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Committee Findings andRecommendationsThe Committee has identified the following areasof particularized long-range concern for TCDLA. TheCommittee believes these areas should be thoroughlydiscussed and addressed by the Board. Where appropriate,the Committee has recommended specific actionsto implement the stated goals.Goal—Work to increase diversity among the membershipof TCDLA, including both speakers and organizationalleadership.TCDLA recognizes the importance of the participationand involvement of women and minorities in allaspects of the organization—such as, but not limited to,seminar speakers, course directors, committee chairs,and top leadership positions in TCDLA. The associationwill make a concerted effort to encourage the participationof women and minorities for these positions and toencourage women and minorities to join and participatein TCDLA. Some members have expressed concernsabout diversity issues within the TCDLA leadership, andan objective analysis of such issues should be consideredin the short term, along with coordinating suchefforts with the existing committees within TCDLA toimplement any necessary changes.Goal—Strive to increase TCDLA’s presence on lawschool campuses across the State.The majority of future TCDLA members will attendand graduate from a Texas law school. As the statewideorganization for criminal defense lawyers in the State ofTexas, TCDLA must continue to encourage law studentinterest in the study of criminal law. TCDLA needs tocreate and support law school trial advocacy programs,internships, and other criminal law courses and programsthat prepare law students to become professionalcriminal defense lawyers. The TCDLA organization involvementwith law schools and law students is sporadic,well meaning, but not at all well organized. TCDLAshould consider and create an institutional frameworkand create and designate specific programs for lawstudent participation in the TCDLA. Will a TCDLA LawStudent Division, Section, or Committee work best forTCDLA? Should a law student be a regular or ex officiomember of the TCDLA Board of Directors? If so, shouldthe law student member be elected by other TCDLAlaw student members? Or, should selection of a lawstudent Board Member position rotate yearly betweenthe Texas law schools, with the President or Chair ofthe law school criminal law organization affiliated withTCDLA filling the position for a year? Should TCDLAencourage existing law school criminal law associationsto affiliate with TCDLA to create a law student division orsection? Would this be best accomplished with TCDLAand the local affiliate closest to the law school? TCDLAshould create a committee, and consider whether thecommittee should become a standing committee toaddress the framework for future law student participationin TCDLA. The committee should investigate andreport on current and future law student programs forlaw student participation in the TCDLA, including trialadvocacy programs and TCDLA sponsored internships.Goal—Keep TCDLA at the forefront of breakthroughsin technology to provide the most current advanceto our membership.TCDLA has a Technology Committee currently involvedin the following six projects:1. Organizational App—TCDLA plans to build an organizationalapp for smartphones and other mobiledevices. The app will be distinguishable from theTCDLA Legal App, which contains federal and statecriminal codes, rules, and statutes. The organizationalapp may include an online directory of TCDLAmembers, a system for registering for CLE, a methodfor purchasing publications and merchandise, asystem for renewing TCDLA membership, plus anAmazon-type “suggestions” feature for suggestingadditional CLE and purchases to TCDLA members.The Technology Committee estimates that TCDLAhas budgeted up to $15,000 for an organizationalapp. (It may be possible to use CDLP grant moneyto offset as much as 40–67 percent of the cost.) Additionalmaintenance fees would be expected in theyears ahead. The Technology Committee is in theprocess of securing bids for developing the app,then will study the bids and report back to TCDLAleadership. The Technology Committee hopes tohave the construction well underway, if not completed,by June 2012.