Follow us on…
Criminal justice program producing top-notch graduates in growing field
The training Salene Adcock received as a student of San Jacinto College’s criminal justice program has helped her to excel as a fast-thinking police and EMS dispatcher with the Pearland Police Department.
PASADENA, Texas – Criminal justice is one of the fastest growing career fields, and San Jacinto College is producing top-notch graduates who are pursuing their dream of working in law enforcement.
Criminal justice is an ever-expanding career field that offers employment in areas such as law enforcement at local and federal levels, and various positions in social work, corrections, probation and parole. James Holmes, department chair of the criminal justice program at San Jacinto College North, says there is a high demand for employees because employment in criminal justice tends to be cyclical. “In good economic times, criminal justice agencies find it hard to recruit qualified applicants,” Holmes says. “This is the situation we have now. Criminal justice agencies are having a difficult time attracting enough qualified applicants to the vacancies they currently have.”
Salene Adcock, a 2004 graduate of the criminal justice program at the San Jacinto College Central campus, had no problem securing employment. After graduating from San Jacinto College with an associate degree in criminal justice, Adcock transferred to the University of Houston – Clear Lake, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in criminology. She is currently a telecommunications operator for the City of Pearland, where she enjoys the law enforcement field and how it works.
“If it was not for San Jacinto College and the criminal justice program, I really do not believe I would be as happy as I am now,” said Adcock. “Criminal justice is all around us and I did not realize it until I walked into the classroom.”
Graduates of the criminal justice program at San Jacinto College can expect to have the knowledge and background to secure employment as a police officer at the local, county or state level; or move on to a four-year university where they can study public administration, law, forensics, social science, social work, corrections or a multitude of other fields. “Criminal justice can open doors for any job that requires a two-year degree,” said Dr. Robyn Ring, department chair on the Central campus. “It is open to all employment that is non-specific in degree.”
Dr. Ring remembers always wanting to be a police officer. She uses her passion for the profession to teach and instill that same passion in her students who wish to become police officers and professionals in the field. In fact, Dr. Ring was one of the reasons Adcock decided to pursue a criminal justice degree. “I had made plans to become a certified public accountant,” recalls Adcock. “But then I decided to take Dr. Ring’s introduction to criminal justice course as an elective, and she converted me to the field. I thank San Jacinto College for the schooling I received, because without them I might be working in a boring job. Now I look forward to going to work and the opportunity to learn something new every day.”
San Jacinto College offers an associate of applied science, associate of arts, and certificate of technology in criminal justice at both its Central and North campuses. The program is relatively small, which affords students a low student to instructor ratio. Each instructor in the program has a criminal justice background, and they each have contacts in the field to help their students succeed beyond the classroom.
For more information about the criminal justice program at San Jacinto College, contact James Holmes on the North campus at 281-998-6150, ext. 7435 or james.holmes@sjcd.edu; or Dr. Robyn Ring on the Central campus at 281-476-1873 or robyn.ring@sjcd.edu.
For information about San Jacinto College, please visit http://www.sanjac.edu/ or call 281-998-6150.
Comments
Tell me what you're thinking...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!