View Highlights of the 2010 Program

Expanding the knowledge and expertise of executive-level business credit professionals.

The National Association of Credit Management is the leader in executive education for the credit and financial management community. NACM entered the arena of continuing executive education more than 60 years ago, decades before major colleges and universities. Today, NACM continues its dedication to the global promotion and enhancement of the business credit professional through its many educational programs, lead by the GSCFM.

The Graduate School of Credit and Financial Management (GSCFM®) pioneered the concept of advanced-level, executive education and continues to deliver quality, application-based continuing education for the business credit and financial professional. The quality and effectiveness of tomorrow’s business credit and financial executive depends on today’s training and education. The most promising executives must strive to move beyond their current skill levels in anticipation of tomorrow’s demands.

The GSCFM, conducted on the campus of Dartmouth College, is a two-week per year (for two years) intensive program exposing participants to a wide range of ideas, practices and resources, and leads to the mastery of new concepts and the development of a new, clear vision. The program delivers high quality, application based credit, financial and management instruction in a setting designed for executive education. The professional relationships that develop throughout this program are a critical component to the program’s long-standing success.

The GSCFM sessions are conducted by experienced faculty who use a balanced mix of lectures, group discussions and case studies that relate to current and future workplace demands. The program challenges participants to examine issues and processes not simply from the standpoint of corporate credit and finance, but from a cross functional point of view. Participants will return to their companies with in-depth knowledge of the field and the ability to use that knowledge on the corporation’s behalf.

A participant’s company customarily covers the full cost of tuition, meals and living and travel-related expenses. In so doing, the employer recognizes the contributions and potential of promising managers, affording them the opportunity to advance their knowledge and career expertise. Employer sponsorship allows participants to be relieved of workplace responsibilities for the duration of the two-week program.

The GSCFM Curriculum

The GSCFM program provides a foundation in disciplines such as financial analysis, valuation, business economics, business law, corporate strategy, treasury management, and international finance and credit.

The First-Year Session Concentrations

The cornerstone of the first-year program is financial statement analysis. Complementing the financial analysis program are sessions on corporate strategy, business ethics and presentation techniques. These sessions, adding information about how to operate in a changing environment and how to understand and maximize corporate competitive strategy, bring new ideas and greater depth of knowledge to the decision-making process.

The Second-Year Session Concentrations

During the second year, participants will continue to expand their understanding of the financial side of credit during the financial warnings segment. This segment brings together the elements already covered in the first-year session, providing an in-depth look at credit strategy in a competitive environment, focusing on new techniques for credit investigation and credit granting decisions. Adding to these topics are sessions on the legal environment of credit, presentation skills, advanced negotiations and economic forecasting. Participants also present their projects and have the opportunity to take the CCE exam.

Session Descriptions

Advanced Financial Statement Analysis

The objective of this course is to make credit professionals better aware of the information contained in a firm's annual report and how to analyze it. An improved awareness equates to improved knowledge about credit risk. An emphasis will be placed on the examination of the annual report's statement of cash flows, the management discussion and analysis section, disclosure notes explaining accounting policy and other significant factors. Through a combination of lectures and case analyses, the course will emphasize analysis and interpretation of cash flows, discovery of off-balance sheet financing, and indicators to assess a firm's liquidity. Problems with some traditional financial ratios will be examined.

Financial Warnings: Detecting Creative Accounting Practices

Generally accepted accounting principles provide wide latitude in the selection of accounting techniques. Their aggressive and sometimes fraudulent application can cause misleading results, even permitting the reporting of profits where losses may have been more realistic. Whether earnings are overstated due to the aggressive application of accepted standards or because of fraud, economic fundamentals will eventually expose the charade. The end result will be a negative earnings adjustment, a likely net loss for the period and often several reporting periods, and a requisite reduction in forecast cash flow. Through a series of short exercises and case assignments, participants in this course are taught to detect and question potential earnings overstatements, the objective of which is to provide sufficient lead-time to permit corrective action.

