Huffman, Peterson graduate from Institute for Court Management Thursday, June 9, 2022
The North Dakota Court System had two of the nine graduates from the 50th class of the Institute for Court Management's Court Executive Development Program.
Megan Huffman, Cass County Clerk of Court, and Shawn Peterson, Director of Juvenile Court for Unit 1, are now Fellows of the Institute for Court Management.
The graduation was conducted remotely on Friday, June 3.
During the ceremony, Peterson was recognized with the Vice President’s Award for of Merit for Applied Research as presented by John Meeks, Vice President, Institute for Court Management. Peterson’s research was conducted on the Predictive Accuracy of the Youth Assessment Screening Instrument (YASI) in North Dakota.
Like courts, the ICM Fellows program adapted to a new way of doing business for this course.
Final presentations of the students’ research findings went virtual, along with graduation — which traditionally takes place at the U.S. Supreme Court. Not only did the 50th class mark a milestone in the program’s history, the group also participated in the first virtual ICM Fellows graduation ceremony.
“The major disruptions during the early months of COVID-19 prevented their ability to engage in their research and the completion of court projects,” said J.D. Gingerich, interim dean of the ICM Fellow program. “In some cases, the court locations where their research was focused were closed. Ordinary research activities such as in-person interviews, the ability to distribute surveys, and court observations all became difficult — if not impossible — to accomplish. The class members were finally able to present the results of their project work last year and submitted their papers earlier this year.”
Aside from Huffman and Peterson, the other graduates were:
- Seanna Annisette — Trinidad and Tobago
- Bridget M. Gazelle — Maryland
- Jacqueline Graham — Caribbean Court of Justice
- Brodie Kimmel — Alaska
- Brandon Kimura — Hawai’i
- Heather Pugh — California
- Alisa Shoults — Nevada
To become an ICM Fellow, candidates complete a rigorous four-step process that measures an individual’s aptitude in court management, research and executive leadership through three levels of certification. As the only intensive educational offering for court professionals in the U.S., the program boasts more than 1,300 alumni who represent 49 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and 12 foreign countries.
“The purpose of Fellows is to help participants develop personal leadership efficacy by relating evidence-based decision-making skills and knowledge to personal leadership approaches,” said Mandy Sarkissian, ICM Fellows education program manager. “By completing a novel, applied research project, participants learn the importance of sound data collection methods and testing heuristics.”
Since 1970, the Institute for Court Management has delivered training and education to judicial branch personnel in emerging areas of court leadership and management concepts, case management, human resources management, court performance standards and other areas deemed critical to professional development.
The ICM Fellows program offers the only intensive educational program for court professionals in the U.S. For more information, visit www.ncsc.org/education-and-careers/icm-fellows.