This article originally appeared in The Bar Examiner print edition, December 2016 (Vol. 85, No. 4), pp 2–3.
By Robert A. Chong
This past August in Portland, Oregon, the torch was passed to me from the Honorable Thomas Bice of Iowa to commence my one-year term as chair of the NCBE Board of Trustees. The past four months have shown me that the work conducted by NCBE is endless. Already numerous committee meetings have been held with many positive results.
The Multistate Essay Examination/Multistate Performance Test Policy Committee met by teleconference in September under the direction of co-chairs Diane Bosse of New York and Gordon MacDonald of New Hampshire. It discussed each of the two MPT items and the six MEE questions to be administered in July 2017. The committee’s comments and feedback were posted and forwarded to the respective drafting committees. Involvement by the members of the policy committee is critical to the test development process from the perspective of item improvement and user involvement.
The Board’s newly created Technology and Test Security Committee held its first meeting at the NCBE office in late October under the direction of chair Timothy Wong of Minnesota. Its focus is to obtain an overview of NCBE’s technology and security strategy, develop policies and practices, and review NCBE’s IT security history with an in-depth look at security in testing. That same day, I also participated in a teleconference with the Board’s Education Committee chaired by the Honorable Cindy Martin of Missouri. Plans are already well under way for the Annual Bar Admissions Conference scheduled for May 4–7, 2017, in San Diego, California.
My special kudos to the Honorable Jequita Napoli, who stepped to the plate to fill the late Jerry Hafter’s shoes as chair of NCBE’s Technology Committee. The Committee met by teleconference in October and continued its work on comprehensive topics pertaining to the use of technology for communication and in exam administration.
The Multistate Bar Examination Policy Committee and the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination Policy Committee, along with the chairs of the drafting committees for those tests, met in Berkeley, California, in early November under the leadership of co-chairs Franklin Harrison of Florida and Bryan Williams of New York for the MBE Committee and chair Patrick Dixon of California for the MPRE Committee. I was amazed by how effective, cohesive, and efficient these committees are. They work closely with NCBE staff to ensure the continued quality of both exams, including addressing issues related to the psychometric reliability of the tests. I sat in on the individual sessions with each of the eight drafting committee chairs. All remain devoted to the work of their respective drafting committees.
In November, I attended the Fall Meeting of the Council of Bar Admission Administrators (CBAA) in San Antonio, Texas. The well-attended gathering afforded CBAA members the opportunity to attend the meetings of many committees, such as Character and Fitness, Long Range Planning, Technology, Testing Accommodations, and the Special Committee on the Uniform Bar Examination, to name a few, and the plenary sessions provided excellent educational opportunities on a wide range of topics. Just as important, the Fall Meeting provided attendees with the opportunity to reconnect with colleagues in the bar admissions community and to establish new contacts. The networking of new and seasoned administrators to address the challenges that confront all administrators can save a lot of time and expense, especially if an issue has already been successfully addressed by another jurisdiction. The solutions do not have to be reinvented. High-stakes testing for lawyers can be daunting, especially for the novice administrator. I think that the CBAA family, composed of both lawyers and nonlawyers, prides itself on assisting its members in need and encouraging them to become better and more efficient administrators.
While in San Antonio I also attended a very productive meeting of NCBE’s Special Committee for Implementation of the 2015–2020 Strategic Plan, co-chaired by Margaret Corneille of Minnesota and Suzanne Richards of Ohio. As NCBE transitions to a new leader before the end of 2017 with the retirement of Erica Moeser, the Board is in the process of adopting a strategic plan to guide it. At this meeting, the committee successfully completed its task of drafting a document for the Board’s consideration and approval expressing the reaffirmation of NCBE’s mission and articulating its vision. The plan sets forth detailed goals, strategies, and recommendations to keep NCBE on course.
Finally, I am pleased with the progress our Search Committee is making in seeking NCBE’s new President and Chief Executive Officer under the direction of its chair, the Board’s immediate past chair Hon. Thomas Bice of Iowa, and our search consultant, Barbara Mendel Mayden of the firm Young Mayden LLC. The position announcement is available on the NCBE website at www.ncbex.org/president-ceo.
In September, we received news that struck all of us in the NCBE family at our core. We learned that our esteemed colleague and friend from Mississippi, Jerome C. Hafter, known to us as Jerry, who had been an active participant during the August Board meeting in Portland and showed no signs of illness at the time, had been diagnosed with an untreatable form of an aggressive cancer. Jerry passed away on September 23. On behalf of the Board, the entire NCBE family, and myself, we wish to convey to Jerry’s wife, Jo Cille, and their son, Bryan, our deepest sympathy and condolences.
To honor Jerry’s spirit at the Board’s meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, this past October, I brought from Hawai`i a traditional offering or ho`okupu. The ho`okupu consisted of a traditional maile lei from the sacred forests of Hilo, Hawai`i, and some pa`akai or sea salt from Hanapepe, Kaua`i, placed in a small wooden bowl made from kou, an indigenous hardwood. I placed the ho`okupu with a photo of Jerry in front of an empty chair in tribute to him throughout our meetings. Prior to departing Vancouver, I respectfully draped the maile lei around a tree located near the Pacific Ocean and privately recited a traditional Hawaiian `oli or chant in Jerry’s name. Rest in peace, my friend.
Mele Kalikimaka a me Hau`oli Makahiki Hou! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Wishing all of you the happiest of holidays.
`O wau nō me ka mahalo. I am yours respectfully,
Robert A. Chong
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