News Release

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Drennan directs new judicial college
at UNC's School of Government

CHAPEL HILL - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Government professor James C. Drennan has been named director of a new judicial college for North Carolina courts officials.

The judicial college, based at the UNC School of Government, received $1 million from the N.C. General Assembly during the last legislative session.

Drennan, who has overseen the concept and planning of the college over the last several years, said the college will have a unique curriculum to provide judges, clerks and magistrates with more intensive coverage of topics than is currently available.

In addition, the college will offer online and digital learning tools that will be accessible at any time.

"Our strength traditionally has been in keeping people apprised of laws on a need-to-know basis," he said. "This update function is important in a constantly changing world. A judge's job is judgment within an established framework. Education should make judges more comfortable with their decisions and make the decisions more thoughtful and fair."

Drennan said the college also will serve the clerks and magistrates who manage the enterprise of the courts and need more in-depth learning opportunities. An advisory committee for the college includes representatives from across the court system to provide overall policy guidance and study issues in courts education. This kind of collaboration does not currently exist within the system, Drennan said, but is necessary to avoid duplication, create better policy and share knowledge of what is needed.

"People come to us in all stages of their careers," Drennan explained, "but our program has been one-size-fits-all. We hope now to be able to diversify and get away from addressing gaps by trial and error."

The 2006 appropriation will help expand the teaching staff needed to create and implement the new curriculum. Drennan anticipates that the first new programs will focus on managing civil trials, trying capital cases, and court management for senior court executives. Some courses will be done in collaboration with the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts, the school's primary courts education partner, and with other organizations with expertise in science, business, technology and other complex topics that come before the courts with increasing frequency.

"We are very excited about getting the judicial college started," Drennan said. "The willingness of the members of the General Assembly to commit this funding says a lot about how important the courts are to the state, and we are appreciative of the support they have offered."

The school, through its Institute of Government, has offered training and education for N.C. courts personnel since the 1930s. The training consists mainly of continuing education conferences to update judges, magistrates and others on changes in law; orientation courses for new courts personnel; and classes that probe more deeply into sentencing, family and juvenile law, small claims matters and other specialized issues.

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Photo URL: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/Drennan.jpg

UNC School of Government contact: Ann Simpson, (919) 966-9780, simpson@sog.unc.edu
News Services contact: Kyle York, (919) 962-8415, kyle_york@unc.edu