Ethics in Business and Society

Business ethics involves right or wrong actions taken by corporations and their agents. These actions take place in the context of a relationship between business and society shaped by various stakeholder expectations of corporate responsibility in economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic domains. The ability of managers to respond to these expectations requires knowledge of several areas, including value-based leadership (executive mechanisms for shaping corporate culture), public policy (the role of regulatory agencies), organizational ethics (corporate governance, ethics programs, compliance), business law (Sarbanes-Oxley), stakeholder issues (public affairs, crisis management, issues management), environmentalism (sustainable business practices), personal ethics (moral reasoning), and ethical dilemmas in international business. In this seminar we will consider models and diagnostic tools for recognizing and dealing with ethical issues in a business and society context as well as ethical traditions that shape public expectations of corporate responsibility, including utilitarianism, deontology (duty), justice and fairness, human rights, ethics of care, and virtue ethics. Subsequently, students will apply this material to actual cases, using conceptual tools from the course to analyze select firms and recommend appropriate actions for managers, boards of directors, and regulatory agencies.

Successful Presentation Skills

Whether you're making impromptu comments during a meeting or giving a formal presentation, there are specific techniques to use that will ensure your success. Learn how to overcome nerves, read your audience, project confidence, use visual aids, and recover if your mind goes blank. Every speaking situation will be addressed from handling Q&A to being persuasive. Participants will receive individual coaching, videotaped examples, and group feedback in a supportive, learning environment.

Legal Environment of Credit

Comprehensive knowledge of business laws specific to the field of credit is critically important to each decision today's credit executive makes on a daily basis. This intensive course will focus on a broad range of advanced legal issues affecting the credit decision. This course will encompass a combination of lectures, readings, case studies and interactive discussions to enable participants to increase their knowledge of the complex issues in corporations, partnerships, sole proprietorships, contracts, bankruptcies, antitrust and negotiable instruments as they impact credit decisions.

Advanced Negotiations

All business dealings and transactions, whether small in dollar amount or in the number of products purchased and sold, result from underlying negotiations which are generally memorialized in written agreements between the parties. To create effective agreements, a mastery of negotiation skills is essential, and is attained through practice. This course, through the use of class lectures and negotiation problem solving exercises, will help participants better understand and master negotiation skills.

Economics

There is an old joke that asserts that if you placed five economists in a room you would get five different opinions - six if one is from Harvard. To the person trying to sort out the wisdom of the experts this would seem like an accurate assessment. The fact is that economists are, at heart, philosophers. Their opinions are based on beliefs as much as facts and that leaves the average person frustrated. This course will teach you how to read the tea leaves in the world of economics. We will look at all those handy statistical shorthands and figure out what they really mean. Along the way we will explore the powers that be in the world of economics - such as the Fed and its global counterparts. The intent of the course is to allow us all to become better consumers of economic data and less susceptible to the whims of economists. The class process will be heavily interactive and topical. There will be some lectures but mostly discussions.

Distinguished Instructors

NACM is proud to have secured these instructors in past program sessions.

Wanda Borges, Esq.
Paul Beretz, CICE
Susan Fee, M.Ed., L.P.C.
Vernon Gerety, Ph.D.
Chris Kuehl, Ph.D.
Charles Mulford, Ph.D., CPA
Diane Swanson, Ph.D.
Alva Taylor, Ph.D.
Judith White, Ph.D.

Certificate of Achievement

Participants receive the GSCFM Executive Award upon successful completion of all program requirements. Graduation will be held on the last night of the second session.

Special Achievement Honor

Selected by the members of the GSCFM class, the Best Student Award honors the individual who has made a significant contribution to the overall quality of the program, based on class participation and enhancement to the overall educational experience. The award recipient will be honored at the graduation dinner and at the following year’s NACM Annual Credit Congress.

What to Expect from the NACM Grad School

The GSCFM program is held on the campus of Dartmouth College, located in Hanover, New Hampshire. Hanover is a picturesque community of 10,850 residents situated in a valley on the banks of the beautiful Connecticut River. It is a little more than two hours by car from Boston, five from New York and three from Montreal.

Participants, staff and instructors are housed in one of the residential halls on Dartmouth campus. Meals are provided for the duration of the program. Participants are required to attend every meal to help cultivate relationships and camaraderie with both the faculty and other participants.

Participants receive the GSCFM Executive Award upon successful completion of all program requirements. Graduation, featuring a special dinner and award ceremony, is held on the last night of the second session. The Best Student Award, selected by the members of the GSCFM class, honors the individual who makes a significant contribution to the general quality of the program, based on class participation and enhancement to the overall educational experience.

To prepare to dive into these topics upon arriving to the program, participants must complete advance-reading assignments. A complete list of advance-reading assignments and textbooks are shipped to each participant in advance of the program.

Attendance at all scheduled class sessions is mandatory. In addition, participation in the discussion of assignments, class activities and projects is required. Between the first and second year sessions, participants will be assigned a project that will draw upon concepts presented in the first session, culminating in a presentation before members of the class and faculty. Failure to meet any of these requirements will endanger the participant’s certificate of completion.

