Membership
Q: How do I renew my ECOA membership?
ECOA membership is based on an anniversary renewal date and is active for one year after membership dues are paid. Members will receive notice of their renewal date two months prior to the date and, during this time, can use this link to pay membership dues and renew online. Once the membership expires, access to ECOA Connects and member-discounted pricing on events and courses will be denied and the member will need to contact Elayna Hebert (ehebert@theecoa.org) to renew benefits.
Q: How can I upgrade my membership to Sponsoring Partner?
Sponsoring Partner membership offers additional benefits above Basic membership, including; a second complimentary SP membership (allowing two people to join for the price of one); special discounted ECOA membership of only $300 per year for other employees of the organization involved in the ethics and/or compliance functions; free surveys and publications; free monthly webcasts; eligibility to attend the Sponsoring Partner Forum; the ability to join and vote for the ECOA Board of Directors; and significant discounts on ECOA events, conferences and educational opportunities. Please contact Elayna Hebert, (ehebert@theecoa.org) if you would like to upgrade your membership or have additional questions.
Q: Can I share my ECOA Connects login and password with a colleague?
Member benefits are individual and cannot be shared or transferred to other people, even within the same organization, without an ECOA-approved transfer of the membership.
Q: How can my colleague receive all of the benefits of ECOA membership?
Please have your colleague fill out a short Member Profile by clicking here. Once this information is received, the membership will be processed promptly and the new member will be contacted by an ECOA membership representative within 2 business days. Sponsoring Partner Associates may join for only $300 per year. Basic Members wishing to add a colleague to their membership may want to consider upgrading to a Sponsoring Partner membership, as it includes a complimentary second membership, among additional benefits and resources.
Q: How can I refer someone I know in ethics and compliance to the ECOA?
We appreciate your interest in referring a colleague to the ECOA. Please follow this link for more information and a downloadable membership brochure.
Q: I am leaving my organization. Does my ECOA membership stay with me or can I transfer my membership to another colleague?
Memberships are not transferrable between organizations and do not remain with an individual once he or she leaves the organization. Memberships are transferrable between colleagues within the same organization and we encourage you to contact us with a replacement. Please contact the ECOA directly for assistance with a membership transfer. We welcome you to consider applying for membership at your new organization. If you would like assistance with job placement or referrals please follow this link or contact us directly and we will be happy to assist you.
My Profile
Q: How do I update my membership profile?
With the exception of your primary contact information and industry group demographics, all of the content in My Profile can be modified by clicking on the “add” or “edit” link next to the content.
Q: How do I update my contact information?
From your profile, click the edit my contact information link. You will be directed to your listing on the www.theecoa.org website—once you are there, click the edit link next to individual contact information.
Q: How do I control what information is shown in My Profile?
Under My Profile, click the Preferences link in the left navigation. This will let you control what information is visible to whom. We recommend selecting the “Members Only” option, which will make your profile visible only to people with login access. After you’ve made changes, click the “Save” button at the bottom of the page. Please note that when you are viewing your own page, you will see all of your information - even information others can't.
Q: My picture will not upload. What’s wrong?
The dimensions of the image must be no larger than 600 pixels wide by 600 pixels high. The file size (kilobytes, megabytes, etc.) does not matter. You can check the dimensions in programs like Photoshop, Microsoft Paint, and Microsoft Photo Editor. The image must also be saved in a .jpg, .gif or .bmp format.
Q: What if I don’t have a good photo of myself?
Have fun with it! The images enhance the collegiality of ECOA Connects, so feel free to include any image that reflects your personality. Just make sure that the image you include is neither offensive to anyone nor protected by copyright, if you have not obtained permission from its owner or copyright-holder.
Q: Do I have to enter start and end dates for my education or job history?
No, just leave the date drop-down boxes set to the blank option.
Connections
Q: How do I find other members?
Click the Connections link found in the main navigation bar at the top of the site, and then Find A Member in the drop down. The Find a Member – Advanced Search lets you search for other members based on:
- Industry Group, Interest Group and community membership
- Education (including university, degree, area of study and dates attended)
Q: How do I add contacts to my contact list?
There are several ways to add contacts to your list. When you perform a search usinf Find a Member, you will see an “Add as Contact” link next to each person in your search results. Just click this link to send a contact request. If you click through and view someone’s profile, you can click the contact request link just to the right of their profile picture. Clicking any of your Networks links, either from your profile or under My Profile, will yield a similar list.
Q: Why should I add contacts to my contact list?
