BUILDING STRONGER AND BETTER

With the addition of the new Borup Coliseum expansion taking shape, it’s easy to see how Dana College is shaping the landscape for the future. But buildings are just places to learn. Changes in Dana’s academic offerings will ensure that next year will be even stronger than this one, and that Dana College graduates will be leaders in the workplaces of tomorrow.

Damien Dempsay has always wanted to pursue corrections as a career. One look at the 6-foot, 260-pound Viking offensive lineman and you can see how well he’s suited to handling violent offenders.

But inside that tough exterior is a compassionate heart and a thoughtful mind. Dempsay wants to work with troubled kids to get them out of the justice system before they are too far in to save. He’s seen too much from his life in Grand Island, Neb., and his internship at the Omaha Correctional Center to believe in taking all criminal offenders — violent or not — and locking them up forever.

This year, Dempsay is a junior sociology major, studying in one of the state’s preeminent social work and sociology departments. But thanks to an enlightened and progressive decision by Dana administrators and faculty, Dempsay will have the chance to be a senior criminal justice major in one of the most forward-thinking programs in the region.

The addition of a new criminal justice major is just one of several changes for the 2003-04 academic year at Dana. A reorganization of the communication department will allow students a more structured instructional approach for use in this broad career field. A new minor in e-studies could become Dana’s new interdisciplinary program and a stepping stone for high-tech jobs of the future. Taking advantage of Dana’s strong physical education department and active student body, sports management will also become a concentration. With all these changes, plus the addition of five new full-time faculty positions, it is easy to understand why Provost and Dean of the College Dr. Brian Viets said, “Dana is going to be a different place next year.”

The addition of the criminal justice major, probably the biggest change for next year, was a perfect example of how Dana strives to meet current market demand by prospective students while staying true to its traditions.

Interest in criminal justice as a major has been growing among all American high school students, and the ones who have applied to Dana recently have been no exception. During a review of what applicants were showing interest in, Director of Admissions Jim Lynes discovered criminal justice was ranking near the top of the list. Even without it listed as one of the school’s majors, more than 100 students interested in Dana last fall listed it as one of their probable majors. Everyone seemed to be asking about it — students, community college and high school counselors, and representatives from Omaha’s Chicano Awareness Center.

“Interest cut across all students,” Lynes said. “We had traditional and non-traditional students asking for it, athletes and non-athletes. If a prospective student wants to major in criminal justice, we had to tell them we have a criminal justice concentration. When they are looking at another school that has a criminal justice major, and we have it as a concentration, that other school is going to get more of their attention.”

But what is popular isn’t always right, especially for a small, liberal arts school like Dana. Trends tend to come and go in student interest inventories, often linked to what’s hot in popular culture. (For instance, forensic science is the current star, largely due to television ratings sensation “CSI.”) The strength at Dana is more in keeping quality, broad-based faculty members capable of instilling the liberal arts tradition in students, than to hire and fire specifically trained instructors based on whatever is “cool” that year.

“Whenever we approach a new program, we look to make sure it fits our philosophy,” Viets said. At first glance, criminal justice wouldn’t be the type of degree expected at Dana. The approach at most colleges and universities that have a criminal justice major is based more on procedures of arrest than theories about why people commit crime. The whole point of attending a liberal arts college is to learn how to think in whatever career you choose, not train for a very specific job.

The “law and order” approach isn’t the only available perspective on criminal justice, though. As more states are facing budget crises brought on by incarcerating so many prisoners, more policymakers are looking toward the restorative justice perspective for answers. Restorative justice emphasizes community-based initiatives in dealing with crime, especially through rehabilitation and reconciliation. It is primarily used for non-violent crimes and incorporates restitution, dialogue and supervision to ensure the offender doesn’t offend again.

The approach draws heavily on the discipline of social work, and Dana is nationally known for its excellence in preparing future social workers. It also calls for professionals who are educated — not trained — and are able to respond to unique community issues.

“Everyone has a criminal justice degree, but the way Dana is doing it is different,” Viets said. “With restorative justice, the philosophical approach is different. It requires a sound foundation in the liberal arts, a broad background to deal with a variety of positions and situations.”

