EDUCATION REPORT SUMMER 2008, cont'd.

Last year our President Linda McCartney instituted the new position of Education Liaison to facilitate the flow of information pertaining to education between our organization and OCA.  This has proven to be very successful in improving our relationship with OCA.  When they (Connie Cutler, Maureen Stettner and Sharon Bowles) aren’t having to chase presenters, district coordinators, etc. for handout materials, dates, topics, etc., they have much more time to discuss the important issues with us as we work toward improving our teaching techniques and approaches to education.  I have found it to be a real pleasure to work with Paul Toomey, Jeremy Zeliger, Sharon Bowles and Charlotte Watson on ways to make education more accessible and interesting for the clerks.  They have some great, innovative ideas for classes for both judges and clerks and we should be seeing quite a few changes in the near future.  One of the first of those changes will be the way the satellite teleconferences are broadcast.  The one presented in June was a webcast and was broadcast at the county courthouses rather than at Cornell extensions and various colleges.  This enabled us to have more reliable sites available for the judges and court clerks who want to take advantage of these excellent presentations. 

Work has begun on a Desk Book for Court Clerks.  We’ve written a definition of our jobs (and it’s only one page long, amazingly enough).  This much needed resource is being written and coordinated by the Education Committee.  We are hoping to include the procedures, forms, etc. for every type of action we handle in our local courts.  We’re going to organize it in a simple, easy to use format and to have it printed in such a way that it will be easy to add/delete/change as the laws and procedures change.  Again, OCA is behind us on this project and as we complete the various sections Sharon Bowles will read, edit, advise, etc.  It would be wonderful if we could have this completed by the Niagara Falls conference.  We’re not re-inventing the wheel; most of the topics we’ll be including are already in our handouts – we just need to rework them and adapt them in terms of offering the information that we Court Clerks need to know in order to do our work.  Anyone with ideas and suggestions about things that should be included in the book should feel free to contact a member of the Education Committee.

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