Certificate Programs

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I Register/Log in

View a demonstration of these instructions by clicking here.

How do I get a Student ID and Password?
To secure a unique Student ID and Password, start at http://training.cuna.org and click CPDOnline under log in (left hand side of screen). Click New Student Registration. Enter your PIN. You will be taken to a reg. form that will ask for items such as name, credit union or organization, e-mail, Student ID & Password (you choose what works for you, but it must not exceed 20 characters for the Student ID; 12 for the Password), training monitor name/phone, and accredited grade release information. Click "Register" at the bottom of the screen. Now you're ready to train online!

Returning users log in with their Student ID and Password.

Does each trainee require their own Student ID and Password, or can we secure one Student ID and Password for the entire credit union?
YES. Please note that each student will require a unique Student ID and a Password to view their individual transcript (the password does not need to be unique). Also, it is imperative that an individual uses the same Student ID and Password each time so their records reside in one transcript.

What if the Student ID I choose is taken?
For any one who selects a Student ID and gets a prompt that the ID is already taken, they will have to select another one. You may want to consider inserting your middle initial or adding a number to the end (e.g. jsmith35).

What is the maximum number of characters that can be typed into the Student ID field?
The maximum number of characters that can be keyed into the Student ID field is 20 and the maximum for the Password field is 12. Students may use any combination of numeric and alphanumeric characters, but should avoid using symbols such as !..#...$...%...&..*.

What if I forget my Student ID & Password?
If you have misplaced this information, please e-mail or call us, and we'll reset it. Please note: for security purposes, if you send an e-mail requesting this information, be sure to include your first and last name, credit union, and who you have listed as the contact person at the credit union. You may also create a new password by clicking on 'Forgot Your Password/Student ID.'

Are Social Security Numbers required for online training?
Yes, this information is required to ensure the confidentiality and consistency of student transcripts. Also, CUNA CPD allows you to view your online activities as well as print-based and face-to-face activities on one transcript. Since online activities actually occur on a separate database, the social security number is needed as a unique identifier that allows the two databases to talk to each other and merge your records together. CUNA holds this data in strict confidence, and personal information such as this is not shared with anyone either inside or outside the organization.

What is a CUID?
A CUID refers to your Credit Union Identification Number. You may search for your CUID and change your credit union information as necessary through your Personal Information screen. Other organizations will be assigned an identification number as necessary.

Is the system cap sensitive?
Your Student ID is not case sensitive, however, the Password is. We recommend you use lower case letters for both to avoid confusion.

If you have any questions or problems, please contact your Information Technology department.

Computer Requirements

What computer specifications are required?
In order to take full advantage of web-based training activity, we recommend the following minimal computer specifications.

200 MHZ - Pentium Processor
32 MB RAM
1.2 GB Hard Drive
SoundBlaster Compatible Multimedia System with external speakers
SVGA Monitor
28.8 Modem Software
Please note: your Cipher Strength should be set to 128-bit

Optimized Screen Resolution:
Screen resolution is the number of little boxes of color called pixels your monitor can show at one time. There are 3 main screen resolutions:

• 640 x 480 – Very basic screen resolution, minimum desktop area
• 800 x 600 – Most common, good desktop area, medium resolution.
• 1024 x 768 – Most desktop area, high resolution, but you must have a good video card to view. Text and images appear much smaller with this setting.

If you have difficulty viewing the screens in full, consider changing to a higher screen resolution.

Software Required:
WIN95 or higher, Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher (Use of Netscape 4.0 or AOL may cause text formatting problems)

STAR Courses Only:
In order to take full advantage of the sound, animation, and graphics included in the courses, we ask that you download the following free web plug-ins. Some of these may already be located on your computer. You may download these yourself, or you may prefer to have your IT/IS department assist you with this.

Adobe PDF Reader
www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html
Flash
www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download

If you have any questions or problems, please contact your Information Technology department.

Cost

Is CUNA Center for Professional Development (the learning management system) free of charge?
There is no fee to access and use CUNA CPD. We are providing this service to you as an enhancement to our training programs. We think you will find this training tool to be very advantageous in streamlining employee development procedures.

What is the cost for an online training course?

STAR	$35
RegTraC	$35
CUAdvance	$35
MERIT	$35

What is the cost for an online exam only?

STAR	$24.50
MERIT	$29.50
VAP	$24.50
RegTraC	$24.50

What is the fee for retaking an exam?
Retakes of failed exams will be $10 each. Retakes are not recommended, or necessary, for those who pass an exam. If a student chooses to retake an exam they have already passed, they will be charged the original fee paid for the first attempt.

