in action.
The Richard Myles Johnson Lectureship in Credit
Union Philosophy is held the first week of each school session. The 2004 speaker
was Pete Crear. Previous speakers include David Chatfield, Rudy Hanley, Lucia Moreno,
R.C. Robertson, Richard M. Johnson, Carroll Beach, Ed Callahan, Mary Cunningham,
Yolanda Wheat, Arthur Arnold, Dan Mica, and Dennis Cutter. Everyone attends; each
speaker is followed by thirty or forty minutes of Q&A. The students find these
visits inspiring, as does Jim: the payoff is loyalty and commitment to the cause
of credit unions.
WCMS students draw on their powerful WCMS experiences when they
go back to their credit unions. They are fired up: motivated and committed. The
careers of many take off: they get promoted; some are ready to become CEOs. Equally
important, many become deeply involved in credit unions service. Here are just a
few examples. Diana Dykstra held a position in middle management when she graduated
from WCMS in 1992. Today she is CEO of San Francisco Fire Credit Union, she holds
the patent for CUDL, a program to support credit union indirect auto lending, and
she is the chair of the California Credit Union League. The outgoing chair of the
California League, Frank Michael, is also an alumnus of WCMS, as was his alumna
predecessor Pat Wagner. Three league presidents, including John Annaloro of the
Washington Credit Union League, graduated from WCMS. Larry Sharp and Monica Lopez
serve on the Credit Union Advisory Committee of the California Department of Financial
Institutions. Three corporate credit union presidents attained their positions following
graduation from WCMS: they are Richard Johnson, retired CEO of WesCorp; Wayne Barnes,
now retired, who became CEO of the Utah Corporate; and David Brehmer, who is now
CEO of the Carolina Corporate.