OFFICE OF
DISTRIBUTED LEARNING

Dale Sechrest

Professor
D.Crim.
University of California, Berkeley

Dale Sechrest has practiced, taught, and published in the field of corrections for over 40 years. His work has focused on the evaluation of corrections programs, including juvenile diversion, correctional privatization, substance abuse programs, treatment of mentally ill offenders, victim-offender reconciliation programs, and correctional standards.  His recently completed research has focused on the diversion of juvenile offenders, mentally ill offenders released from jail, residential drug treatment, drug courts, juvenile boot camps, violent juvenile offenders, restorative justice, DUI offenders, and telemarketing scams

During the 2005-2006 academic year Dr. Sechrest took this wealth of knowledge and experience  - seasoned by a liberal dose of good humor - and used it to contribute three classes to the creation of a fully on-line masters degree in criminal justice.  Dr. Sechrest worked tirelessly with the assistance of one student assistant and ODL instructional designers to develop the content. In addition to other tools, he made use of video, photographs, and journals either available via the campus library or developed at his request. 

Just as important, he utilized the communication and interaction components in the teaching the courses. Students were  astounded at the level of personal attention that Dr. Sechrest brought to the experience. This is all the more impressive  because prior to the creation and teaching  of these courses he had only novice experience in both course development and online instruction. The program is now accredited by regional accreditation body Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), due to the efforts of Dr. Sechrest and his colleagues in the department of Criminal Justice.