Housing and Meals

Participants, staff and instructors will be housed in one of the residential halls on Dartmouth campus. Although the specific design of each dorm bedroom unit varies, participants will occupy a unit and share a bathroom. Upon request, participants can receive an athletic pass to take advantage of the recreational and workout facilities at Dartmouth, complete with indoor track and swimming pool.

Meals will be served daily at The Hanover Inn, cafeteria style in a campus dining hall, in the dorm or at local restaurants. A photo session and special graduation dinner are held on the program’s final night. Participants are required to attend every meal to help cultivate relationships with both the faculty and other participants.

View the 2010 Graduate School Schedule

Application Process and Tuition Investment

To apply for admission to the GSCFM program, complete the Application for Admission and submit it to NACM-National at the address below. A $500 application fee, made payable to NACM-GSCFM, must accompany the application form. This fee will be applied to the participant’s tuition upon acceptance to the program. Applicants not admitted into the GSCFM program will receive a refund of the application fee, less a $100 processing fee.

The total 2010 session cost is $5,995. However, to encourage early enrollment, an early bird rate of $5,800 is reserved for applications received by February 1st. After this date, the tuition cost is $5,995. This fee covers the cost of books and materials, instructional fees and use of the school’s facilities, dorm rooms, linen service, parking and athletic passes, three meals per day and beverage breaks. The second-year session tuition is $5,600. Due to programming and facility commitments for second-year students, a tuition refund of 50% of the tuition cost is applicable after December 1 of the student’s first year.

A letter of recommendation from the candidate’s employer or immediate supervisor must be attached to the application form. In addition, a photo (passport, clear digital or driver’s license), and a current resume must also accompany the application form. This information is provided to the faculty in order to help them prepare for the class.

All applicants will receive formal notice of admission to the program within three weeks of application. An invoice for the tuition balance, room and board will be sent following this notification. Payment is due upon receipt; tuition must be paid in full prior to the start of the program.

Application Checklist

• Application form and deposit
• Corporate support of a two year commitment
• Letter of recommendation
• Photo
• Resume

Financial Scholarship Assistance

The NACM Scholarship Foundation, Inc. provides scholarships for financial assistance (partial funding) for first-year GSCFM students. The Professional Advancement Scholarship (PAS) is designed to support first-year students who meet all GSCFM entry standards, and are committed to the rigorous educational studies expected of its participants. Recipients must attend the full two-year program. Scholarship amounts are determined based on need and availability of funds. Please visit the NACM Scholarship Foundation, Inc. web page to learn more.

Refund and Cancellation Policy

Due to the inherent costs associated with establishing and holding this program, no refunds are available after April 1st. Prior to April 1st, tuition fees, less a $500 processing fee, will be refunded for written cancellations. For questions, comments or to confirm administrative policies, please contact the NACM Meetings Department at 410-740-5560.

Dartmouth College is not a sponsor or co-sponsor of the NACM Graduate School of Credit & Financial Management.

Continuing Education (CEU) Information

The NACM Education Department has reviewed the advance-level educational content of GSCFM. Participants attending this program in the 2010 session will earn continuing education units (CEUs), all of which are valid for CCE recertification.

These continuing education units have been awarded in accordance with the standards recommended by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training. The CEU is a nationally recognized unit designed to provide a record of an individual’s continuing education accomplishments. One CEU is awarded for each 10 contact hours of instruction.

Instructor Biographies

Wanda Borges, Esq.
Wanda Borges is the principal member of Borges & Associates, LLC, a law firm based in Syosset, NY. For more than 29 years, Ms. Borges has concentrated her practice on commercial litigation and creditors’ rights in bankruptcy matters, representing corporate clients and creditors’ committees throughout the United States in Chapter 11 proceedings, out-of-court settlements, commercial transactions and preference litigation. She is the Immediate Past President of the Commercial Law League of America and has been an Attorney Member of its National Board of Governors, a Past Chair of the Bankruptcy Section and a past member of the executive council of its Eastern Region. Ms. Borges is a member of the American Bar Association, the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Hispanic National Bar Association and the Turnaround Management Association, and is an associate member of the International Association of Commercial Collectors. She is a regular lecturer for NACM and its Affiliated Associations on commercial and corporate law (including ECOA, the Uniform Commercial Code and FCRA), insolvency matters, creditors’ rights issues, antitrust law and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Ms. Borges has authored, edited and contributed to numerous publications including Thomson West’s Enforcing Judgments and Collecting Debts in New York, the NAB book Out of the Red and Into the Black, the BCCA’s Credit & Collection Handbook, the CLLA Commercial Law Journal, Bulletin, Debt 3 and Bankruptcy Section newsletters—including her treatise “Hidden Liens, Who is Entitled to What?”—and NACM’s Antitrust, Restraint of Trade and Unfair Competition: Myth Versus Reality, Manual of Credit and Collection Laws and Principles of Business Credit. She has co-authored The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 – An Overhaul of U.S. Bankruptcy Law, also published by NACM.

