Examining the Examiners
By: Mari Tucker, Training Coordinator
How do individuals develop the skills necessary to become a Bank Examiner? The Office of the State Bank Commissioner is committed to providing a variety of training options for our examiners. These options include both on-the-job and formal training. The primary method for training, on-the-job, involves the designation of a Training Coordinator at the field office who is responsible for planning, organizing and monitoring the training program for the trainee. In addition, trainees are encouraged to ask questions and seek answers regarding all areas of the examination.
The formal training option provides the opportunity to advance the trainees' skills and bank examiners follow a series of "Core Training" schools. The following is an outline of the courses included in this core training, as well as a brief description of the course and the recommended time frame (after hire) for attendance:
Certified Operations Examiner School (4 - 6 months) is a new program which replaces the traditional Bank Operations and Bank Financial Analysis schools. The full program is delivered over a seven to nine month period. Over this period of time, the examiner will receive all of the required training and experience necessary to be in charge of the operations portion of the examination.
Credit Evaluation School (Loan Analysis) (16 - 18 months) teaches students to evaluate credit risk and its effect on a bank and to determine management's effectiveness in overseeing credit risk.
Bank Management/Examiner-in-Charge School (28 - 30 months) trains students to evaluate management and to recognize practices that increase a bank's exposure to risk. The students have an opportunity to develop and improve presentation skills by presenting examination conclusions to a mock Board of Directors.
BankDynamics (28 - 30 months) is a bank simulation that reflects the financial structure of a bank and is conducted using a team approach. Each team runs a bank, either in a live environment or virtually, and is given an eight quarter time frame to improve the position of the bank.
Depending upon the priority of the trainee's territory, they also enroll in either Agricultural Lending School (40 - 42 months), which is dedicated to assisting bankers in developing agricultural lending skills, particularly in the area of credit analysis or Commercial Lending School, which is designed to teach lenders the commercial lending process.
Following completion of this core training, examiners have the opportunity to pursue continuing education programs on an annual basis, including the KBA Bank Management Clinic, the CSBS Examiner's Forum, and a Graduate School of Banking.
These schools provide the basis for improving quality and professionalism in state bank examination and supervision. The education program offers a framework for state bank examiners to thoroughly learn their duties and responsibilities. Our goal at the OSBC is to use the most advanced teaching methods and tools to help ensure the advancement and retention of qualified, experienced state bank examiners.
