Conference 7.286::dcu

    
    
    Since the DCU is pursuing Total Quality Management, can we expect
    at some time in the future that we'll start seeing some customer
    satisfaction metrics to accompany the profit and loss ones?
    
    Steve
    

>     EXECUTIVE SESSION
>
>    I.       ROLL CALL AND DETERMINATION OF QUORUM

	What's so secret about the roll call and determination of quorum? :-)
	Do this first, then go to executive session...

>         - Significant increase in NET Income resulting from the sale of two
>           of the participation loan properties for more than the carrying
>           amount (book value).

	Good news! How good?

>         - Increase in Investment Income due to positive variances in
>           Reverse Repo's.

	What's a reverse repo?

>	Also, when DCU Board of Directors attend Board meetings etc., they 
>	are on Digital's time.

	So if a BoD member gets laid off (heaven forbid) he or she will
	still draw a DEC salary for the time attending DEFCU BoD meetings!
	Sounds generous, thanks Digital!
      
>     The Board agreed on the dates of November 19-21, 1992 (three nights)
>     with the location to be announced.

	Phil, got extra room in your basement?

						Tom_K

>	Also, when DCU Board of Directors attend Board meetings etc., they 
>	are on Digital's time.

	This quote, and a few others from the minutes, along with several notes
in here illustrate a minor peeve I have.  Some people (or maybe just Paul?) use
"Board of Directors", or "BoDs" to refer to the individual Directors.  The 
"board" is the whole group.  It is comprised of individual directors, not BoDs,
or Board of Directors.

Mark

    Overall the minutes are excellent and communicate well the content of
    the meeting.  I think it is an interesting point that the members of
    the Board are on DEC time while at the meeting.  The question raised
    earlier asking -- If a non-DEC employee were a Board member, would DEC
    then compensate them for the time? - is a good one.
    
    I would still like to see the use of terms like "significant" or
    "substancial" or "slight" replaced by actual figures.  These terms are
    subjective and "significant" for one, may not be for another.
    
    My compliments to ALL the members of the Board of Directors.  I must
    say that, although very sceptical at first, I am a believer again.
    
    Thank you for your commitment and time.
    
    Chuck

     EXECUTIVE SESSION

>     I.       ROLL CALL AND DETERMINATION OF QUORUM

I agree with previous that this seems unusual...

>     Mr. Kinzelman requested that the information under Executive Session
>     from the July, 1992, Board meeting, not be redacted (excluded) when made
>     available to the membership.  Mr. Kinzelman noted that the discussion in
>     Executive Session as it dealt with Personnel issues and Exit Interviews
>     and as such should be made public.  After discussing this request, a
>     vote was taken as follows:
>
>     * It was moved by Mr. Kinzelman and seconded by Mr. Gransewicz not to
>     redact (exclude) the July 28, 1992, Executive Session Minutes when made
>     available to the membership.  Two in favor; Mr. Kinzelman and Mr.
>     Gransewicz, Five opposed; Ms. Dawkins, Ms. Mann, Mr. McEachin, Mr.
>     Milbury and Ms. Ross.  MOTION FAILED.

The members appreaciate your effort and I know I will remember this when it
comes time to vote.  It is too bad that this important information is not
being shared...




>     Ms. Dawkins reviewed with the Board DCU's Financial Reports for the
>     month of July, 1992.  She noted the following:

>         - Significant increase in NET Income resulting from the sale of two
>           of the participation loan properties for more than the carrying
>           amount (book value).

Great!  I am sure we will find out in time.  


      
>         - The committee has recently observed that management has missed
>           deadlines on addressing issues in O'Rourke & Clark's Management
>           Letter.  This is caused primarily from staffing/organizational
>           structure changes which have recently taken place within the
>           credit union, but should be cleared up shortly.  The committee
>           noted that management should get back-on-track with addressing
>           these issues.

The supervisory committee should be commended in keeping things like this
in the fore front.
      

>     Mr. Kinzelman requested adding a section to the form where employees can
>     write down issues that they'd like to discuss with the Board.
      
>     Mr. Cockburn noted that the Supervisory Committee receives all reports
>     of irregularity issues but that he will inquire with General Counsel
>     about optional issues being sent to the Board.

