Page 17 - MGA Today: Middle Georgia State University

By Sheron Smith

Middle Georgia State Teams Up with Police
Academy to Offer Public Safety Degree

People working to become law enforcement Cadets at GPSTC Bibb go through morning inspection. JESSICA WHITLEY
professionals can now complete associate's
degrees while in training or getting started • Students who are approved by the Peace Officer
in their first jobs, thanks to a new partnership Standards Training Council (POST) to attend the
between Middle Georgia State University and the Basic Law Enforcement Training program at GPSTC
Georgia Public Safety Training Center (GPSTC). may earn credits toward the certificate and/or degree
in public safety.
Middle Georgia State’s online two-year degree in
public safety is designed to give students attending • Sixteen credit hours are earned through the face-
the Basic Law Enforcement Training program at to-face tactical and hands-on training classes taught
GPSTC the chance to earn university credits. at a GPSTC training center or regional academy.
Another option students have is to earn a certificate An additional 17 credit hours in basic law
in public safety. enforcement will be taught online at Middle Georgia
State. The total 33 credit hours make up the
Students who complete the associate’s or certificate program.
certificate will be able to apply the credit toward a
Middle Georgia State bachelor’s degree. • To earn the associate’s degree, all courses will be
available online, enabling students to complete the
“This partnership benefits people who qualify for work from wherever they happen to be employed in
the GPSTC basic law enforcement training program law enforcement.
by providing a pathway to a higher education
degree,” said Dr. Art Recesso, assistant provost for • For now, the associate’s degree and certificate
innovation and outreach at Middle Georgia State. options are open to those beginning GPSTC training
“We recognize the highly specialized and advanced as of this fall. Recesso said he hopes to make the
training taking place at GPSTC. We wanted to give options available in the future to people who have
those students a flexible pathway to a university already graduated from GPSTC training programs.
degree program.”

Chris Wigginton, director of GPSTC, and Dr.
Christopher Blake, Middle Georgia State president,
formally signed the partnership agreement in
July 2015.

The degree and certificate programs represent an
expansion of a GPSTC/Middle Georgia State
association that began in June 2014. That’s when
the Georgia Public Safety Training Center, head-
quartered in Forsyth, opened GPSTC Bibb on the
Macon Campus. The academy leases space in the
Macon Campus’s Community Education Center.

Here are additional details about the public safety
degree and certificate programs:

Prospective students who want more information can visit www.mga.edu/public-safety.

Fall 2015 MIDDLE GEORGIA STATE TODAY 17