Susan Fee, M.Ed., L.P.C.
Susan Fee is a licensed professional counselor and business presentation coach based in Cleveland, OH. She has taught public speaking skills to clients such as Motorola and employees from the U.S. Navy and the State of Michigan. Ms. Fee is an adjunct college instructor of effective public speaking and has authored Positive First Impressions and Dealing With Difficult People, which are available from her web site (www.susanfee.com). Last year, Adams Media released her latest book, My Roommate Is Driving Me Crazy!  Solve Conflicts, Set Boundaries, and Survive the College Roommate from Hell.

Chris Kuehl, Ph.D.
Chris Kuehl is the co-founder and Managing Director of Armada Corporate Intelligence. Chris is the Chief Economist for Fabricators and Manufacturers Association. He holds Masters Degrees in Soviet and East European Studies and East Asian Studies and a Ph.D. in Political Economics from the University of Kansas. He has been on the faculty of universities in the US, Hungary, Estonia, Russia, Singapore and Taiwan.

Charles Mulford, Ph.D., CPA
Chuck Mulford is Invesco Chair and Professor of Accounting in the DuPree College of Management at Georgia Tech. Since joining the faculty in 1983, he has been recognized 10 times as the Core Professor of the Year and twice as the Professor of the Year by graduate students in business administration. In 1999, graduate students voted to rename the Core Professor of the Year Award the “Charles W. Mulford Core Professor of the Year Award.” Professor Mulford also received the university-wide W. Roane Beard Class of 1940 Outstanding Teacher Award in 2000. In addition to his work at Georgia Tech, Professor Mulford regularly consults with major domestic and international commercial banks and money management firms on issues related to credit and investment decision-making. Professor Mulford has a doctorate in accounting from Florida State University and is professionally qualified as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in Florida and Georgia. Prior to joining the Georgia Tech faculty, he practiced public accounting with Coopers & Lybrand.

Diane Swanson, Ph.D.
Diane Swanson is the von Waaden Professor of Business Administration at Kansas State University where she teaches undergraduate, graduate and continuing professional education courses in business and society, professional ethics, and accounting and business ethics. She is also the Founding Chair of KSU’s Ethics Education Initiative, which has received international acclaim. Professor Swanson’s record includes publishing widely on business ethics, corporate social responsibility, leadership and organizational dynamics; serving on editorial boards; holding governing positions in academic associations; and interviewing frequently with the media. She is also listed in several biographical indices, including Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in Finance and Industry, Who’s Who of American Women and Who’s Who in Business in Higher Education. Since spearheading a national campaign to improve business education in 2002, she has been invited to speak to several national audiences on the importance of business ethics. In 2004, she received the Best Ethics Educator Award from the Colleges of Business at Colorado State University, the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Wyoming.

Alva Taylor, Ph.D.
Alva Taylor is an Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.  Dr. Taylor holds a BS, an ME, and an MBA from Cornell University, and his PhD from Stanford University.  His areas of expertise include business strategy, technology, innovation management, entrepreneurship, and new product development and his current research topics are new product development, technological change, new venture formation, organizational learning and creativity.  Dr. Taylor has published numerous articles and working papers in these areas. Dr. Taylor’s awards include the Unsung Hero Award for outstanding non-core teaching, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University; Harvey H. Bundy III T’68 Fellowship for scholarly excellence, Tuck School, 2005–06; finalist, Best Paper of the Year, Academy of Management Journal, 2007.

Judith White, Ph.D.
Judith White is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration in the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. Her area of expertise is organizational behavior, and her current research topic areas include solo status in groups, negotiations, and organizational and social identity. Professor White has published numerous articles and working papers in these areas. She has been the recipient of many awards including the George W. Goethals Award for Teaching Excellence at Harvard University. Dr. White holds a BA from Indiana University, a JD from Yale University and her Ph.D. from Harvard University.