I think the BOD should be aware of problems as they are setting various
goals and this information might be valuable.
      
>     Board of Directors' Meeting     August 25, 1992     Page - 8
      
>     c.____________  
>     d.____________

What is C and D?

	- mark

    RE: 620.2
   

>         - Significant increase in NET Income resulting from the sale of two
>           of the participation loan properties for more than the carrying
>           amount (book value).

>	Good news! How good?

	Two properties were sold with a gain of $140,589 in the month of
        July.  However, we still had a combined net loss of approximately
        $3.2M on these two loans.  So the good news is that DCU has been 
        conservate in their write-off estimates taken last year but the 
        bad news is that fraud related losses, expenses, and potential 
        exposure is not substantially better than shown in last year's
        Treasurer's report.

>         - Increase in Investment Income due to positive variances in
>           Reverse Repo's.

>	What's a reverse repo?

	A reverse repurchase is the sale of a security with the 
        simultaneous agreement to repurchase the same security on a 
        certain date in the future at a pre-determined price.

>	Also, when DCU Board of Directors attend Board meetings etc., they 
>	are on Digital's time.

>	So if a BoD member gets laid off (heaven forbid) he or she will
>	still draw a DEC salary for the time attending DEFCU BoD meetings!
>	Sounds generous, thanks Digital!

	Today, there is no policy regarding DEC employees time serving 
        in their capacity as members of the DCU Board or Supervisory
        Committee, thus, one is being proposed.  

    

    re: .6

    Thanks for the real numbers and explanations.

    Bob

>Note 620.1 by SQM::MACDONALD
    
    Steve, DCU does send out surveys (one just recently) trying to
    determine what you suggest.  We'll be getting the results of the latest
    one in a few weeks.  I've never been selected to receive one of these
    but we've been told quite a few (5000?) get sent out.  I'll fill in
    more after the presentation.
    
>Note 620.2 by TOMK::KRUPINSKI
    
>	What's so secret about the roll call and determination of quorum? :-)
>	Do this first, then go to executive session...

    You're right.  I'm sure this was just a glitch in the recording.  We'll
    keep an eye out for this in the future when the minutes get approved.
    
>	What's a reverse repo?

    	Tanya has explained it in remarkably few words.  Basically they are
    short term investments that get DCU a slightly higher rate of return
    than investing in Fed Funds.  They are very safe investments from all
    the infromation we have received.  I asked at last month's Finance &
    Investment Comm. meeting if any losses had ever been suffered (by any
    institution) on these types of investments, and the answer was no. 
    
>	So if a BoD member gets laid off (heaven forbid) he or she will
>	still draw a DEC salary for the time attending DEFCU BoD meetings!
>	Sounds generous, thanks Digital!
    
    Sorry, I don't think this is correct.
      
>     The Board agreed on the dates of November 19-21, 1992 (three nights)
>     with the location to be announced.
>>
>>	Phil, got extra room in your basement?

    Obviously you've never seen my basement!  We'll be at the Chatham Inn
    down on the Cape.  No tanning time has been allocated... ;-)
    
>Note 620.4 by BSS::C_BOUTCHER
    
>   I think it is an interesting point that the members of
>    the Board are on DEC time while at the meeting.
    
    Chuck, this issue is one that I raised.  When I ran for the Board, I
    was fully committed to making all meetings, no matter when they were. 
    I was expecting them to be after work.  But almost all the meetings
    were starting during normal DEC working hours and frequently going into
    early evening.  Since I'm 45 minutes away, there was also travel time
    on my part.  If something were to happen on the way to, from or during a
    meeting, am I covered by Digital or not?  I was extremely concerned about 
    all this work time being spent on DCU meetings and asked my Personnel 
    people about Digital's policy concerning this time and travel.  When I 
    was referred to the "Conflict of Interest" sections, I became a tad 
    uneasy given that we had been told DCU is an important employee benefit.
    It was brought to the Digital liasons and they indicated there was no
    explicit policy concerning service on the DCU Board and asked for us to
    draft one.  I drafted one and the Board approved and sent it to Digital
    for review and approval.  So now we do have a policy (or one is in the
    works).  And wouldn't you know it, somebody hit me on Rt. 3 on the way to 
    the last Board meeting!
    
