JASON PAYNICH
Instructor of Criminal Justice
Quincy College
Quincy, Massachusetts
Mr. Jason Paynich is an Instructor of Criminal Justice at Quincy College in Quincy, Massachusetts. He is “a man who drinks from many rivers”. Currently he only works at four institutions: Quincy College, Curry College, Lincoln Technical Institute, and University of Phoenix Online. Quincy College is his full-time job, where he teaches 5 courses to approximately 140 very diverse and interesting students. This where he intends to apply the bulk of the information he gleans from the Federal Emergency Management Agency Higher Education Conference. At this location, he has been tasked with expanding and refreshing the Criminal Justice program, and he sees emergency management as a natural and commonsense alternative leading to that goal.
While Mr. Paynich lives and works in the great state of Massachusetts, he holds firm his Montana roots and “get it done” attitude. Eastern Montana is where he returned to higher education after a slight hiatus from the classroom. After working as a municipal police officer and earning an A.A. and A.A.S. at Glendive Community College, Mr. Paynich transferred to Minot State University in Minot, North Dakota, where he completed both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in criminal justice administration. While there, he had the very good fortune of being involved in the Rural Crime and Justice Center, a research center aligned with the Office of State and Local Training (OSL) at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. Through his work at the OSL in Glynco, Georgia, he participated in developing the First Responder Training Program, OSL’s answer to the lessons learned during the attacks of 9/11 and the Oklahoma bombing. Mr. Paynich also collaborated in their Pursuit Driving initiative, a national survey of P.O.S.T. standards and needs, and various other tasks.
Having a practitioner background in rural law enforcement, Mr. Paynich is accustomed to interagency collaboration and resource-sharing practices between agencies. In that world more than any, a strong collaboration between emergency management agencies, first responders, and community stakeholders is an absolute necessity and intimately necessary to the successful resolution of problems in rural America–the majority of this great Nation. Understanding these relationships and the ever-present demand for the protection of life and property was his first step in appreciating the need for a greater presence of the discipline of emergency management within or complimenting the Criminal Justice programs at his various employers. Therefore, Mr. Paynich has broached the idea with Quincy College and they are interested in developing this idea further.
What Mr. Paynich would like to render from this conference is insight and guidance leading to the successful implementation of an emergency management program in a community college setting. He is looking for the “whole enchilada” here—as much information as he can obtain. At this point, he has a “green light” to develop and pilot this program so he is collecting information considering the design of a possible pilot. Mr. Paynich would like to become more informed about current practices and the future of the discipline, including specific areas of interest to his current student body. He suspects the issue of diversity and managing a multicultural population will be at the forefront, but working just outside of Boston, Massachusetts, issues surrounding emergency management and metropolitan areas will also be pertinent. Lastly, he is seeking the structural components of a successful program, including syllabus and lesson plans, applicable texts and ancillary materials, and eligible teaching candidates.
Mr. Paynich is very excited about attending and he looks forward to meeting as many people as he can. Being able to attend this conference is a great opportunity both individually and professionally, and he welcomes the insight, wisdom, and advice from the entire group. Let’s get to work!
April 5, 2010