Michael David

Educational Philosophy

As a long time, practitioner in the field of Corrections with over thirty years in the business and having taught in Higher Education for over Ten years now, I believe that I am in a great position to combine the best of both worlds. Today’s students demand both a quality educational experience combined with one that is challenging as well as engaging. Quality curriculum is the first step in this process, but then using today’s relevant examples along involving real world criminal justice professionals in the education process is key. Hands on learning is another great source of engagement along with using state of the art instructional tools to vary the types of delivery while keeping the students involved.

As the Director of the Criminal Justice Program at Central Community College in Nebraska we have been able to transform our mission to include those type of experiences I mentioned above. We have updated textbooks to ensure the current issues in criminal justice are being addressed along with using guest speakers from local agencies and make sure we are using regionally relevant examples to show how it impacts their community. The use of various instructional technology that incorporates distance learning, Zoom, WebX, video presentations, social media and current events have helped improve engagement.

As previously mentioned, hands on learning as become a major part of our program and we have been able to incorporate in throughout our program. I started a major campaign to build a “Crime House” on one of our campuses and last year we completed it. Since then, we have opened a “Crime Dorm” on another of our campuses and will be building a “Crime Lab” on another campus next year. Through the Pell Grant we purchased a Virtual Reality simulator that focuses on many aspects of the criminal justice system. We now provide each student taking our Forensics class, a basic forensics kit free of charge thanks to the Metallica Scholars Initiative and Hornady Industries that we have partnered with. Both our in-person and on-line students get these and conduct forensic projects with them. As part of the “Hands On” process we also have a Criminal Justice Student Association which sponsors several fields trips a year for all students as well as offering a pro-social aspect to our program.

It is important to not forget engagement for On-Line Students is just as important. Incorporating technology into this virtual classroom for both presentations, meetings, lectures, conferences, or other uses. Applications such as WebX, VidGrid, Zoom, YuJa and Harmonize are just a few that have helped us connect more with on-line students. I have also added a type of field trip or outside assignment that requires On-Line Students to get out and explore criminal justice agencies in their community and call others that may be out of state. I think this helps remind the student that criminal justice is not just what they learn in class but is a big part of their community.

I see our mission statement as Criminal Justice in Action and that is how we try to frame the teaching of this really cool subject we call Criminal Justice!

• American Correctional Association Auditor (2015 to Present)
• NDTC Executive Council (2022 to Present)
• Certified Correctional Executive – American Correctional Association (2010-2019)
• American Correctional Association (1987 to Present)
• Colorado Criminal Justice Association (2003-2009)
• Wyoming Criminal Justice Association (2009-2018)

• NIC Auditors Training (32 Hours)
• NDTC De-escalation Training for Trainers (32 hours)
• ACA Auditors Training (8 Hours)
• ACA Auditors Orientation Training – American Correctional Association (4 Hours)
• LETRA Emergency Preparedness (32 Hours) – WDOC
• Motivational Interviewing (32 Hours) – WDOC
• Wardens Peer Conference (32 Hours) – Sam Houston University
• Institute of Basic Life Principles (40 Hours) CCA
• Wyoming Introductory Supervisors Education – State of Wyoming
• Leadership for the Future (120 Hours) NIC
• Emergency Preparedness Training (24 Hours) KDOC
• Kansas Quality Management (18 Hours) KDOC
• Basic Supervisors Training (40 Hours) KDOC
• Security Issues (40 Hours) NIC

• Developed Hornady Criminal Justice Fund with $750,000 donation.
• Awarded $185,000 Metallica Scholars Initiative Grant, 2021
• CCC Mini Grant Awards for in both 2020 and 2022
• League of Excellence Award AACC, 2021-2022
• Proposed and built Crime House 2023
• AACC Dale P. Parnell Faculty Distinction Award for CCC 2022-2023