From Certificates to Credit Hours: New Program Advances Public Safety Careers

ATLANTA — Graduates of the Georgia State Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology’s Leadership Development Institute of Georgia (LDIG), Atlanta Police Leadership Institute (APLI) and Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE) peer-to-peer program can convert their certificates to credit hours under the university’s new Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) Policy.

Each course in these certificate programs is good for three hours toward relevant courses in the online M.I.S. in Criminal Justice Administration (MISCJA) program, up to a maximum of six credit hours toward the 30-hour degree requirement.

The approval-for-credit process works much like it does for students to receive College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) or Advanced Placement (AP) hours for credit. Once the CPL credit is approved, the substitute hours show up as completed, not as a graded course. It puts students much closer to graduating with no additional tuition costs.

“We’ve married our outward-facing leadership certificate programs with our online degree program, making it increasingly convenient for students to complete our online programs and to provide step by step career advancement for public safety and law enforcement practitioners,” said Professor Dean Dabney, who coordinates the MISCJA program. “These credits will get them that much closer to completing their master’s degree.”

“GILEE has long advocated the pursuit of higher education for law enforcement personnel, particularly law enforcement executives,” said GILEE Director Brent Cummings. “Receiving academic credit hours for participating in GILEE programs — along with their professional credits — will motivate more GILEE graduates to acquire graduate degrees, providing a stronger connection between the university and the professional community.”

The university chose the online MISCJA program as a pilot for its Credit for Prior Learning Policy. The program went live during spring semester 2024, and the department is getting a good start on applying credits to online M.I.S. students, according to Dabney. The department is now considering CPL credit opportunities in cybersecurity and for its undergraduate degree programs.

The Andrew Young School of Policy Studies continues to explore ways to expand leadership development in public safety. For example, Dabney and others have spoken with the Georgia Peace Officer Standards & Training (POST) Council about the online MISCJA program. Georgia POST administers the regulatory process, sets the standards for training and certification, and provides essential technical assistance to the law enforcement community in the state.

“We recently got approval through Georgia POST that completion of our online MISCJA degree satisfies in full their three most popular career development credentials: supervision, management and executive certificates,” Dabney said.

For questions or more information on the MISCJA degree and CPL credits, contact Dabney at [email protected].