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University to Open Corrections Officers Training Academy, on Campus, in January 2014

Ferris State UniversityFerris State University’s School of Criminal Justice is in the final stages of designing a local Corrections Officers Training Academy that is slated to open in 2014.

In response to a recommendation by the Michigan Sheriff’s Association’s Training Council, the school plans to open a Corrections Officers Training Academy. Although Ferris will not be responsible for providing certification, the academy will allow two tracks for people interested in working in county jails.

“This academy experience will allow students to become eligible for certification by the Michigan Sheriff’s Association Training Council to become county jail corrections officers,” said Mischelle Stone, an associate professor in the School of Criminal Justice.

Students already enrolled in the School of Criminal Justice bachelor’s degree program, on the corrections track, can take “Applied Correctional Strategies” in January 2014, a class that will make them eligible for certification through the MSATC. This class is only open to students who have already completed all of the corrections classes as prerequisites.

The School of Criminal Justice already allows students to obtain certification to be state prison corrections officers. The course allows students to become eligible for certification as county jail corrections officers.

“This will open up job opportunities for students graduating from the School of Criminal Justice,” Stone said. “With more than 80 counties in Michigan, this opens students up to a wealth of new opportunities.”

Besides the offered course, Ferris will open a separate academy in Summer 2014. Consisting of 160 hours of training, the academy is expected to cost $1,200 per person and is open to anyone. 

The academy will take place on the Big Rapids campus in the Southwest Commons and it was designed for sheriffs to be able to send their current, pre-serviced employees that are not certified to be county corrections officers.