Franciscan has a United States Coast Guard Auxiliary University Program (USCG AUP), which is one of only 15 units in the United States.
Dr. Charles Nemeth, professor and program director of Criminal Justice, as well as the Director of the Center of Criminal Justice, Law and Ethics, held an open house conference for prospective students on Sept. 30 at the St. Joseph center.
Nemeth has been the overseer and liaison for the USCG AUP unit at Franciscan for seven years.
“[The Coast Guard] is the happiest of all the military branches,” said Nemeth. “There is an “88% retention rate of people who stay in the Coast Guard as compared to the other military branches,” stated Nemeth.
The USCG AUP is 100% voluntary and free of charge for Franciscan students. Developed by the United States Coast Guard, the Auxiliary University Program is a way for the branch to boost recruits and form future officers.
“The Coast Guard has been short of officers,” said Nemeth. “They have called for a dramatic increase in these university programs.”
Unlike the ROTC program, which requires five years of service when completed, the Coast Guard AUP is voluntary and requires no further commitment after graduation. “It is the Coast Guard’s answer to an ROTC program,” continued Nemeth.
Johanna Hanson, a junior in criminal justice who joined her sophomore year, is now the unit leader of the USCG AUP at Franciscan. When asked how the program works in relation to a student’s regular courseload, Hanson explained, “This [program] is not a grade for here. This is more like, you do take classes, and you do take courses, but they’re completely separate from [your] Franciscan degree.”
The courses in the program vary throughout the different levels. “There’s so many different opportunities, but with that, there is a requirement that you do have to take these classes in order to get to that level,” said Hanson.
The courses range from safe boating, uniform inspection and cyber awareness to auxiliary weather specialty, marine safety & environmental protection and seamanship specialty courses.
Homeland Security, as well as unit leadership and internship round out the wide range of opportunities. Concerning the time each course takes to complete, Hanson said, “Probably max two hours if you really take your time doing it – per course.”
Joseph Candelas, a senior in criminal justice, serves as the deputy unit leader for USCG AUP at Franciscan. Candelas credited Dr. Nemeth for developing the program at Franciscan, “Dr. Nemeth was really the mastermind of putting this together.”
The program is sponsored by the USCG AUX Flotilla 7-2 stationed near Pittsburgh.
“It was sort of convenient that we had a Coast Guard Flotilla nearby that we could sort of partner with. They have offered to have us out there to tour their facilities,” said Candelas. Nemeth explains that “[the] Ohio River is an active place to find Coast Guard stations. The Flotilla in Pittsburgh sponsors this unit.”
The values of the USCG AUX are honor, respect, devotion to duty and volunteer service. Nemeth said that this aligns in a special way with the community spirit of service at Franciscan as he stated that the Coast Guard is, “more community-driven than other branches, it’s always at service to others.”
Community service opportunities range from boat tours with active duty stationed in Pennsylvania, to beach cleanup. “We have off-campus opportunities. We’ll do community service down at the marina,” said Candelas. “There’s a big blue wall there [at the Steubenville marina] that we repainted over the course of about 2 years.”
The USCG AUP at Franciscan meets once a month and currently has around 13 members. “This is a chance for us to put our faith in action. We are living our faith everyday saving others,” said Nemeth. The program is open to students in all majors and encourages inquires to learn more.
“It’s a great program; we want more people to get involved with it because they get so much from it. They can gain so much from it and it’s a hidden gem,” said Hanson.