Not As Easy As You Think!

C S I

Dr. Diane VanceDirector, Forensic Science ProgramEastern Kentucky University

ORAU Council of Sponsoring InstitutionsResearch and Education Partnership Opportunities in Security and IntelligenceMarch 8, 2011

• This session: Focus on the conflicting drivers that academia faces in addressing the research and educational needs of the security and intelligence community and forensic

• It’s Arlene’s fault

This presentation will discuss problems and promise related to forensic academic programs• Mainly at the undergraduate level• Chemistry and biology• Not training issues• Not continuing education

My Background and Perspective

• High school teacher• Radioanalytical graduate degree• Worked at Savannah River and Y-12• Now forensic science program director

• “Outsider” perspective for forensic science

• No working experience in forensic setting

• Not uncommon situation for program directors

Topics

• Brief history about Forensic Science programs

• Current numbers of programs• FEPAC Accreditation• Information overload for potential

students• Disconnects between academic

culture and practices and those of bench forensic scientists

• Future

Academic Forensic Science Programs

1970’s25 programs at peak

1980’s and 90’sprogram numbers declineAbout 12 programs in 1999

2000’s program numbers increase rapidlyMaybe 150 – 200 programs called “forensic science”

Academic Forensic Science Programs: 2000 - 2011

• Content, emphasis, and coursework truly related to forensic science varies widely

Problem for Potential Students:TM(M)I !!

• Too Much (Mis)Information• Searches for “forensic science

education” bring up mostly for-profit school programs

• Further search of these links shows they are actually criminal justice

• Many are completely online with no laboratory component

• “Jobs for forensic science technicians are expected to increase much faster than average”

• “Median annual earnings for forensic science technicians range from $45-48,000”

• “The Bachelors degrees for forensic science technicians at universities whose programs are accredited by the American Academy of Forensic Science all take 5 years to complete instead of the usual 4 years due the the amount of information they need to learn to be effective in their careers.”

Some Examples of Fun “Factoids” from a Google Search

More fun “factoids” to mislead students

• “You can study forensic science online and easily find a course accredited by the American Academy of Forensic Science”

• “Degree programs include associates degrees, bachelors, masters, certificates or even PHds. Each one will open a different career for you.”

• In very small print off the main page for a program: “Students may need additional coursework to work in forensic jobs”

• “There is no standard certification or registration for forensic scientists, but those entering a government or private industry may be asked to pass an exam. The American College of Forensic Examiners lists all of its certification tests online.”

TWGED and FEPAC

• NIJ formed Technical Working Group on Education in Forensic Science (TWGED)

• Final report issued in 2004• Forensic Science Educational Programs

Accreditation Commission (FEPAC) formed• Now a standing committee of the American

Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) • First accreditation round in 2003

• 5 schools accredited

FEPAC-Accredited Master’s Degree Programs (2/20/2011)13 fully accredited (5 ORAU-member Schools)

University of Alabama Birmingham

University at Albany (SUNY at Albany)

Arcadia University

Boston University School of Medicine

University of California at Davis

Duquesne University

Florida International University

University of Illinois at Chicago

Marshall University, Huntington

Michigan State University

Oklahoma State University

Sam Houston State University

Virginia Commonwealth University

FEPAC-Accredited Bachelor’s Degree Programs (2/20/2011)17 fully Accredited (7 ORAU-member Schools)

Albany State University

University at Albany (SUNY)

Cedar Crest College

Eastern Kentucky University

Florida International University

Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis

John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY)

Laurentian University

Metropolitan State College of Denver

University of Mississippi

University of New Haven

University of North Texas

Ohio University

The Pennsylvania State University

Virginia Commonwealth University

West Chester University

West Virginia University

Why do universities start forensic science programs?

• How much is this going to cost?• Is there external funding available?• Is there a demand for the program?• Is there a market for graduates?• Is there a faculty member currently on staff

to direct the formation of the program?• Is there a sufficient pool of qualified faculty

to staff the program?

Questions that might be asked by university administrators or state higher education councils

• Who will be considered as “qualified” to teach in the program?

• Will the program contribute to the advancement of the profession?

• If internships are required, are there sufficient opportunities for these?

• Will faculty use FEPAC standards, and/or ABC KSA to help prepare curriculum?

Questions that might be asked by professional organizations

What is (are) the Driver(s)?