The utility-player aspect will give Dana criminal justice graduates the leg up on the competition in looking for positions, said Richard Potter, associate professor of social work, and social work and sociology department chairman. At the National Association of Social Workers Convention last summer, a resolution was passed calling restorative justice the future of corrections. As policies change, agencies will be looking for new hires with a restorative justice background. Potter believes criminal justice graduates trained in the “law and order” approach at other schools won’t be able to “do the job” 10 years from now.

“Right now we incarcerate more people percentage-wise than Saudi Arabia, Iran or Iraq,” Potter said. “You’ve heard people say we can’t afford to imprison so many people. What needs to happen — and what will happen — is we need to be more clear in our understanding of rehabilitation and reconciliation.”

The restorative justice approach isn’t limited to police and corrections officers. Dana’s criminal justice major will be a good foundation for graduates looking to become Federal Bureau of Investigations and Drug Enforcement Agency agents, sheriffs, probation and parole officers, criminal lawyers and judges, among others.

The focus is perfect for Damien Dempsay, who wants to get into the criminal justice field to help people, not warehouse them. Dempsay was comfortable with his sociology major, but said he learned during his internship at the Omaha Correctional Center how much employers expect job applicants to have a degree in criminal justice. He’s happy with the restorative justice approach, since he’s never wanted to be the person to slap on the cuffs.

“You see so many of these kids getting in trouble because they are acting out for environmental reasons,” Dempsay said. “They just want attention and don’t care if it’s positive or negative. That’s where I want to come into effect. I want to be that positive role model who gets them out of the system before they get in.”

Changes in the world outside have also led to a change inside Dana’s Communication Department. Beginning next fall, students will choose between majoring in organizational communication and intercultural communication. The old general communication major will be a thing of the past.

“The change reflects the direction communication is headed today,” Viets said. “There is much more of a focus on organizational and intercultural communication.”

Assistant Professor of Communication Lisa Schreiber was the main force behind the change. She said the new organization of the department will provide students with coursework that has more depth and is more clearly focused.

“Our goal was just to make sure that students have the knowledge and skills that will prepare them well for careers and life,” Schreiber said. “Now classes build on each other to help reinforce what we want students to learn.”

An organizational communication degree is similar to a business degree. A graduate will have mastered the way communication is handled in settings such as corporations and non-profit agencies and how those organizations communicate with the world. Possible career tracks for organizational communication majors include public relations, business management, human resources and corporate communications. If students are interested in communication, but not this particular area, they still have the option of majoring in intercultural communication and/or organizational communication and choosing a specific emphasis.

Dana admissions counselor Jenni Tekesky ’02 said the change in communication makes the overall program stronger, and therefore a stronger “sell” for prospective students. She’s also happy about the upgrade of sports management from an emphasis in the physical education major to a concentration.

“For years admissions has pushed for sports management to be a major or a minor,” she said. “This is a good move for us.”
Sports management, much like criminal justice, has been gaining momentum in student interest over the last decade. A career in sports used to be limited mainly to the teacher-coach tract, but with the explosion in professional, semi-professional and amateur teams, as well as the growth in the fitness industry, graduates with related degrees are in high demand.

The change to concentration was a natural step for Dana, Viets said. “We have so many gifted athletes who are also gifted students. I hope this move will help tie in with our athletic-academic atmosphere.”
The building of Dana’s academic programs isn’t complete or probably ever will be. A possible exciting new program has been approved for implementation next fall. The e-studies minor is be a groundbreaking move for Dana. It will bring four departments — communication, business, computer science and art — together to provide Dana’s new interdepartmental minor.

“This is the biggest collaborative effort we have,” Viets said. “It’s a response to what is happening in the world, but not a knee-jerk response. It’s a interdisciplinary approach to new means of communication.”

The dot-com bust didn’t obliterate the need for graduates versed in new media. Instead, the pressure is on for all potential employees to know about the Internet, broadband communications and computers, in addition to more traditional duties. Being a business, music or education major with a minor in e-studies will make future Dana graduates that much more attractive in the job market.
Once again, though, the program is designed to be more than just training students in specific skills.

“Students with this minor will understand how humans use technology to communicate,” Schreiber said. “It’s not just skills. It’s taking the skills you have and putting those skills to use in solving problems. That’s what education means.”

Dana Review

Winter 2003

Fall 2002