Can a credit union purchase a "membership" for CPD online?
Yes! Credit unions are able to obtain a membership for CPDOnline which will include more than 160 courses during 2006. This includes unlimited access to the courses, and note that each exam must be purchased separately. CPDOnline memberships will run on an anniversary month basis (ex: February '06 - February '07), and is the most economical option.

How will I be invoiced?
Using the information supplied by the student, including the credit union name and CUID number, your credit union will be invoiced within 30 days of the student's online course or exam. The invoice will go to the attention of Accounts Payable. For questions regarding your invoice, contact Jackie Sather, at Credit Union National Association, 1-800-356-9655, ext. 4072.

Additional online training courses will be developed in the near future based on your needs and interest. Feel free to send your suggestions training@cuna.coop.

Does CUNA offer any sort of tuition assistance in conjunction with their online programs?

Yes! CUNA is proud to offer the CPDOnline Small Credit Union Discount.

Can a credit union return paper tests and test online?
To return unused materials, please follow these procedures:

1. Return should be made within 30 days.
2. Packing slip and/or invoice must be included. (note: these help verify the date of the order and ensures that if exams are being returned, they are the additional exams and not the comp exams that come with each course.)
3. Returns are accepted as long as the item is in re-salable condition.
4. Please process returns through your state credit union league (except AL, AK, CA, NV, OH, OK, PA, and TX - contact CUNA direct).

Features and Benefits

Where do I find the courses and exams?
Courses/exams can be found on the course catalog. To view the catalog, first login to the system. Users who are not currently enrolled in a course ("Work-in-Progress") will see the full catalog listing on their screen. Students who have at least one course in progress will see their transcript. From the transcript, you can select 'Catalog' to view the catalog.

How long does it take to complete an online course?
The length of time to complete a course may vary based on several variables, including the speed of the Internet connection, the complexity of the course, and the student's understanding of computers. However, on average, a student should allow 2-3 hours to complete a course.

How long do I have to take an online exam?
Once you open the exam, you will have two hours to complete it. After that the server will lose its connection and you will have to re-take the exam, but you are only invoiced once. A time limit had to be set in order to avoid stressing the database with active exams. However, please take into consideration your local ISP time limits. Many are set at 15 minutes and if you stop to assist members, you may be disconnected within that time range.

What editions of exams are available online?
We will post test questions from the most current edition exam, plus we now have the capability to keep the past edition posted. For example, when an exam moves into fourth edition, we will post those test questions, and leave the third edition test questions posted for a limited period. It is important for students to choose the correct edition of the exam that corresponds with the edition of the course they are using.

Can a student Bookmark a spot in the online training course and return at a later date?
Yes. Each time that you login to CUNA CPD online training, you will see a list of the courses that you are currently working on (or the course catalog if you have no work-in-progress). Each active course will display the chapter, and section where you ended. When logging out of a training course, select "Log Off" to ensure that your progress has been recorded. Each student has 60 days to complete a course and the subsequent exam. Access to the course will cease after 60 days has expired. If special circumstances should occur, please contact CUNA CPD via the ‘Contact Us’ option or call us at 1-800-356-9655, ext. 4072.

What happens if the student's computer crashes while they are working on the course or exam?
The invoicing procedure is triggered at the time of purchasing an exam or course. If the training experience is interrupted, no grade will be generated. Return to your transcript and reselect the course from your "Work-in-Progress" to being the exam again.

Please do not use arrow keys to maneuver through the exams.

We have found that using the arrow keys on your keypad to move up and down the screen will actually change your answers to test questions; therefore, please use your mouse to scroll over the slide bar on the right side of your screen when moving around in the exams.

Will the exercises and exams be graded automatically?
Yes. One of the advantages of web-based training is its ability to use features that are inherent to computers to make the process of grading tests easier. After taking the final exam, the results will be displayed on-screen within a few seconds/minutes of completion. A page listing the number of each question and whether it was answered correct or incorrect will also be displayed. We ask that each student print the final page as a record of the online training activity.

If you are unable to print the grade notification for any reason, your Pass/Fail grade will appear on your online transcript immediately, or you may request a transcript from CUNA CPD. The staff of CUNA CPD will be unable to provide you with the page listing of questions and whether they were answered correctly or incorrectly, so please use one of the following suggestions to obtain this data:

1. Write down the incorrect question numbers.
2. Bring a diskette to the training room and perform a screen print (Ctl-Print Scrn) when the grade notification is displayed. Open your word processing software (ex: WORD), right click and select Paste. You can then name and save this document to your diskette and print it off elsewhere.

