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Break-out role: PASSHE approves new criminal justice degree at Clarion

February 9, 2015
Above, from left to right: Paul Klenowski, Debra Sobina, Colleen McAleer, Pamela Gent

Clarion University was approved Jan. 22 to offer a bachelor’s degree completion program in criminal justice administration. PASSHE approved the program as part of its continuing focus on the critical workforce needs of Pennsylvania.

The new program provides individuals, who either hold a two-year degree or who have amassed 60 college credits, the opportunity to earn a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice administration. Designed for graduates of Clarion's associate degree in criminal justice program, as well as for associate degree graduates of community colleges and other institutions of higher education, the degree will provide upward career mobility within the various criminal justice occupational fields such as corrections and law enforcement, and court-related services such as probation, parole and rehabilitation.

Students will study managerial theory, applied research and analysis, budget and finance, policy evaluation and analysis, legal liability, conflict resolution and professional ethics. The first cohort of 25 to 30 students will begin in fall 2015; however, students will be able to begin taking classes as early as this summer.

Dr. Paul Klenowski, assistant professor and director of criminal justice at Clarion since 2008, said the bachelor's degree completion answers the immediate demand of students in the associate degree program, which currently has 50 enrollees.

"We have so many former graduates who have been waiting," Klenowski said. "Previous attempts to begin a bachelor's program were stopped early in the process because the proposed program wasn't offering anything substantially different from other PASSHE schools."

"In 2010 I sat down and began to create this bachelor's completion program. It's the 'administration' component – that's the key. I designed the program intentionally to help create the next generation of criminal justice leaders in the commonwealth and beyond," Klenowski said.

Of the 18,000 corrections officers in Pennsylvania, Klenowski said fewer than one-third have bachelor's degrees. The people in leadership positions – wardens, assistant wardens, case managers, etc. – are largely baby boomers, who are reaching retirement age. That leaves a void in those areas, without a workforce qualified to move into the positions. The bachelor's degree completion program will help to fill that void.

"It is essential that we as a system, working together, continually adapt and align our academic programming to respond to workforce demands and this program does just that," said PASSHE Chancellor Frank T. Brogan.

For information visit www.clarion.edu/crim-justice.

Last Updated 1/11/21