WATERVILLE, MAINE, June 2025 — This week, almost two dozen college and university campus safety officers gathered at Thomas College for the first-ever New England Campus Safety Academy. This academy is focused and designed through a partnership between Thomas College and Wesleyan University for a 5 ½ day residential training opportunity that brings campus safety professionals together to develop foundational job skills and network with other professionals in the field. It ended with a graduation ceremony.
The curriculum was instructed by campus safety professionals, law enforcement practitioners, and/or community partners about these topics:
- Image Management & Community Relations
- History & Role of Campus Safety/Police
- Patrol Procedures and Officer Safety
- Law Package
- Drug Identification and Effects
- Sexual Violence
- Preliminary Investigation
- Emergency Management & Fire Safety
- Report Writing
- Cultural Diversity & Bias-Related Crimes
- Community Policing and Programming
This course was designed to bring non-sworn campus safety officers with limited experience in campus law enforcement together in a weeklong residential training program to gain, develop, and build upon foundational skills in the campus environment which go beyond any institution’s field training program.
“This type of training opportunity was severely lacking which is why we created it,” said Academy co-host and Thomas College Director of Safety and Security Christopher Santiago. “Now that the academy has passed, I am more than pleased to have 19 new colleagues that are excited to go back to their institutions with a wealth of knowledge, prepared to be innovative, and who feel more secure in their abilities to not only do their patrol functions to the best of their abilities, but are prepared to provide the utmost in customer service and programming while being a part of their community instead of apart from their community.”
Christopher Santiago is a career Student Affairs and Campus Safety professional having served the past 30 years in Higher Education, with roles in Residence Life, Admissions, Athletics, and Campus Safety. He became a sworn campus law enforcement officer in 1999 and has been in various campus safety roles while progressively increasing his leadership skills across eight different institutions to include his alma mater, Mount Ida College, and in his current role as the Director of Safety & Security at Thomas College.
Santiago has completed the Federal Bureau of Investigation Law Enforcement Executive Development Association (FBI-LEEDA) Leadership Trilogy (Supervisor Leadership Institute [SLI], Command Leadership Institute [CLI], and Executive Leadership Institute [ELI]) and is well read in various leadership philosophies with Mentor Leadership being one of his favorites. He has worked with youth and young adults for decades delivering various leadership training programs to include the prestigious Phi Theta Kappa / Kellogg Foundation Leadership series. He has been a true leader in campus training, serving as certified Field Training Officer (FTO) and spending time in his administrative roles developing both topical training programs within his profession as well as departmental in-service training programs. He is a subject matter expert in law enforcement report writing and law enforcement cultural diversity programs.
Santiago has a B.S. in Criminal Justice from Mount Ida College and an M.S. in Criminology from Thomas College, as well as a Graduate Certificate in DEI in the Workplace from the University of South Florida Muma School of Business and a Graduate Certificate in College Student Wellbeing Trauma & Resilience from Florida State University.
Kathy Burdick, Assistant Director Wesleyan University, co-hosted the Academy with Santiago.
Burdick began her career in public safety at Mohegan Sun Casino, in Tribal Protective Services where she worked as an Officer for the Tribe. She started at Wesleyan University in October 2006 as an Officer and worked her way up through the ranks from Sergeant to Assistant Director. In 2023, she became the Assistant Director of Public Safety, a role she proudly holds today. During her time at Wesleyan, she instilled her passion for community policing into the department. She is committed to building strong, trust-based relationships between Public Safety, local law enforcement, and the community.
Burdick attended the Campus Safety Academy at Keene State College in New Hampshire back in 2010 and had such a great experience; she reached out to Santiago to bring it back.
“The Academy gave me a deeper understanding of how Public Safety functions within a campus environment and the critical role it plays in the broader community. I gained valuable skills in effective communication and community engagement. I learned strategies for building positive relationships and fostering trust, including de-escalation and negotiation techniques. I also significantly improved my report writing and documentation skills, learning how to clearly and accurately communicate critical information. One of the most rewarding aspects of the experience was the people I met—amazing individuals with whom I’ve stayed in touch and remain friends to this day,” said Burdick. “Wanting others to benefit from the same experience, I reached out to Chris Santiago in the fall of 2024 and proposed the idea of resurrecting the Academy. Without hesitation, Chris responded, ‘Absolutely, we can be co-hosts.’ I want to extend my deepest thanks to Chris. He put in a tremendous amount of work and played an instrumental role in bringing the Academy back to life. Without his dedication, this would not have been possible.”
Participants were from the following schools: Milton Academy, Vermont State University-Randolph/Williston, Dartmouth College, Vermont State University-Castleton, Colby-Sawyer College, Wesleyan University, Thomas College, University of Southern Maine, Colby College, Landmark College, and Vermont State University-Johnson.
About Thomas College:
U.S. News and World Report consistently ranks Thomas College as a top college in Maine for social mobility. Our clear career focus and one-of-a-kind Guaranteed Job Program™ makes it possible to advance faster in the arts and sciences, business, and education. Earn an undergraduate degree in three years and then choose from a variety of in-person or online graduate degree programs that can be completed in one-year or two. Located in Waterville, Maine, Thomas College is your pathway to a promising future, guaranteed. For more information visit thomas.edu or contact MacKenzie Riley Young at [email protected] or 207-859-1313. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and TikTok.