Madison, WI — September 19–21, 2022
Back Row: Jeff Shipley (CBAA Chair, Maryland), Valetta Browne (Kentucky), Nahdiah Hoang (Texas), Ramana Pendyala (Washington), Cary Pirrong (Oklahoma), John Earles (Georgia) Front Row: Mariann Nystrom (Arizona), Tina Bryant (South Carolina), Wendy Wussow (Nebraska), Camille Pedrick (New Mexico), Karen Laneaux (Alabama), Kandace Kukas (Massachusetts)
NCBE hosted a seminar in September for new bar admission administrators at its Madison headquarters. The seminar’s goal was to familiarize the new administrators with the resources and services NCBE offers.
Topics covered:
- Introduction to the Council of Bar Admission Administrators (CBAA)
- Character and fitness investigation services
- NCBE’s bar passage report service, for transmittal of bar passage reports from jurisdictions to law schools for law schools’ use in ABA reporting
- Information technology services
- Overview of NCBE’s Assessment and Research Department: test development and production for the MBE, MEE, MPT, and MPRE; scoring of exams—equating the MBE and MPRE, scaling the MEE and MPT; psychometric and research services to jurisdictions; foundational standards of reliability, validity, and fairness
- NCBE’s diversity, fairness, and inclusion research
- Overview of NCBE’s Test Operations Department: exam ordering, nonstandard and custom testing materials for examinees requesting ADA accommodations, test security, score services
- NCBE meetings and educational programs, including MEE/MPT Grading Workshops and NCBE’s Annual Bar Admissions Conference
- NCBE’s Secure Site and bar exam listserv for administrators
- The next generation of the bar exam: history, current and upcoming milestones, guiding objectives, content similarities to and differences from the current exam, fairness and accessibility
Attendees:
- Alabama: Karen Laneaux, Admissions Director, Alabama State Bar
- Arizona: Mariann Nystrom, Attorney Admissions Manager, Arizona Supreme Court, Committees on Examinations and Character & Fitness
- Georgia: John Earles, Director of Admissions, Supreme Court of Georgia Office of Bar Admissions
- Kentucky: Valetta H. Browne, Director and General Counsel, Kentucky Office of Bar Admissions
- Massachusetts: Kandace Kukas, Executive Director, Massachusetts Board of Bar Examiners
- Nebraska: Wendy Wussow, Interim Director, Clerk of the Nebraska Supreme Court
- New Mexico: Camille Pedrick, Executive Director, New Mexico Board of Bar Examiners
- Oklahoma: Cary Pirrong, Administrative Director, Oklahoma Board of Bar Examiners
- South Carolina: Tina Bryant, Bar Admissions Manager, Board of Law Examiners, South Carolina Supreme Court
- Texas: Nahdiah Hoang, Executive Director, Texas Board of Law Examiners
- Washington: Ramana Pendyala, Admissions Manager, Washington State Bar Association
- Also attending: Jeff Shipley, Secretary and Director, Maryland State Board of Law Examiners, and 2022–2023 CBAA Chair
