21st Century Work Force: Can Your Students Make the Grade?
The students in the class of 2008 will undoubtedly be entering a different workplace than their predecessors. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in community corrections, where probation and parole practitioners are facing the need to adapt to changing social and political mandates. The question for higher education is to what extent colleges and universities are participating in that process. The National Institute of Corrections is attempting to answer this question as part of its project to examine 21st century work force needs in community corrections, including the ability of agencies to meet future recruitment, selection, retention and career advancement demands.
In conjunction with that effort, NIC is soliciting assistance in identifying practices that help bridge the gap between classroom theory and its application to careers. NIC would like to hear from those of you in higher education who have developed avenues for promoting mutual objectives through collaborative partnerships with community corrections. Examples might include creative internship programs, promotional preparation, entry-level certification, job task analysis, co-op education, leadership development, and the like, as applied to community corrections.
Anyone with examples of such initiatives is encouraged to contact Dr. Jeanne Stinchcomb, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida Atlantic University, (954) 762-5138; stinchco@fau.edu. Particularly innovative and creative initiatives will be featured in a "best practices" section of the NIC report highlighting the involvement of higher education in community corrections.