    >The question raised
>    earlier asking -- If a non-DEC employee were a Board member, would DEC
>    then compensate them for the time? - is a good one.
    
    There is no requirement that people serving on the Board be Digital
    employee's.  As a matter of fact, about 25% of DCU members are not. 
    
>    My compliments to ALL the members of the Board of Directors.  I must
>    say that, although very sceptical at first, I am a believer again.
>    
>    Thank you for your commitment and time.
    
    Thanks.
    
>Note 620.5 by STAR::BUDA

>I think the BOD should be aware of problems as they are setting various
>goals and this information might be valuable.
    
    I agree.
      
>What is C and D?

    Hmmmm, I don't know.  Probably something that was redacted.  It's hard
    to remember all the way back to August, especially since there have
    been several meetings since then.
    

>     B.  Mass CUNA
>      
>     * It was moved by Mr. McEachin and seconded by Ms. Mann to elect Charles
>     J. Cockburn, President/CEO, to represent DCU at Massachusetts CUNA
>     Credit Union Association, Inc., 58th Annual Meeting and Convention on
>     October 9-11, 1992.

The minutes do not record the outcome of this motion, though I presume
it passed.

-Jeff

Oops, you are right. I believe that it passed unanimously.

  <<< Note 620.10 by PLOUGH::KINZELMAN "Two Terms, 1 in office, 1 in jail" >>>
    
    I hope that's not a personal goal.

    I believe it is one of Paul's personal goals to achieve that state of
    affairs for a certain person with the initials GHWB who will go
    unnamed.

    
    Re: .8
    
    > Steve, DCU does send out surveys (one just recently) trying to
    > determine what you suggest.  We'll be getting the results of the latest
    > one in a few weeks.  I've never been selected to receive one of these
    > but we've been told quite a few (5000?) get sent out.  I'll fill in
    > more after the presentation.
    
    Phil,  To clarify my point.  A survey is *not* a metric.  It is only
    a vehicle for gathering data that could be measured by a metric.  I'm
    suggesting a customer satisfaction metric that is expressed in 
    quantified terms much like is found in the Six Sigma program where
    any and all customer "dissatisfactions" are logged and tracked and
    the change over time is expressed as a quantity i.e. a defect rate
    of some kind.
    
    A simple example might be a defect rate determined by the number
    of "defects" divided by the number of members where what counts as
    a defect could be as simple as putting complaint/suggestion
    boxes in each DCU office or providing a phone number where those
    not near an office can call and lodge a complaint/suggestion and
    whatever gets logged via that process counts as a defect.   So,
    for example, if you logged 300 items one quarter and the membership
    was 88K the defect rate would be .0034.  Publishing that along with
    a simple update of what the DCU is currently doing to drive that
    number to zero would be impressive evidence of a commitment by the
    DCU to satisfy its membership as an ongoing part of their business.
    The point would not be to show any particular amount of improvement
    in any one quarter, but to show an ongoing effort to achieve
    incremental improvement over time.  As long as you were making progess
    on driving the rate toward zero that would be considered success.
    This would be a very appropriate thing to do within a TQM program.
    
    An added benefit would be that the membership as customers would
    see first hand what such a commitment and effort looks like to a
    customer and since most all of the members of the DCU are Digital
    employees, Digital might benefit by its employees seeing how
    supporting a similar effort in Digital would be good for us all.
    
    fwiw,
    Steve
     

	Re. .11, .12

	I thought it was a reference to a Mangone. Paul?

    RE: 620.1 and 620.13

    The DCU has set measureable customer satisfaction as well as
    financial goals.  DCU's five year goals are shown below:

    1)  Meet and exceed financial needs of members, as measured by
        continuous improvement in member survey results evaluating:

	a.  Reliability
        b.  Responsiveness
        c.  Assurance
        d.  Empathy
        e.  Tangibles

    2)  Ensure financial soundness of the credit union, as measured
        by NCUA's rating system:

	a.  6.5% capital ratio or better
        b.  Asset quality rating of 1 or 2
        c.  Management rating of 1 or 2
        d.  Earnings rating of 1 or 2
        e.  Liquidity rating of 1 or 2


  These 5 year goals were shared with the entire DCU staff last May 
  along with DCU's mission statement and values.  Like Phil said, a
  survey was done last year (for both DCU members and employees) and
  another one is in process so that we can evaluate continuous 
  improvement in customer satisfaction.
    

    re: .15
    
    Tanya,
    
    Could you or someone explain these in more detail?
    
