From the Editor

Well, the annual conference of the National Association of State Judicial Educators is upon us. To those of you who will be in Chicago next week for the conference, I want to say that I look forward to seeing you there. To those of you who will not be attending this year, I want to tell you that I will be posting updates on the conference during the week. Additionally, we will be posting other new content next week, so please check the NASJE News website regularly next week for annual conference updates and new articles.

Since the annual conference marks the transition for NASJE from one year to the next, I also wanted to take this opportunity to let the readers of NASJE News know that we have some new, and we hope exciting, things planned for the next year. Our goal is to make NASJE News a more dynamic portal for news and information about judicial branch education.

Over the past year, we have revamped the resources section of the NASJE website as well as streamlined how parts of the website function. In the next week, to coincide with the annual conference, we will be rolling out a “Coming Events” section on the main page, as well as a web accessible calendar for NASJE meetings, webcasts, etc.

In the coming months, we will be transitioning from a periodically published electronic newsletter to a news aggregator format. We will still publish regular features and other major articles on a periodic basis (quarterly to start, transitioning to monthly in the future), but we will increasingly focus on publishing short, timely articles and links to content relevant to judicial branch education. And it is with respect to this endeavor that I want to ask two things of you, our readers.

First, I ask for your support and patience as we grow into a new type of news site. Over the past two years that I have served as first co-editor and now editor of the NASJE news, we have experienced some instances where the transition from the leadership of Phil Schopick, who expertly edited the NASJE News for many years, has been challenging. I foresee more challenges in the future as we work to make NASJE News a site that you will check weekly, or maybe even daily, for news and information that will help you in your professional life. So please bear with us as we grow, and also please know that your suggestions are always welcome.

Second, I ask you to send me any news articles or resources that you believe would be interesting to the readers of NASJE News. These may be articles or resources on judicial education, adult education, faculty development, stress management, team building, etc. In other words, I am looking for anything that would give the readers of NASJE News information that would be helpful in their professional endeavors.

Thank you,
John Newell
Editor, NASJE News