WMCC is Helping Prepare Employees for Opening of Federal Prison
Katharine Eneguess, President of White Mountains Community CollegeThe construction of the medium security federal prison in Berlin is reportedly 64 percent complete. This is welcome news for those of us who have worked with local agencies to ensure that this project economically benefits residents of the North Country. Though we acknowledge that not all of the residents in the area were supporters of this project, it is still in the best interest of all of us to prepare for the prison's opening.
At White Mountains Community College our role has been to work diligently to make sure programs we offer will give students the skills they need in order to take advantage of employment opportunities at the prison. Chief among those programs is our associate degree in Criminal Justice and our Criminal Justice Professional Certificate. The courses needed to complete the requirements for the associate degree include and focus on criminal justice theory, liberal arts, and an internship. The courses for the certificate are the same as the first year courses for the two-year degree.
Our Criminal Justice program provides graduates with the necessary skills and education for a variety of positions in the field, such as careers in corrections, law enforcement, and probation. The degree is important not just for work in the federal prison system, but also in the state correction and law enforcement systems. The minimum education requirement for a New Hampshire State Trooper with no prior law enforcement experience is an associate degree, preferably in criminal justice. The program also prepares graduates for positions with the Department of Homeland Security, Border Patrol, and Customs, all of which are hiring vigorously.
As in any career, more education and experience translates into higher pay. You can start a career with the New Hampshire Dept. of Corrections without a degree, but if you want to get better promotions and better pay, it definitely helps to have a college degree.
The official groundbreaking ceremony for the federal prison, which is located off of East Milan Road, took place over a year ago. Preparation work on the site began before the official ceremony, which means work on the facilities could be finished sometime in 2010. In 2001, when the process began, that seemed like a lifetime away. In 2009, that's now only a year away. There's no official word yet on when the prison will open, but for those young people who would like to stay in the North Country and earn a decent wage, it is not too late to get that Criminal Justice associate degree.
There will be other opportunities when the prison opens. And WMCC can help prepare you for the majority of those jobs as well, whether they be in the areas of food service, allied health, accounting, office management, or information technology, just to name a few. The prison is expected to employ 325 in federal civilian jobs. Many of those employees will be transferred from other facilities, bringing their families to live in the North Country. These employees will be earning a steady paycheck and their spending will be a shot in the arm to the local economy. At White Mountains Community College we also offer excellent business courses, including Business Plan Development, so if you have an idea for a business maybe to serve the prison once they open, we have the educational resources to help you.
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