York University's New B.A. In Public Service Studies To Help Police, Firefighters, Emergency, Correctional, Immigration Workers Serve Complex Community Needs

TORONTO, November 9, 1998 -- York University's Atkinson College is launching a unique new program of studies for police officers, firefighters, ambulance, public security and emergency service workers that will help them serve their communities better, Atkinson College Dean Livy Visano said today.

"There's nothing quite like this being offered anywhere else in Canada," Visano said. "Public services are getting more complex as our communities grow and evolve. Public servants do their work in very diverse communities, and increasingly they're called upon to be a more proactive, attuned presence in that community," said Visano. "We're filling a real need by providing the education to help public servants bring a new level of understanding to their jobs. Our new B.A., offered through York University's Division of Evening Studies, Atkinson College, will help to develop public servants who know much more about the social, legal, cultural and economic issues behind the services they provide."

Professor Leslie Sanders, who co-ordinated the development of the degree, elaborated: Community policing is more effective if officers understand issues such as cultural differences, poverty, the dynamics of domestic violence, and the changing nature of how people live and work, she said. These adult students can take courses about the immigrant experience, social and cultural history, urbanization, ethics, morality, and social problems such as racism and violence against women. The result will be a public servant with a more sophisticated and accurate view of the community she or he serves, less likely to use a "one-size-fits-all" approach. Sanders predicts that graduates of the program will be better able to provide a leadership or mentoring role in neighbourhoods or communities demoralized by factors such as economic hardship or urban decay.

Visano and Sanders made the remarks at an official launch of the new Bachelor of Arts in Public Service Studies at York University's Atkinson College today. The three-year degree is targeted at people already employed on the police beat, in the courts, in ambulance services, in immigration, probation and correctional services offices or in private security. It will require study in a variety of liberal arts and administrative studies disciplines that will greatly increase public servants' breadth of knowledge. The program is specifically tailored to the adult part-time student so that professionals can work and study at the same time. Some courses in the program are available through the Internet or correspondence.

"Whether you're a rookie paramedic, a desk sergeant, working in plainclothes, or a veteran firefighter with an eye on managing the whole organization, we have something to offer you. The whole point is flexibility, not just for whoever wants to learn, but whatever their goal may be regardless of what point they're at in their career," Visano said.

Atkinson College worked with the Toronto Police Service and private security agencies to design the new BA, Visano said, building on York's experience over 30 years in educating police officers and other public servants. He noted there are approximately 13,000 police officers employed in and around the greater Toronto area, and many more fire, ambulance and private security personnel as well. The first students will be admitted in January 1999. He hopes that within five years, as many as 250 students a year will be enrolled in the program.

"The appetite for higher education is very strong among police officers, firefighters and other front-line public servants," Visano said. "Eighty-five per cent of new police officers in Toronto already have Bachelor degrees, for example. These men and women are highly committed to their work and they feel they can do an even better job for the community if they acquire more skills and branch out into some new types of learning."

Visano said law enforcement, security and emergency services have evolved into organizations that are less para-military, more democratic, more integrated with the community and more closely connected with other municipal, educational and social services. He said it is only natural for men and women on the front line to seek out the skills they need to handle all this integration.

The program is also designed for public servants seeking a career move into public administration, policy development, managerial or supervisory roles in their organization. Students will be offered courses in management skills, human resources, organizational behaviour, social work, government, politics, law, accounting, planning.

The new program fits well with York's mission to provide lifelong learning in a format and setting that is adapted to the community's needs. "We get the best results when we design degrees that focus on the real-world requirements of the people the program will serve," said Visano.

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For more information, please contact:

Sine MacKinnon
Senior Advisor for Media Relations
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22087
YU/078/98