    Thanks,
    
    Bob
    
    >	a.  Reliability
    >   b.  Responsiveness
    >   c.  Assurance
    >   d.  Empathy
    >   e.  Tangibles

    

Re: .11, .12
No, it was a reference to the presidential election. I should change it now
that the election is over. Sorry for the rathole. :-)

Re: .5 concerning redacted "C" and "D"
They both had to do with DEC's plans concerning plant closings because
if there's a DCU branch in a plant about to close, DCU needs to know to plan
for what to do with the DCU branch.
The sections are redacted to protect confidential Digital
information disclosed at the meeting. Lest you be concerned, I've not heard
about any plant closings beyond the closings that have already been publicized.

    RE: 620.16

    The definitions of DCU's Service goals previously stated are
    listed below:
    
    1)  Reliability is a measure of the ability to provide the service
        dependably, accurately, and consistently.
    
    2)  Assurance is the feeling of trust and confidence one has in
        the organization's ability to do the job.
    
    3)  Tangibles are the things customers can see and touch such as
        the cleanliness of the office, the arrangement of furniture,
        the readability of publications.
    
    4)  Empathy is the way in which service is delivered by people
        within the organization.
    
   5)  Responsiveness is the willingness of the organization to
       provide service and assistance to customers.  This includes
       hours, office locations, services provided, etc.
    

    re: .19
    
    Where does competitive rates on loans and investments fit into the
    picture?
    
    Bob

    
    Re: .15
    
    > The DCU has set measureable customer satisfaction as well as
    > financial goals.  DCU's five year goals are shown below:
    >
    > 1)  Meet and exceed financial needs of members, as measured by
    >    continuous improvement in member survey results evaluating:
    >
    >	a.  Reliability
    >    b.  Responsiveness
    >    c.  Assurance
    >    d.  Empathy
    >    e.  Tangibles
    
    
    Tanya,  This is a step in the right direction.  Just a couple of
    questions:
    
    		o How do financial needs have to do with these criteria?
    
    		o How did you determine that these criteria are the ones
    		  which customers care about?
    
    Steve
    

RE: 620.21    
    
>    Tanya,  This is a step in the right direction.  Just a couple of
>    questions:
    
>  		o How do financial needs have to do with these criteria?
    
>    		o How did you determine that these criteria are the ones
>    		  which customers care about?
 

Steve, I don't know how the DCU management team came up with its criteria. 
I do believe, however, that the member/employee surveys are an effective
tool to help understand what members do care about and what types of 
services they expect.

IMO, financial needs are met in a number of ways.  Centralizing the loan 
function, enhancing loan and savings products/pricing, as well as selling 
credit union services through branches, information center and direct 
marketing programs are a few examples.
    

    
    Re: .22
    
    > Steve, I don't know how the DCU management team came up with its
    > criteria. 
    
    OK, then I would suggest that we ask why they settled on these criteria
    to be sure that they are the things that customers specifically said
    are the important things and not what the DCU management thinks are
    important.  First please don't think that I am criticizing the DCU
    here, but only interested in seeing that they clearly separate how they
    see things from how customers see things and that they measure
    themselves from the customers point of view and not theirs.
    
    
    > I do believe, however, that the member/employee surveys are an effective
    > tool to help understand what members do care about and what types of 
    > services they expect.
    
    I don't think that we are in disagreement here, but that perhaps my
    point is not fully clear yet.   Surveys certainly can be very
    effective, but simply asking you what want does not tell me whether I
    am actually delivering it.   That requires measurement.  Which, it
    seems, they are attempting to do. That is good news.  What is not clear
    is whether the things they propose to measure are precisely the things
    that customers measure.  If the DCU measures the wrong things, they can
    led to think that that they are doing very well while Rome burns out
    from under them.
    
    Steve