Distance Learning Drives NCDA's Merger with NDAA
THE NATIONAL COLLEGE of District Attorneys (NCDA) was founded in 1969 by the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA), the American Bar Association, and the American College of Trial Lawyers to provide continuing education for the nation's prosecutors. Its establishment was the result of a report by a commission on crime, appointed by President Lyndon Johnson, which found that prosecuting attorneys were poorly trained. From the beginning, although the other organizations were involved in its creation and governance, NDAA was meant to be the dominant sponsoring organization. Since 1969, the relationship between NDAA and NCDA has been very close. The bylaws of NCDA provide that the chairman of the NCDA Board of Regents shall be selected from among the eight NDAA members of the 14-member board. In 1992, NCDA was named the official training arm of NDAA and a close collaboration between the associations resulted in enhanced training opportunities for prosecuting attorneys.
The first course offered by NCDA was the Career Prosecutor Course, which was presented during the summer of 1970 at NCDA's newly established "home" at the University of Houston Law Center in Houston, Texas. Since then, NCDA has consistently presented quality training programs throughout the United States, reaching thousands of prosecutors from cities and towns of all sizes.
The first permanent dean of NCDA was selected in the fall of 1970. George Van Hoomissen, who was the district attorney in Portland, Oregon, assumed the reins of NCDA, which quickly established itself as America's school for prosecutors. At the time of this selection, Mr. Van Hoomissen was serving as a vice president of NDAA. The present dean of NCDA, Robert S. Fertitta, became a member of NDAA while serving as an assistant state's attorney in Baltimore, Maryland, and has continued to be active in all association activities.
With the establishment of the National Advocacy Center (NAC) in 1998, the relationship between NDAA and NCDA became much closer. NCDA was asked to participate in the training at the Advocacy Center and as a result, NCDA moved from Houston to the University of South Carolina in 1999.
When I became your executive director last June, the position of director of education at the NAC became vacant and I immediately asked Dean Fertitta to become the acting director, while maintaining the role of dean of NCDA. This move was designed to further cement the already close ties we have enjoyed for over 35 years. For the first time, there is a coordinated approach to the planning and scheduling of courses that are offered by NDAA and NCDA as well as the American Prosecutors Research Institute (APRI).
NDAA is now entering the next generation of delivering continuing education to prosecutors. With the launching of the NDAA TV channel, the collaborative efforts of NDAA, NCDA and APRI will bring much needed training into prosecutors' offices. Distance education will complete the circle of training options available to prepare our prosecutors to meet the challenge of protecting the rights and safety of the American public.
The proposed merger of NCDA and NDAA is a far-sighted and beneficial move. The leadership displayed by the NDAA Board of Directors, the NCDA Board of Regents and a hard working committee representing the two associations has ensured that our association is meeting the needs of America's prosecutors in an unselfish and progressive manner.
