Nipissing University -- for the criminal minds.

Offering students the opportunity to simultaneously earn a college diploma and a university honour's degree, the criminal justice program at North Bay's Nipissing University stands as one of the institution's flagship offerings.

With 214 full-time students throughout its four years, the program has grown rapidly since its inception in 2000. Program applications for the 2006-2007 academic year were up 25 per cent over the previous year, reaching nearly 85.

"We're similar to business in a way, and similar to nursing in a way, in that people come here with a particular profession in mind and they're here for a specific reason," says Dr. Greg Brown, chair, department of sociology, criminal justice and social welfare.

"About a third of our students go into policing, and maybe a quarter are here for corrections. The rest are in policy and administration, and that's more about the business side of criminal justice such as human resources, or policy. The remainder are in criminology streams, many of whom are applying to law school or going onto graduate school."

Courses in such fields as forensic psychology and sociology give students a foundation before they are given the choice to specialize in one of four program streams.

By selecting corrections or policing, students spend their second or third year at nearby Canadore College, followed by a fourth year at Nipissing. Graduates then receive both an honours BA as well as a college diploma in either correctional work or police foundations.

Those who instead select criminology or administration and social policy take specialized university courses throughout their four-year program, and graduate with an honours BA.

The program also has a partnership with Mansfield University in Pennsylvania, which broadcasts a serial homicide lecture to Nipissing every Wednesday night. Students travel there for a few days every fall to attend lectures and meet their American counterparts.

As a result of the broad range of available courses and program streams, approximately 90 per cent of Criminal Justice graduates have found jobs in a variety of different fields, ranging from the Ontario Provincial Police, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Ministry of Agriculture enforcement officers, to policy analysts.

Students in the program are also given the opportunity to work during the summer months for the department's own research institution, known as the Institute for Applied Social Research. Throughout the summer, students are hired to assist in major research projects for a variety of clients, ranging from the Ministry of Safety and Correctional Services to the OPP.

Currently, students are helping with a seven-year project to examine mental illness in offenders throughout a number of provincial facilities.

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Having this kind of background is invaluable as it also helps to prepare students for graduate studies, Brown says.

As an example, Brown points to two recent graduates, one from Espanola and another from North Bay, who have received prestigious Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) grants. Such grants make graduates attractive for universities to accept into their master's programs.

In fact, of the 20 positions open at the University of Ottawa for its master's program for criminal justice, Nipissing students occupied three of the slots this year, all of whom had received $30,000 SSHRC grants. "We're getting a reputation for showing that Northern kids can compete with anybody, and they really can."

QUICK FACTS

Nipissing University

North Bay

Student population: 7417

President: Dennis Mock

Established: 1967

By NICK STEWART

Northern Ontario Business