• For many programs: get students• Most chemists, university administrators, and

state boards on higher education don’t know much about the status of the field or its needs

• Examples from proposals to state higher education councils• There are 4000 forensic labs in the U.S.• There will be a need for 10,000 forensic

scientists• Starting salaries are in the $40,000 -

$50,000 range

U.S. Publicly-Funded Forensic Laboratories

• About 350 forensic labs• Most are state, regional, and metropolitan• Fewer federal

• FBI lab is largest with 600 employees• Median for all labs is 16 employees

• About 12,000 employees in all forensic labs• Half in state labs

• About 7000 analysts in these labs

• Census of Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories, 2005, NCJ 222181, Bureau of Justice Statistics’ (BJS) Census of Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories

What are the Problems?

• Faculty• Program directors• Practitioners vs traditional academics

• Funding• Publications• Curriculum• Respect

Staffing Issues

The Limiting Reagent

Educational/Experience Qualifications

Academic

• PhD typically required

• Post-doctoral / research experience preferred

• Working laboratory experience not valued

Forensic Bench Scientist

• Mainly B.S. and M.S. in a natural science

• M.S. for supervisory positions

• PhD not necessarily a plus

Typical Job Requirements

Academic

Research

Publication

Teaching

Service

Forensic Bench Scientist

Case Work

Generation of Reports

Testifying in Court

Research and Publication Requirements

Academic

• Research required• basic research

frequently preferred• Publications required

Forensic Bench Scientist

• Little or no time devoted to research due to case load

• Research mainly aimed at improving methods

• Little time to write peer-reviewed journal papers

Other Factors

Academic

• New PhD salary often modest

• Often look down on B.S. and M.S. personnel

Forensic Bench Scientist

• Experienced scientists often earning more than new PhD salary

• (median maximum salary about $70,000 for experienced analyst)

What does this lead to?

Academic

• Very small pool of PhD candidates with experience working in forensic labs

• Hires of personnel with no professional network or real commitment to forensic science

• Sometimes subsequent “defection” of the hire out of forensic area

Forensic Bench Scientist

• Limited opportunity to use extensive experience to help educate the next generation

• Few or no publications are seen as a problem by academics

• Lack of respect even for highly accomplished and experienced B.S. and M.S. personnel

Publication Issues

Academic

• Publications required

• Can be a problem if work can’t be published due to sensitive nature of information

• university needs to find a way to place value on the this work for P&T

• Journal prestige

Forensic Bench Scientist

• Little or no time devoted to research due to case load

• Little time to publish

FundingAcademic

• Little funding for forensic science research (less than 0.1% of federal research went to forensic)

• University funding for instructional forensic program may be limited

Forensic Bench Scientist

• Little or no time devoted to research due to case load

• Little time to publish

• Not experienced in proposal writing

Issues for Program Directors

Academic

• Required to do teaching, research, service

• Also significant administrative work

• May be no mechanism to give credit for this

• Time needed to become professionally networked

Forensic Bench Scientist

• Experienced scientists often have supervisory experience so good for director position

• But – don’t qualify for faculty position

• Often feel that regular faculty look down on them

Curriculum Issues

• Core of natural science required for accredited programs

• Upper division courses in chemistry or biology• Some applied to forensic problems

• Does coursework cultivate the approaches and “mind-set” to prepare for forensic work?

• Pattern evidence is unconventional topic for university courses

• Questions from colleagues about legitimacy of some courses

Common Curriculum “Holes”

• Interface with law enforcement community • Expert Witness Testimony• Microscopy• Trace• Pattern Evidence

• Fingerprint• Toolmark, shoeprint, etc

Attitude of Other Faculty / Forensic Science Practitioners / law enforcement

“So we fall between two stools. We are regarded by our fellow academics almost as common laborers with dirty hands, who traffic in mundane, workaday police matters, instead of devoting ourselves to pure research. On the other hand the police tend to regard us as woolgatherers and cloud-dwellers from the ivory tower, with no experience of the dark side of life. . “

William R. Maples, forensic anthropologist in “Dead Men Do Tell Tales”

Ideal Model

• Blend of PhD scientists and forensic practitioners with professional respect of each for the knowledge and skills of the other

What next? My thoughts

• Staffing an issue for new several years• Strong programs will get stronger• Total number of forensic programs will

decrease• Accredited programs will continue to draw

more students• NAS report will help the needs of the

forensic science community to be recognized and (hopefully) addressed with funding

• Leahy legislation• TVC forensic initiative