Horizons Fall 2014

4 HORIZONS Yarbrough takes his classes online and expects to finish the program within a year. “As a road deputy, it gives me more confidence and definitely puts me at an advantage,” he said. Having studied a certain U.S. Supreme Court case, for example, can give him insight into how to handle a situation he encounters in the field. With scholarships from NSU and tuition assistance through BSO, furthering their education is more affordable for the 5,800 employees of the Broward Sheriff’s Office. The seven-year-old NSU-BSO partnership has grown from an Executive Leadership Program, providing advanced training for command officers and managers in the Broward Sheriff’s Office, to a broad, campus-wide initiative. The initiative, which was recognized in a 2013 National Institute of Justice study as a national model for police-research partnerships, encompasses professional development for managers and university-based academic research, conferences, and programs in law enforce- ment specialties and community outreach. From its beginnings in 2007, the program envisioned by Frank DePiano, Ph.D., then university provost and now professor at the Center for Psychological Studies, accepted BSO employees strictly by referral. “Back then, a lot of them didn’t have degrees,” said Kimberly Durham, Psy.D., dean of the Institute for the Study of Human Service, Health, and Justice and chair of the NSU-BSO govern- ing board since its inception. “Some might have had a bache- lor’s degree, but not a master’s degree, and certainly not a doc- torate. They wanted that education. They wanted to learn the necessary leadership traits, and then be able to use those traits to supervise their staff members,” Durham added. So the university and the Broward Sheriff’s Office looked beyond the traditional criminal justice degree. “We discussed scholarship opportunities for all of BSO, whether they were commissioned officers or not,” Durham said. “They would be able to get degrees, such as a master’s degree in criminal justice, psychology, or mental health counseling.” And so it grew. The Abraham S. Fischler School of Educa- tion came into the program, as did the H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship. Today, BSO employ- ees can take courses from many of NSU’s offerings. Range trainers from the Broward Sheriff’s Office have a session at Markham Park in Sunrise, Florida. The seven-year-old NSU-BSO partnership has grown to a campus-wide initiative encompassing professional development and academic research. It was recognized as a national model for police-research partnerships.