News

A member of the Martin Methodist College criminal justice faculty has been elected to a three-year term as co-chair of the Correctional Trainer Certification Commission (CTCC) of the American Jail Association.

Dr. Don D. Gala, associate professor of criminal justice and education, joined the Martin Methodist faculty in the fall of 2010. He is retired from the Federal Bureau of Prisons in the U.S. Department of Justice.

The CTCC, along with the International Association of Correctional Training Personnel (IACTP) and the American Jail Association (AJA), promotes the concept of voluntary certification for all correctional trainers. According to the AJA website: "Certification is one part of a process called credentialing. It focuses specifically on the individual and is an indication of current competency in a specialized field. Correctional trainers who become certified will be distinguished as individuals who have reached one of the highest levels of achievement in their field."

Gala earned an A.A.S. degree from Monroe Community College, a B.S. degree from Rochester Institute of Technology, an M.A. degree from the University of Central Oklahoma, and M.A.Ed. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Rochester.