Creating this virtual address book makes it easy to send your contacts messages through the system to stay in touch or ask questions. Additionally, when you view another member’s profile, you’ll be able to see any contacts you have in common with them. Your contact list makes it easy to send invitations if you create a Discussion Community, and you can also choose to let only your contacts view and/or comment on your blog.
Q: I noticed that I can rate my contacts based on a five-star system. Can people see how I rated them?
This information is only visible to you. Since you can sort by rating, this feature provides a way to organize your list of contacts. One way to manage your contact list is to give the people you contact most five stars and the ones you contact least one star. No matter how you choose to rate your contacts, your highest-rated contacts will show up in the left navigation under Profile, making it easy to access their information and send them messages.
Q: What are “Networks”?
These are networking groups that are automatically created based on demographic information in your profile. They help you locate other members who live in your city or state, share your interests, have the same job title and more.
Q: How do I join/subscribe to a Community?
Under the Connections tab in the main navigation click on “All Communities”. Select the group you’d like to join and click “Join Community”. This will automatically subscribe you to the Discussion of the community and you will be prompted to choose your subscription method. NOTE: This step is necessary to access the resource libraries and discussions for individual communities.
Q: How can I join an ECOA Industry Group, Interest Group, or Regional Network?
All of the ECOA’s Interest Groups are open to all ECOA members and are available to join/subscribe in the same manner as other communities. (See above). If you would like to join a specific Industry Group or Regional Network, please review the membership criteria and email Janel at jheilbrunn@theecoa.org with a request to join.
Discussion Groups
In order to be a part of group communications, you must first join/subscribe to the group!
Q: How do I receive Discussion Group’s communications?
First, join a community. Then, under Discussions, click the My Subscriptions link in the top navigation. Here, you will see a list of available communities. Select one of the delivery options (Real Time, Digest, PDA or No Email) for any groups you wish to join and then click the “Save” button at the bottom of the page. You will get a red message confirming that your subscription options have been successfully updated. This can take around 30 seconds if you change your settings for several groups at the same time.
Q: What options are available for e-mail delivery?
At the top of the My Subscriptions page within Discussions, there is an option for “Text” or ”HTML”. By default, this is set to “HTML”, and we encourage you to leave it set to this if your e-mail client can support it. However, if you are having problems viewing the HTML version or if it takes too long to open, please switch to the text version.
Under each group, you have the following delivery options:
- Real time: sends an e-mail every time a new message is posted
- Daily digest: sends one e-mail to you each morning, consolidating all of the posts from the previous day RECOMMENDED
- PDA: sends real-time text versions of the posts, which are compatible with Blackberries and most other handheld devices. This option also allows you to reply without logging in to a web browser, but it does NOT allow you to include attachments with your post.
- No E-mail: allows you to be part of the group without having e-mails sent to you. You can still post and read other’s messages on the integrated online discussion board.
Q: How do I leave a Discussion Community?
Under Discussions, click the My Subscriptions link in the top or left navigation. Here, you will see a list of available groups and those to which you’ve subscribed. Select “Unsubscribe” to the right of the group you wish to leave and click the “Save” button at the bottom of the page. You will get a red message confirming that your subscription options have been successfully updated. This can take several seconds if you change your settings for several groups at the same time.
Q: How do I respond to others’ posts?
From a received e-mail or the online discussion board, you can click either the Reply to Discussion Community link to send your message to the entire forum, or the Reply to Sender link to send your message only to the sender. We recommend replying only to the sender for comments like “me, too” that add little value to the discussion.
Q: How do I start a new Discussion thread?
In an e-mail (HTML version) from a particular discussion forum, you can use the Post Message link in the right navigation bar. You can also use the Post Message link found in the left navigation under Discussions. We recommend bookmarking or adding this link to your favorites list in your web browser to make it easily accessible.
Q: I’m having trouble viewing the HTML e-mail messages. How do I fix this?
If images are not appearing, it is likely that your e-mail client is set to suppress images. This should be something you can change in your security or viewing options. If you would rather receive text-based e-mail, go to the My Subscriptions page and select the “Text” format option near the top of the page. Be sure to hit “Save” at the bottom of the page once you’ve made this change.
Q: Can I search for postings across all the Discussion Communities?
Yes. Click Advanced Search in the left navigation. This will let you search based on keywords in the posts, search all or specific Discussions, and select the date range in which you’d like to search.
Q: How do I see a listing of all of the posts to my Discussion Community?
If you go to Communities and click View the Discussion for the community you’d like to view, it will take you to the forum digest – a listing of the most recent postings. At the top right of this page are links to view messages posted in the last 24 hours, 7 days or 30 days. If you see an interesting post, you can click “View Thread” in the left navigation, which will take you to the entire thread. “Show original message” at the bottom of all of the posts in a thread will display the original message that started that discussion. The “Author’s Messages” link will show you all of the posts that particular member has contributed to the forum.
