MUNCIE, Ind. — In February 2022, Doctor Jill Coleman, the Associate Dean for the College of Science and Humanities, put together a task force to propose a new Forensic Science program at Ball State University. By the fall semester of 2023, the curriculum for the new program was being reviewed and then presented to the Indiana Higher Education Commission. In July 2024, the program was launched at Ball State University.
Doctor Benjamin Gibbs, the Director of the Forensic Science Program, was one of the many task force members who helped create the curriculum for the forensic science program. He describes the program as being more comprehensive.
This means that students can focus on a concentration in forensic science. They can concentrate on forensic biology, chemistry, digital forensics, and behavioral forensics. When discussing 2022, if the program was even viable, one of the reasons to present the program is the students.
Doctor Gibbs stated, “Students were already seeking out these indisplicinary combinations of things they can study and how they can create their own course of study to what existed.”
Students were one of the main inspirations, but Doctor Coleman has also explained one of the reasons to start a task force. She was mainly inspired by various true crime shows like Mentalist, Bones, and CSI, which she was watching during the pandemic. Specifically, she was interested in the forensic science character(s) that would appear in the show.
She noticed that the character would do the job that would take ten people, “I think we need to understand that there are all different types of specialized jobs that take different types of training. The thing I wanted to create with the forensic science program was that I wanted everyone to have that understanding, and basic knowledge of forensic science. How it relates to the criminal justice and criminology system. How they can apply this to biology or chemistry or behavior.”
Both Doctor Coleman and Doctor Gibbs have faith in their new program as the program that will make students career ready right after graduation. They are able to take what they learn in classroom and apply it to the specialize area they wish to go into.
Contact Andie Zelaya with comments at andie.zelaya@bsu.edu.
