The Credit Union Institute of Canada (CUIC) offers industry-recognized accreditation programs and courses that are developed jointly with credit union experts and Dalhousie University in the areas of member service, financial service, lending, business and management. Courses are offered as self-study or cohorts.
Cohorts are offered every Spring and Fall and are an engaging and collaborative learning experience where you will get to interact with the facilitator, as well as other credit union employees. When you join a CUIC cohort, you can also expect to:
The next round of cohorts begin the first week of September:
Note: CCUA Campus login is required. To request an account, contact clientsolutions@ccua.com.
- Products and Services Cohort (CUC 185)
- Credit Unions: Different by Design Cohort (CUC 201)
- Consumer and Residential Mortgage Lending CUIC Cohort (CUC 210)
- Credit Union Financial Management Cohort (CUC 225)
- Fundamentals of Personal Financial Planning Cohort (CUC 240)
- Business Lending CUIC Cohort (CUC 345)
- Agricultural Lending Cohort (CUC 346)
- Commercial Real Estate Lending Cohort (CUC 350)
- Member Service Representative Accreditation Cohort
CUIC facilitator, Rick Vaillancourt, is passionate about the benefits of learning through a cohort and says:
“Learners are fulfilled with their participation and new learnings as they become more knowledgeable and confident. Cohorts also offer flexibility to participate from wherever the learner is, at whatever time they wish. ”
Cohorts run for 12 weeks and provide skills and knowledge that can be applied directly back to the job. Cohorts are comprised of:
Weekly, asynchronous modules
Learners will be responsible for reviewing a module each week from the course study guide that can be completed asynchronously, at their own pace.
Facilitated, online, peer-to-peer discussion each week.
For CUIC cohorts, learners can interact with the facilitator or their credit union peers. Each week, faculty will post a series of questions about the weekly module. These are designed to help learners practice, explore and apply what they are learning. The faculty allow a week for learners to respond with their answers, then will post the response.
For the MSR Cohort, these weekly discussions take place with their supervisor one-on-one as the MSR works through all 6 Key Focus Areas (KFAs). Cohort Participation is worth 10% of the final mark.
Formal assignments
For the CUIC cohorts there are two, case-study based assignments that must be completed by each learner. These are submitted to faculty for marking.
For the MSR cohort, supervisors grade the MSR’s efforts based on weekly review of each Key Focus Area and grant an assignment mark.
Assignments are worth up to 40% of your final mark.
Final exam
Each learner must pass the final exam for their CUIC course with a minimum of 60%. The final exams are written and administered by Dalhousie University are worth 50% of your final mark. There are 100 multiple choice questions that must be completed within 120 minutes.
Learners can also earn digital credentials when they sign up for a free Learning Path towards an industry-recognized accreditation or designation through The Credit Union Institute of Canada (CUIC) and Dalhousie University. Learn more at www.ccua.com/cuic.