Q: All e-mails now come from the same e-mail address. How can I sort them into different folders in my inbox?
If you have rules set up to sort e-mails to different folders based on the e-mail address, you should be able to easily change those rules to look for the forum abbreviation or acronym that appears in the subject line.
Q: How do I change the information showing up in the signature block?
We have set a default signature, but if you would like to change the information that appears or the order in which it appears, click the My Signature link within Discussions. You can add, delete or reorganize the fields that show up in your signature. Please note that the content of these fields is pulled directly from your profile, so if you want to change the information itself, you will need to make the change to your profile in the My Profile menu.
Resource Libraries
Q. How do I access the ECOA’s main resource library, Ethics and Compliance Central, and how do I search it?
Under the Resources link in the primary navigation, click on Central Library to view all the documents and files available. You may switch between list view and folder view. Also under the Resources tab, Search Library will allow you to search across all libraries you have access to, including the Central Library.
Q: Can I search for specific file types?
Yes. When in the Resources area, select Search Library from the left navigation. Expand the Search File Type heading. This search will let you specify file type: PowerPoint, Excel, image, video, etc.
Q: On what other properties can I search?
The search option allows you to find documents based on keywords within a document title or description or even within its content. You can also specify which libraries you’d like to search, by which author, date posted, tags and more.
Q: How do I access a Community’s Branch Resource Library?
First, you must join the community. Then, under the Resources tab in the main navigation click “All Libraries”, find the library you’d like to access, and click its name to view. You may switch between folder and list view.
Q: How do the libraries get populated?
The Ethics and Compliance Central Library, as well as the other community libraries, are populated in one of two ways: you can upload documents directly by using the Add Document link found in the left navigation, within the Resource tab. Alternately, when you include an attachment in a Discussion message the system automatically places it in the specific Discussion Community library and sends a link of it to all subscribers. Attachments to messages posted in the Ethics and Compliance Central discussion community are added to the Central Library.
Q. Which library should I add my document to?
In most cases you should add your document or file to the Ethics and Compliance Central Library so that all ECOA members will have access to it. You can also cross-post to another library if adding a document as an attachment to a Discussion message. If your document is only relevant to a particular group (e.g. Industry Group meeting minutes) feel free to add it to that community’s library only.
Q: How do I upload a document?
In the resource libraries area, click the Add Document link in the left navigation. Please note that uploading a document is done in three steps and each step must be completed before you can move on to the next. First, you will choose a title for your document, include a description, and select the library to which you’d like to upload it; then hit “Save”. “Step 2” then activates, allowing you to browse for and upload your file. After uploading, you will have the option of adding tags or keywords to your document so it is more easily searchable.
Q: What kind of documents can I upload?
The system supports literally dozens of file types: PDFs, PowerPoint, Excel, Word, images and even video. You are, however, prohibited from uploading copyright-protected documents that you do not have the rights to post.
Q: What are the “tags” for?
Tags are another way of organizing and searching for documents. You can help others find the file you uploaded by including tags when you upload it. We have given you a few sets to choose from, but you can also add your own. Other members can also add tags to your document, further enhancing this search feature.
Q: I have several related documents. Do I have to post them individually?
No. You can post related documents together, and we encourage you to do so. Follow steps 1 & 2 to upload your first file. Then, rather than saving, perform step 2 again to upload another file. Continue that process until all of your related files are uploaded, then add your tags and hit “Save.” If possible, please provide descriptions for each document listed so other users can easily discern which document they are viewing.
Q: Can someone else edit or delete my file?
As the owner of the document, only you or a system administrator can edit or delete your document. Other members are able to provide comments. If you’d like to delete a document, just click the red “X” that appears when you view the document details.
Q: Can I download documents?
Absolutely! That’s why they are being shared. However, please note all of these documents have been submitted by your peers and have not been reviewed by us. You must evaluate and bear all risks associated with the use of any content, including any reliance on the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of such content.
Q: What is the Resource Library “redaction” service?
Some of most common types of resource materials requested by ECOA members are sample policies, training materials, codes, etc. We realize that this material is often proprietary and although the ECOA Connects resource libraries are accessible by ECOA members only, you may feel uncomfortable adding your document to the library. Our “document redaction service” allows you to share your resources with the rest of the membership anonymously. To use this free service, email a document to msonin@theecoa.org. Once received we will remove all company and individual identifiers, send it back to you for approval, and then upload the file using the ECOA Librarian. Please contact Maria Sonin (msonin@theecoa.org) for more information.