May 23, 2019

For years, Illinois has been a national leader in judicial education.  In 2016, the Illinois Supreme Court further raised the bar when it announced the creation of a Judicial College to provide competency-based comprehensive continuing education programs and professional development training to the state's judges and justice partners. The Supreme Court created the Illinois Judicial College – through leadership vested in the Judicial College Board of Trustees and the Chairs and Vice Chairs of the six Standing Committees – with the goal of serving as the primary vehicle for the planning, development and execution of all education and training on behalf of the Supreme Court. 

The Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts (AOIC) recently announced a number of staff and leadership changes in the Judicial Education Division. These changes were necessitated by the fact that the Judicial College now has reached a critical point in its development: the impending rollout of the Illinois Judicial College curricula developed by all six committees, and the need to adhere to fundamental instructional strategies and core educational objectives.  To achieve that task, a new Division was created within the AOIC – the Judicial College Division.

Cyrana Mott, who has served as Assistant Director of the Judicial Education Division since 2009, is now the Director of the Judicial College. Gloria Evans will serve as Administrative Assistant to the Judicial College Director. It is anticipated that additional positions will be put in place to support the College in the near future as necessitated by the rollout of several hundred courses over the next three years.

The Judicial College Board of Trustees is currently reviewing the curricula submitted by the six standing committees that make up the College: Circuit Court Clerk Education, Guardian ad Litem Education, Judicial Branch Staff Education, Judicial Education, Probation Education and Trial Court Administrator Education. The Board is expected to provide feedback to the committees by July 1, 2019.

These developments led to the following staffing changes in the Judicial Education Division:

Jerome Galang, a Judicial Education Training Manager since 2016, has been appointed as the Interim Assistant Director of the Judicial Education Division.  All judicial conferences will continue to be managed by Judicial Education. Hannah Beder, John Mulligan and Anita Shore continue in their roles as Judicial Education Training Managers. Laura Naughton and Darli Cortez will serve as Conference Coordinator and Administrative Assistant to the Assistant Director.  

I would like to thank these staff members for the hard work they have put into getting the Judicial College started all while maintaining the ongoing work related to planning and managing judicial conferences. I would also like to thank the Judicial College Board of Trustees and the members of the six Judicial College Standing Committees for their hard work and significant commitment of time in creating a new body that holds the promise of fostering excellence in the Judicial Branch for years to come.