24 criminal justice majors begin hands-on forensics

The Messenger 07.11.12

Twenty-four students from 10 universities descended upon Oak Ridge Monday for the National Forensic Academy Collegiate Program.
The program is a joint venture between the University of Tennessee at Martin and the University of Tennessee Law Enforce-ment Innovation Center.
The students will spend three weeks at the LEIC facility in Oak Ridge in an abbreviated version of the center’s well-known 10-week, in-residence crime scene investigator training. They will study basic crime scene management, forensic digital photography, latent fingerprint processing, bloodstain analysis and forensic anthropology under the same instructors who teach at the 10-week academy.
“We are extremely pleased with the amount of interest we received in this first-time program,” said Don Green, LEIC executive director. “Our staff and the staff of the UT Martin criminal justice department have done a great job preparing this program and making sure that the students will receive the same top-notch instruction that we provide to crime scene investigators from around the country.”
UT Martin will have 16 students attending the academy, while UT Knox-ville, East Tennessee State University, Bethel University, Tennessee Technological University and Dyersburg State Community College each have one student at the academy. Other students are enrolled at Regis University, the University of North Ala-bama, Whittier College in California and Wichita State University in Kansas.
“In response to the increasing demand for higher education to produce graduates with real workforce skills, our partnership with LEIC enables us to provide an unparalleled practical experience for our students and demonstrates the strength of the statewide UT System,” said Dr. Brian Donavant, assistant director of the UT Martin criminal justice program. “The tremendous response to this innovative program and the number of applications already coming in for next year’s class testify to our students’ drive to become more competitive as they seek jobs in this growing area of criminal justice.”

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