What happens if a student discovers that they have failed an exam, can the student immediately take the exam again?
There are no security mechanisms in place to stop a student from completing any of the online courses or exams as many times as they want. Each purchase of the course exam will immediately generate an invoice. Please note, we will invoice the credit union $10 for any exam retakes, and to avoid billing problems, we ask that the training manager establish guidelines which require staff to meet with them before completing a second exam.

NOTE: No retakes should be taken until the individual verifies that the previous failing exam has hit their transcript.

What is the proper protocol for retaking an exam?
If someone fails an exam, they can repurchase it from the course catalog. The system will auto-check to verify it is a retake and will display the $10 retake fee to the individual. After confirming the purchase, an invoice will be generated.

Can students check their transcripts online?
YES, they can. After logging in to CUNA CPD, click on 'Transcript'. Students also have the option of printing a 'printer friendly' version if they wish (click on Reports). Your transcript will include all courses, certificates, and face-to-face activities you have completed through CUNA CPD.

Can students print their transcripts?
Yes, click on the Transcript button to view your transcript. You may also click on Reports to print your transcript if a print friendly format (click on Printable Transcript). If you need an official transcript for a college or other institution, you must still contact CUNA & Affiliates directly.

What information will be included in a student’s printable transcript?
Their name, credit union name, CUID, courses completed, date completed, pass/fail status, and certificates awarded.

How do I forward my online grade screen to my supervisor?
After completing your exam and viewing your score, there are four options you may choose from to forward your grade results to your training manager.

1. File, Print (necessary number of copies), and forward to your supervisor.
2. File, Send – choose page by email, key in your supervisors email, and you may want to send yourself a copy too.
3. Click anywhere on the page of your grade results. Do a Ctrl A, Ctrl C, then go into Word, PC Paint, or your email package, and do a Ctrl V. This will paste a copy of your grade results into your selected program.
4. File, Save and save in Word.

Credit Union Administrators

What is a credit union administrator?
A credit union administrator or training monitor/manager is someone in charge of monitoring the training of employees at the credit union. Rights can be established that allow the administrator to view student transcript activity, as well as current work in progress.

How are administrator rights established?
After you have registered onto the system as a student, just e-mail us at CPDOnline@cuna.coop and request that your rights be established. Your rights will be set up and you will be notified when these options are available to you. To obtain step-by-step instructions for the administrator features on the system, click on the link listed below:

Step-by-Step Instructions for Administrators (PDF)

How many administrators can we have?
At this point there is no limit to the number of administrators allowed for a credit union. Keep in mind that these individuals will have access to all student grade information and these rights should be limited to those who would normally have access to this information. Also, each administrator has access to records of all students within the credit union. We cannot “assign” certain students to specific administrators.

As an administrator, how do I view a transcript for an individual?
Click on Student Administrator and then either List Students or Search. ‘List Students’ will list all students at your credit union you have activity on our system. From that list you can click on ‘Transcript’ or ‘Printable Transcript’ to view and/or print their transcript. ‘Search’ will allow you to look for one particular student. After querying for that particular student, you can then either view and/or print their transcript.

As an administrator, how do I view a transcript for the entire credit union?
Click on Reports and then Global Transcript Report. Fill in the appropriate parameters for the information you are requesting and click See Report. Parameters include: Courses and/or Certificates, Paper-based and/or Online activity, date range, and program selection (ex: STAR, MERIT, VAP, VLP, etc.)

Note: If your parameters include a large amount of data, the report may take a few minutes to run. Please be patient – do not try to resubmit the report. This may cause a slow down in the system.

As an administrator, do we need to load our students into the system?
An administrator can load their students into the system if they wish, however, standard practice would be for the students to register themselves. If you elect to set the records up ahead of time, you will need their Social Security Number and you’ll have to set a Student ID and Password for them.

Can a student be deleted or deactivated from the database?
If the Credit Union Administrator calls and requests that we deactivate a student, we will change their 'ACTIVE' status to 'INACTIVE' blocking them from entering the system; however, we do not delete any statistical information. This activity cannot take place without a telephone call or e-mail to CPDOnline@cuna.coop.

Do state leagues receive reports indicating the employees at credit unions who have taken exams online?
With the implementation of CUNA CPD, leagues are now able to view these reports online. Go to the Reports menu and select Global Transcript Report. To get a full report of league online activity for the past month, just leave the CUID information blank to obtain all CU information, click on STAR, MERIT, VAP, RegTraC, or CUAdvance, click on courses, and online. Enter the date range and click See Report. Depending on the level of activity for this timeframe, it may take longer than you expect for the report to run. Please be patient.

Does CUNA offer College Credit exams online?
Currently we do not have the PONSI exams online. Incorporating the PONSI exams online will require a system that will give passwords, and security clearance to proctors in order to maintain the security of the exam questions.