Author: Laura Dorman

Data tools credited for reducing pretrial crime

Data tools credited for reducing pretrial crime

There is much debate on the topic of pretrial bail and on which defendants should be detained and which handcuffsdefendants should be released safely prior to trial. According to the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), a suspect’s release pending trial is almost exclusively based on the charge and whether the suspect has enough money to bail himself or herself out of jail. The release decision is often not based on an informed assessment of whether he or she is a danger to society and/or is likely to return to court for trial.

“Research has shown that under our current system, half of the most dangerous or likely to flee arrestees/defendants are able to make a monetary bail amount and leave jail unsupervised,” claims IACP.

The IACP pretrial justice reform initiative was established in partnership with the Public Welfare Foundation and the Pretrial Justice Institute, with a goal of educating criminal justice leaders on how their local system can save and maximize their limited resources through pretrial reform.

“Reform” is also the buzzword around the implementation of the Public Safety Assessment – Court (PSA-Court) tool in Kentucky. This summer, the Laura and John Arnold Foundation released results from the first six months of PSA-Court. According to their website, IACP is “very pleased and supportive” of the Arnold Foundation’s findings.

Among other things, the PSA-Court report claimed that crime by defendants on pretrial release declined by 15% and the overall number of defendants on pretrial release increased by 70%.

At University of Louisville, the Department of Justice Administration closely follows the trends in public safety, including corrections policies and reforms implementation. Students in the justice administration degree programs (master’s and Ph.D. levels) often use their knowledge acquired in the classroom to create analytical models for scanning the corrections environment, assessing the contemporary issues and proposing solutions to local and state government officials.

“In our master’s program in justice administration, students work closely with local criminal justice agencies and assist these organizations in analyses that result in more effective and efficient operations. Also, as part of a required coursework, our students in the Ph.D. program collaborate closely with criminal justice agencies to develop and assess the implementation of various strategies such as victim/witness programs and day reporting centers” said Dr. Deborah Keeling, Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Justice Department at the University of Louisville.

PSA-Court also uses a data driven risk assessment tool, developed by the Arnold Foundation, to help inform judicial decisions about which defendants should be detained and which defendants can most safely be released prior to trial. The report says that, “defendants flagged by the PSA-Court as being at an increased risk of violence are rearrested for violent acts at a rate of 17 times higher than that of defendants who are not flagged.

The full report from the Arnold Foundation on the Public Safety Assessment in Kentucky is available for viewing online.

The Laura and John Arnold Foundation (LJAF) is a private foundation with offices in Houston and New York City. The Foundation is currently focused on the three primary issue areas: Criminal Justice Reform, K-12 Public Education, and Public Accountability. The Foundation’s “core objective is to produce substantial, widespread and lasting national and community reforms that will maximize opportunities and minimize injustice in our society.”

If you’re interested in developing superior expertise in the field of criminal justice, join our elite education program at the bachelor’s, master’s or Ph.D. levels. To apply and enroll to the criminal justice degrees offered online at the University of Louisville, please visit our program page on Louisville.edu/online.

B.S. in Organizational Leadership and Learning: Outstanding Adult Education Program Of The Year

B.S. in Organizational Leadership and Learning: Outstanding Adult Education Program Of The Year

UofL’s Organizational Leadership and Learning (OLL) bachelor’s program receives the 2013 Malcolm Knowles Award for Outstanding Adult Education Program of the Year

The Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership and Learning program at the University of Louisville is the recipient of the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education’s (AAACE) 2013 Malcolm Knowles Award. This is the first time the award has ever been awarded to a bachelor’s degree program.

The award was established in the name of Malcolm S. Knowles for his distinguished contribution to the field of adult education and his development of the theory of andragogy. Knowles’ theoretical and practical approach is based on a humanistic conception of self-directed and autonomous learners and teachers as facilitators of learning.

The award recognizes teams or individuals for outstanding leadership of programs that demonstrate effectiveness, relevancy, creativity, immediacy, institutional cooperation or collaboration and legislative impact. Matt Bergman, assistant professor, and Kevin Rose, assistant professor, both with the Department of Leadership, Foundations and Human Resource Education at UofL, accepted the award on behalf of the Organizational Leadership and Learning (OLL) program at the AAACE’s annual conference.

To be eligible for this award, a degree program must serve the adult learner population for a minimum of two years and demonstrate efficient adoption of the andragogical process. The Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership and Learning is delivered on campus or online to meet the needs to nontraditional students who are employed, taking care of their family or are engaged in community projects or services.

