Louisiana State University: LSU NCBRT/ACE Chosen For Department Of Justice Cooperative Agreement Award

Press release from Louisiana State University:

October 28, 2021

BATON ROUGE – The LSU National Center for Biomedical Research and Training/Academy of Counter-Terrorist Education (LSU NCBRT/ACE) has received a one-year, $99,985 cooperative agreement award from the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Institute of Corrections.

The award will allow LSU NCBRT/ACE to work in tandem with federal partners to convert the NIC’s current Learning Professional curriculum to a 40-hour virtual format. LSU NCBRT/ACE will also be able to create a teaching program that will train instructors on how to deliver that curriculum.

NIC's Learning Professional curricula is used to train new, veteran and or part time/adjunct trainers in corrections and criminal justice settings – such as jails, prisons and community services – to prepare and deliver established curricula. Participants learn to prepare and deliver established curriculum for their agency. This interactive program teaches participants the importance of building and utilizing facilitative training skills, how to identify strategies to prepare for learning events, applying classic learning theory and current research to the training process, and practice at tailoring training facilitation and delivery to audience needs, topic and delivery style strengths and challenges.

“LSU’s application was very responsive [to the solicitation],” said NIC Correctional Program Specialist Leslie LeMaster. “The organization’s capacity and possession of the skills, knowledge, and expertise to perform the work was evident.”

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, LSU NCBRT/ACE has been on the forefront of developing virtual trainings for law enforcement and emergency responders by converting many of its mobile delivery courses to online formats, and developing an e-Learning resource page for state, local, tribal and territorial responders.

“In today’s workforce, more working professionals than ever before are seeking opportunities to engage in online learning opportunities,” states the agreement proposal. “Moreover, there is a significant opportunity for learning organizations to develop virtual instructor led training that is just as engaging and effective as traditional classroom-based training.”

“I am extremely proud of the work that our research and development team has done in the past year,” said LSU NCBRT/ACE director Jeff Mayne. “We will keep pushing forward to help the university continue to improve our world.”

This press release was produced by Louisiana State University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.