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Hello, NASJE friends and colleagues,

On behalf of the NASJE Board of Directors, I would like to thank you for your membership in NASJE and our shared contributions to judicial branch education. 

As you know, recently the NASJE website has been revamped as part of our effort to better connect with you and other site users. It has come to our attention that some members have not always received NASJE information or communications or have been unclear as to the ways in which interaction occurs within the organization. Let me provide some information on NASJE communications. I apologize for the length, but I wanted to provide all the info in one place for your convenience. 

NASJE has four basic communication tools. 

1. The website and specifically the Members Area. This is where member resources, including the NASJE HUB – Master Calendar, information on past webinars, podcasts, reports, peer-to-peer help and advice taken from past listserv inquiries, as well as membership lists and governing documents. The HUB is the centralized access point for the entire NASJE membership to communicate and learn of the various opportunities available.

2. The listserv mentioned above. Members can post directly to the listserv. To post a message, email your question to njc-nasje@lists.unr.edu with a specific subject line indicating your topic. Each Tuesday and Friday, messages are sent in a digest format. Each month when the new membership report is released, all members are uploaded as approved members of the NASJE list serve and should receive messages. 

3. The monthly e-blast containing news, Annual Conference information, and upcoming events of interest to members, plus communication from Committees, Committee Chairs, Regional Directors and the Board. These e-blasts appear only once a month to not over-burden members’ inboxes and the work of the Secretary, so please provide content to Jessica Foreman by the 12th of the month so that it can be included in that month’s e-blast. 

If you have not been receiving the e-blast, it may be because your office’s server has blocked this communication. To begin receiving the email newsletters, ask your IT department to whitelist/allow emails from txstate.edu and constantcontact.com. 

Txstate.edu is the email domain for Jessica Foreman, NASJE’s Secretary, who sends the newsletter and Constant Contact is the service we used to send them. Once you have confirmed that your IT department has whitelisted these emails, email Jessica at jessforeman@txstate.edu to reinstate your email address with Constant Contact. If you still have issues, a link to the latest newsletter will be available at the top of NASJE’s Hub page. Just go to the HUB and click the link to read the newsletter in a web browser. 

4. Email from the NASJE Secretariat. These occasional emails are used for dues and registration notifications and information from the Board regarding policy changes, nominations for the Karen Thorson award, and similar administrative announcements. All use of this channel must conform to these requirements and be approved in advance by the NASJE President. 

Finally, as part of our continuing efforts to update and better serve our members changing needs, the Board has asked the committees to suggest new ways in which we can improve our communication strategies. One of the upcoming discussion sessions to be convened by the “Futures jury” will focus on suggestions for revising our communications strategy. Your suggestions and participation on this and the work of the Communications Committee are very welcome since your needs and concerns are paramount. 

I look forward to hearing from you on this and other matters and hopefully seeing you in New Orleans. Please feel free to contact me or other Board members. 

Best regards, 
Todd Brower, NASJE President 

Hello, NASJE friends and colleagues,

Welcome to Spring! Well, in some parts of the country anyway…

The Board has recently finished our Mid-Year meeting and I wanted to update you on some of the things we decided or are working on.

• Conference: The theme for the upcoming Annual Conference in New Orleans, October 23-26, 2022, is “Judicial Education and All That Jazz!” Thanks to the Conference committee for that idea and we’re looking forward to the educational and social events building on that theme.
  • Registration is scheduled to open for the New Orleans conference around June 1. Basic registration will stay at $600 for the Conference with $650 for late registration after September 1. 
  • The Board is excited to announce that in addition to the $100 discounted registration for conference presenters, we are piloting a group registration fee for organizations sending 4+ members to the conference. If 4 members from the same organization register and pay as a block, the organization can send 5 members of the organization for the same $2400 total fee. More details will be forthcoming in registration announcements, but I wanted you to know about this additional opportunity.
• Dues: Speaking of money, membership dues for the upcoming year will remain at $150. We have decided to move to annual dues payable on January 1 of each year consistent with the NASJE By-Laws. This change is overdue and will also increase efficiency in billing, record keeping and cut down on the number and frequency of communications on this topic between NASJE members, your organizations, and the NASJE Secretariat. We will be prorating dues for those of us, like yours truly, whose renewal date falls between now and January 1. More details to come, but look for this change to happen around June 1.
  • Members and sponsors will be able to securely pay conference fees, dues, get receipts, and do most things related to payments right from the website. These things will be going live gradually, with the target date for everything being – when else? – June 1st. Stay tuned for more info as it becomes available.
• Communications: There have been concerns that some members have not received all information sent out. I’ll send an email shortly outlining the various member communication tools, their uses, and how to ensure access to them.
  • As always, the website continues to be your source for member information and data about the organization, including, the NASJE conference, committees, and NASJE members. The NASJE Master Calendar and NASJE Hub for all events can be found in the Members’ area of the website under HUB – NASJE Calendar. For example, you can find information on the 2022 IOJT [International Organization for Judicial Training] conference in Ottawa, Canada immediately after our New Orleans conference https://iojt2022.nji-inm.ca/.
  • As part of the Board’s and its committees’ continuing goal to meet the needs of the membership as it exists today and to encourage broader participation for the future, the most recent “Futures jury” collected extremely helpful information and suggestions on these topics. Upcoming juries will explore more specific issues within these goals, e.g., NASJE communications strategy and how best to interact among ourselves, and what modes and information are most effective and useful for our members, how best to develop a pipeline for members to become part of leadership.
  • Of course, we always welcome your thoughts and ideas at the “open comment” period for members and committee chairs to speak directly to us at our monthly meetings. Our next meeting is May 11, 2022 at 11:00AM Eastern/10:00AM Central/9:00AM Mountain/8:00AM Pacific. If you want to speak, please email NASJE Secretary, Jessica Foreman (jessforeman@txstate.edu) one week in advance of the meeting so that the meeting agenda can reflect your contribution and a zoom link can be sent to you.

Finally, thank you to all those who worked on the 21-day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge and those participating in this important initiative. It’s not too late to participate! See: https://canvas.instructure.com/courses/3484832/modules

As usual, I’ve gone on too long. But please feel free to connect with me via email: brower@law.ucla.edu.

Best, Todd