The number of enrollees in Glenville State College’s Associate Degree in Criminal Justice Program has grown significantly in the past few months from 42 to 287—an increase of over 500%. The West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety funds the initiative for state, regional jail, juvenile services, and corrections employees.
“It has been gratifying to see such growth and to know that we are providing the impetus for them to not only better their situation within the workplace but also to prepare them for a future that is becoming ever-more dependent on education as a critical factor in the type of job opportunities available to them,” said Arthur Trimble, GSC Assistant Director of Off-Campus Programming. Trimble has been actively recruiting at state regional jails, juvenile justice centers, and prisons including those located in Flatwoods, Beckley, Charleston, Parkersburg, St. Mary’s, Pruntytown, and West Columbia.
GSC Senior Vice-President for External Relations Jim Spears said, “Mr. Trimble has taken this successful program to even higher levels in the short time that he has been here. As a result, all of the corrections personnel in West Virginia’s Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety continue to have the possibility of educational growth and achievement.”
A native of Nicholas County, Trimble was raised in Akron, Ohio and worked for twenty-one years in Florida with a number of state agencies including the Florida Department of Corrections. He returned to West Virginia in 2010 to work for the state’s Department of Corrections at the Mount Olive Complex in Fayette County.
Trimble has also been an adjunct faculty member with Glenville State College teaching inmates at the Federal Correctional Institution in Gilmer County, West Virginia. Additionally, he teaches business classes in the evening for adults at Braxton County High School where he helps coordinates classes.
Trimble holds an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Akron University, a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Organizational Leadership from Mountain State University (Summa Cum Laude), and a Master’s Degree in Management from Troy State University. He is currently a first-year law student at William Howard Taft School of Law in Santa Ana, California.
“I have always wanted to return to central West Virginia and to work for Glenville State College in assisting non-traditional students in furthering their education. I have a strong belief in the success and importance of alternative educational programs since over the years I was able to obtain my own Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees through alternative programming,” Trimble emphasized. “You know, I’m proof positive that it’s never too late to learn,” Trimble added.
For more information about GSC Off-Campus Programing, including the Associate Degree in Criminal Justice, contact Trimble at Arthur.Trimble@glenville.edu or 304-462-6022.