Michael Dennehy, executive dean, Social Science and World Languages divisions
One of the major goals for the Social Science Division in the coming academic year is the introduction of a new Associate of Arts Degree with a Field of Study in Criminal Justice. The development of this program started at an instructional dean's meeting in the fall of 2008, when the discussion revolved around possible new programs that could help students during this economic downturn.
The instructional deans were discussing career fields that tended to be recession-proof, and criminal justice seemed to be one that fit this requirement. The deans also recognized there would be a great deal of work involved in documenting the need for this program in the District, as the other colleges currently offering the program would have to eventually approve the new one. In the end and after several months of work, Brookhaven College was able to gain approval for the new Criminal Justice Program, the only one located in the northern part of Dallas County.
I had the task of documenting the need for this program. I first called on Teri Walker, dean of planning, research and institutional effectiveness, to create informative and original maps which visually captured the criminal justice student enrollment patterns across the entire DCCCD. There was a definite lack of students enrolling in criminal justice from the northern part of Dallas County, especially the northwestern part of the county. The mapping software created a visual that was used in several presentations to the DCCCD Vice President's Council. The maps really told the story in a visual way and this information pointed to a possible access issue for students wanting criminal justice courses.
According to the 2008-2009 Occupational Handbook, careers in law enforcement, criminal justice and protection services are growing nationally at a rate between 6 and 17 percent. Between 2008 and 2013, it's expected that jobs in the Dallas-Fort Worth criminal justice field will grow more than 20 percent.
We also found that there were actually more than 400 law enforcement openings for the City of Dallas, and other Brookhaven-area law enforcement departments also reported similar needs. After gaining approval from the VPIs, the Social Science Division launched a Web page for the program and calls started coming in from students wanting information about the program.
The program also is being helped by Vargha Manshadi, one of the college’s newest academic advisors, guiding students who want to pursue this degree. The three new adjunct instructors for this program have many years of experience in the law enforcement field.
Sid Fuller, is the Chief of Police for Farmers Branch and has a Master of Arts degree in criminal justice from the University of Texas at Arlington. Chief Fuller will be teaching Introduction to Criminal Justice at night.
Thomas Parr will be teaching our daytime sections of criminal justice. He has a Master of Science in criminal justice from East Central University in Oklahoma and is currently completing a Ph.D. in criminology at the University of North Texas.
Since the program contains several law courses, the Fundamentals of Criminal Law and Court Systems and Practices courses will be taught by David Griggs, who holds a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the University of Tennessee. Griggs also is qualified to teach government and has many years of legal experience with the Federal Trade Commission in the Dallas Office.
I am anticipating a very good enrollment for the fall semester based on the number of calls we have received, and the actual enrollments up to this point in time are looking very good.
