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Global Classroom A Click Away for Forensics Students in Iraq
“The University of Florida is in Gainesville. The Gator Nation is everywhere” proclaims a current campaign of the nation’s fourth largest university. Perhaps nowhere is this more apparent than in the University of Florida Forensic Science Distance Education Program.
Founded just seven years ago, the Forensic Science Program today has over 400 students from 28 countries enrolled in its growing list of accredited master’s degree and certificate offerings. The program’s students are literally spread around the globe, logging in to do coursework from Antarctica to Hong Kong and many places in between. Gainesville, Florida may be the physical location of the program, but the program’s students really are everywhere.
As one might imagine, the program has proven a particularly attractive match for working professionals who are looking to further their education and hone their skills, but that work during the day. Given that the program is based online, students can complete their coursework in the evenings and on the weekends. More traditional students also appreciate this flexibility.
Another group that has embraced the University of Florida’s distance education program is the U.S. military. The Forensic Science Program currently has students enrolled from every branch of the armed services, including military personnel serving in Iraq. Thanks to the Internet, continuing one’s education is only a few clicks away.
“I still can’t believe I’ve been able to take 10 semester hours of forensic science credit, while in Iraq,” explained Kathleen A. Johnson, Battalion Operations Sergeant and CID Special Agent for the U.S. Army at Camp Victory, Iraq. “Modern technology and Internet access is an amazing thing.”
Johnson is winding down her military career and plans to either teach criminal justice classes to military college students or work in a crime lab. Either way, an advanced degree in forensic science should prove valuable.
Recent Forensic Science Program alumnus, Major Sean “Knute” Adcock of the U.S. Air Force, has already benefited from his degree. Adcock credits his master’s degree in Forensic DNA and Serology with advancing his career and landing him a plum new job assignment.
“In the quarter in which I graduated I won company grade officer for the entire Kadena Air Base (in Okinawa, Japan),” said Adcock, who explained that this award is given to the top officer out of over 1,000 on the base. “I'm also quite certain that getting my master’s degree helped me to get the C-40 assignment.”
Adcock was recently assigned to the Ramstein Air Base in Germany where he now flies the C-40, a variant of the 737 Boeing business jet. In this new position, Adcock provides VIP transport for U.S. and Allied leaders.
James Carrillo, a current student in the master’s in Forensic Science track, recently separated from the U.S. Air Force and now works in the private sector. He credits the program with giving him the knowledge and credibility to land a job in lab management.
“Having an advanced degree will always provide you with more credibility when seeking a job. Now that I’m separated from the Air Force, my master’s degree has given me the opportunity to work in a lab management position,” Carrillo said.
Mobilized military reserve personnel have also found the Forensic Science Program an ideal setting for furthering their education and applying what they’ve learned out in the field. In early 2006, First Lieutenant Nicole Duett of the U.S. Army was mobilized to Fort Lewis, Washington. Duett serves as the Mobilization Officer of the Western Region Medical Command.
“This program allows me to get my degree from a school that I know has a fantastic reputation…The classes are very interesting. Even though I work in an office setting, I do have to deal with some medical aspects and sometimes I can extract part of the class and apply it to my work,” said Duett.
Duett pointed out that, not only are her classmates located around the globe, but some of her professors are located abroad as well. Program faculty members Dr. David Harrison and Dr. Alex Graham are both based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Program instructor Alicia Lusiardo teaches from Montevideo, Uruguay.
Partner schools with the University of Florida Forensic Science Program include The University of Edinburgh, CESUMAR and Freevale in Brazil, Silpakorn University in Thailand and The University of Canberra and The Canberra Institute of Technology in Australia. The University of Florida is jointly launching with Canberra a certificate program in Environmental Forensics in the spring of 2008.
“Our programs have earned a well-respected international reputation through our growing student enrollments and through partnering and assisting universities and governments in South America, Europe and Asia in education, workshops and training,” said Dr. Ian Tebbett, Forensic Science Program Director.
Working professionals wishing to advance their careers in forensic science no longer have an excuse for not pursuing their educational goals. The global classroom is only a few clicks away.
The University of Florida Forensic Science Program offers master’s degrees and graduate certificates in six areas of forensic studies with coursework completed entirely online from any location. The only time master’s students must come to the campus in Gainesville, Florida is for final exams. Program details, tuition and admission requirements are available at www.forensicscience.ufl.edu. Questions may also be directed to jlarson@cop.ufl.edu.