A new group of law enforcement officials graduated Feb. 20 from a University of Tennessee program for administrative leadership in criminal justice.
It is the third class to complete the Southeastern Command and Leadership Academy, a seven-week program started in January 2001 as part of UT’s Law Enforcement Innovation Center.
Mike Hill, who helps organize the program, said the graduates are law enforcement officials from Chattanooga, Cleveland, Franklin, Knoxville, Loudon, Nashville, Huntsville, Ala., Little Rock and Pine Bluff, Ark., Gulfport, Miss., and Bedford and Lynchburg, Va.
“This academy brought together command staff officers from law enforcement agencies in several states and some of the region’s top criminal justice scholars to prepare them for increased responsibilities in senior administrative positions,” Hill said. “It has provided them with new skills and knowledge that should have both immediate and long-term impact on their respective agency and community”.
The course, held at UT-Chattanooga, covers seven one-week sessions held over eight months. Taught by some of the nation’s most renowned criminologists, it offers 12 undergraduate credit hours or six graduate level credit hours through UT Chattanooga.
Areas of study included leadership and management, emerging trends in law enforcement, ethics and integrity, risk management and liability, planning and budgeting, managing diversity and media relations.
The academy is a partnership between UT’s Law Enforcement Innovation Center, UTC Continuing Education Division, UTC School of Arts and Sciences, and the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police.
A fourth class is set to begin in July 2004. The program has received federal funding to reduce the tuition from $5,000 to $2,950, Hill said.
For more information contact Hill at (865) 215-1351.