Referring to how this award reflects the positive learning outcomes of the bachelor’s program, Matt Bergman said ”With more than 96,000 adults in the greater Louisville area who have some college and no degree, we believe that our Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership and Learning program is a very effective option for completing a bachelor’s education. This program is built on a solid foundation of high standards that focus on a relevant, rigorous, and research based curriculum that balance the need for greater educational attainment with high quality learning outcomes for our students. Our program’s adult learning advocates continually embrace the support and resources from our campus community, the Louisville region, and the National Degree Completion initiatives to advance educational attainment for so many working adults with some college and no degree.

Kevin Rose also shared his thoughts about the quality of the program and how it impacts continuous professional development: “Our program is receiving national recognition for our efforts to meet the education needs of adult learners. This recognition reflects our faculty’s commitment to making this program particularly relevant for students with prior knowledge and work experience.” We continually strive for new and better ways to deliver a rigorous, relevant, and research-based curriculum that empowers our students to make an impact in their lives and workplaces. This recognition would also not be possible without the great students that we serve and the level of enthusiasm and professionalism they bring to the classroom. Our program is better because of our outstanding students.

In the OLL program, students benefit from a learning climate that is relaxed, trusting, mutually respectful, informal, warm, collaborative, and supportive. Learners and facilitators participate equally in planning the learning process and assessing the learning needs. Most of all, students learn through experiential techniques, inquiry projects or independent study. Learning process assessments are completed by evaluating learner-collected evidence validated by peers, experts and facilitators.

The College of Education and Human Development at University of Louisville strives to provide all students with quality learning opportunities, modern teaching and learning methods and flexible delivery of programs that help professionals achieve their long-term goals and stand out in their profession and organization. Our bachelor’s graduates are fully equipped to advance their career and pursue further studies in organization development. Many of our students go on to become effective leaders, experts in their industry and champions of change in the society.

To learn more about the online programs offered by the College of Education and Human Development, visit:
BS OLL page (http://louisville.edu/online/programs/bachelors/bachelor-of-science-in-organizational-leadership-and-learning?utm_source=blog-malcolm)
MS HROD page (http://louisville.edu/online/programs/masters/master-of-science-in-human-resources-and-organization-development&utm_source=blog-malcolm)

 

University of Louisville – A Military Friendly School

University of Louisville – A Military Friendly School

GIJOBS image_previewUofL recognized for its service to active duty and veterans for the fifth consecutive year

Louisville, KY – The University of Louisville (UofL) has been recognized by G.I. Jobs as a Military Friendly School for the fifth consecutive year. G.I. Jobs is an extensive web resources and monthly magazine designed to help veterans make the transition from military service to the civilian workforce.

The Military Friendly Schools list acknowledges top colleges, universities and trade schools for their success in providing quality services, creating smooth processes and making education affordable for active duty and veterans who want to start, advance or complete their college education.

The survey distributed by G.I. Jobs to students who serve or have served in the military is designed to gather information about students’ learning experience, services and affordability at their college. More than 8,000 schools have participated in the survey nationwide.

Throughout all services and processes dedicated to enrolling service members and veterans, the University of Louisville has consistently demonstrated its commitment to provide the best learning environment and college experience possible. The office of Military and Veteran Student Services at UofL is dedicated to smooth the transition from military life to student life by devoting individualized support to veteran students and their families in providing a broad range of services, coordinating with VA, university departments, and other community organizations.

Our staff assists with identifying federal and state education benefit options; advocating military transfer credit; withdrawals/re-admit due to deployments or call to Active Duty status; or connecting veteran students with campus resources, veteran service providers, and other agencies encouraging academic success at the University of Louisville.

“To be honored by G.I. Jobs as one of the military friendly schools, year after year, is a great testament to the collectively devoted efforts to ensure that our students who have served our country get the best education for the career they want at an affordable cost.” said Laura Dorman, marketing manager for online learning, at UofL. “Our online community of learners is much enhanced as a result of the experience, talent and skills that military students bring to the classroom and share with our civilian students. Their leadership and motivation continuously raise the bar for all learners.”

Our military students truly enjoy the availability of online education at UofL, because they can attend online classes and online programs from any location in the world. Whether pursuing a career in criminal justice, nursing, organizational leadership, HR or engineering, they appreciate the innovative learning methods, schedule flexibility, career-relevant curriculum and the extensive expertise of the faculty leading the learning journey.
We know how much pride our military students take in serving our country, and we are tremendously proud to serve them in return.

To learn more about the military benefits offered at UofL, visit our dedicated pages http://louisville.edu/online/military. To view all available online programs at UofL, visit our site http://louisville.edu/online.