MIAMI DADE COLLEGE ANNOUNCES ITS FIRST GRADUATE WITH THE BACHELOR OF APPLIED SCIENCE IN
PUBLIC SAFETY MANAGEMENT
Miami, Florida – Aug. 27, 2007 - Miami Dade College (MDC) is proud to announce that Germina Pierre has completed her upper division coursework and is the college’s first graduate ever with the Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) in Public Safety Management. She fulfilled all requirements this summer. Her hard work and perseverance have paid off since she is graduating with honors and has a job offer from the Florida Department of Children and Families as a child protective investigator.
Pierre, who is 21, completed her Associate in Arts in Criminal Justice at MDC’s North Campus and immediately recognized that the college’s BAS in Public Safety Management was a perfect fit for her career goals. “She felt a strong connection with the college and the Criminal Justice faculty who consistently bring real world perspectives to the classroom,” said Dr. Donna Jennings, director of the School of Justice.
The School of Justice began in 1970 as a police training center answering the community call for more law enforcement officers. After nearly 40 years of service to the law enforcement community and the region, the School of Justice implemented the BAS degree with a major in Public Safety Management in the fall of 2006. The four year program is designed to meet the growing need for baccalaureate-trained professionals in the public safety fields of Emergency Management, Crime Scene Investigation, Criminal Justice, Probation and Parole, Security and Loss Prevention, Corrections, and Law Enforcement.
The addition of this second baccalaureate program at the college has created a pathway to upper-division educational opportunities for non-traditional students. There are currently 140 students registered for classes this fall in the BAS of Public Safety Management.
“The degree represents a milestone not only for Ms. Pierre, but also for the College,” said Dr. José Vicente, president of the North Campus. “We are all so proud of her and her classmates and honored that we can make these opportunities available to the dynamic community we serve.”
Classes for the college’s third baccalaureate program, the Bachelor of Science in Nursing, begin in January 2008. The college’s first bachelor program in education was launched in 2002. Please note that registration for the fall term is open and ongoing.
For more information, contact Vivien Carter, program manager, School of Justice, at 305-237-8161. An event recognizing Pierre will be scheduled in the coming weeks. More information will follow.
Media contacts only: Juan C. Mendieta, MDC director of communications 305-237-7611 (jmendiet@mdc.edu) or Beverly Counts Rodrigues, MDC director of media relations 305-237-3949 (brodrigu@mdc.edu).