Meet the faculty!
Dr. John Dristiliaris
Dr. John Dristiliaris comes to AIC after thirty years in the public safety profession. Turning his attention to teaching, Dr. Dristiliaris possesses a Doctorate in Leadership Studies from Franklin Pierce University, A master’s degree in Criminal Justice from Anna Maria College, and a bachelor’s degree in Education from Fitchburg State College (University).
Beginning in 2008, John has been an adjunct professor at several colleges and universities, both in-person and online. Dr. Dristiliaris’ vast professional and educational experiences have allowed him the opportunity to teach under the criminal justice, business, and social services curriculum. Dr. Dristiliaris has helped to educate, advise, mentor, and coach many students during this time. His passion for working with students and knowledge of the college and university systems align well with the Vision and Mission Statements here at AIC.
Jennifer Feitel, EdD
Dr. Feitel has held custody and treatment positions during her career, working as an employee of the State of Connecticut Department of Corrections for over twenty years. Feitel has supervised adult and youth inmates working with a diverse population. She was a member of the Department’s Correctional Emergency Response Team as a highly trained first responder in tactical operations who worked on statewide emergency assistance initiatives and provided leadership for corrections in Connecticut at the statewide Training Academy.
As a graduate of Central Connecticut State University, with both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminal justice, Feitel has a well-rounded knowledge of Criminology and Psychology. She continued her educational pursuits as an Adjunct teacher at the University and as an Assistant Instructor at Goodwin University, focusing on courses in Corrections and Criminal Law. Furthering her dedication and passion for teaching, she completed all requirements for a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership, EdD, from the University of Hartford, receiving her Doctorate in Education in 2022.
Regina Sanderson
Professor Sanderson holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration with a concentration in Criminal Justice from Anna Maria College after earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Business from University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Gina is the Graduate Criminal Justice Program Coordinator and full-time faculty teaching in both the undergraduate and graduate programs. Her academic experiences include Undergraduate Degree Completion Coordinator and Director of Graduate Criminal Justice, both at Anna Maria College.
Gina comes to higher education after enjoying a thirty-two-year career in the Massachusetts Probation Service where she served the citizens in Western Massachusetts. She established the Womanhood Program for Eastern Hampshire District Court. The program was created to assist in addressing the needs of women in crisis entering the criminal justice system as defendants. The program was committed to educating and empowering women.
Honorable Carole Erskine
Judge Erskine is a graduate of Clark university and Suffolk University Law School. She served as the First Justice of the Worcester County Juvenile Court for twenty-one years where she presided over countless serious criminal cases, child abuse and neglect trials, as well as cases involving runaways, truancy, and children with mental health issues. Judge Erskine has received many child advocacy awards from bar associations and community agencies, and has been the recipient of three judicial excellence awards. Prior to being appointed to the bench, she argued cases before the Massachusetts Appeals Court and the Supreme Judicial Court. She was named one of Massachusetts top ten lawyers by the Lawyers Weekly publication. Judge Erskine has extensive experience as a college educator and is an instructor with the Massachusetts Municipal Police Institute. She has published several op ed columns and a children’s book on Amazon. Judge Erskine has appeared on local and national news programs, including Boston 25, Court TV’s Closing Arguments and WGBH’s Greater Boston.
Dr. Jeffrey S. Czarnec
Dr. Jeffrey S. Czarnec served with the City of Manchester, N.H. Police Department from 1979 to 2002. He embarked upon his second career as an assistant professor of Criminal Justice for Hesser College, where he had served as an adjunct since 1996. During his career as a Police Officer in the largest city north of Boston, he served as a juvenile investigator, SWAT entry-team member, Civil Disturbance Unit member, Undercover Narcotics/Vice detective, and as detective-in-charge of crimes against elder persons.
He has presented at a variety of local, regional, and national venues on a myriad of subjects ranging from but not limited to TQM and public service, ethnography and organized crime, financial exploitation of the elderly, and the Gainful Employment and the impact upon course assessments. Prior to his affiliation with Lebanon College, he served as Associate Dean with Kaplan University and was Chairman of the Department of Criminal Justice, Hesser College located in Manchester, NH.
He received his B.S. in Criminal Justice from Saint Anselm College, a Master of Science in Human Services Administration from Springfield College and a Doctorate in Leadership Studies from Franklin Pierce University. His dissertation was a participatory study conducted over a three-year period with upper-echelon members of the Boston Irish Mafia/Whitey Bulger gang. He has several publications for textbooks and other academic sites.
In addition, he is working on a documentary in South Boston with former Mayor and Ambassador to the Vatican, Mr. Raymond Flynn. Areas of research have spanned a wide variety of disciplines that include qualitative criminology, language and the marginalized, elder abuse, and learning theory to mention but a few.
He is a member of the American Criminal Justice Society, , the International Association for the Study of Organized Crime and consults regularly with local and regional police and human services leadership.
He is married to Kathleen O’Loughlin and is the proud Dad of four grown children and grandfather of nine.
Miguel Fabregas
I am a native of Puerto Rico and a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, where I earned a bachelor’s degree in English Linguistics. I am also a graduate of Oklahoma City University where I earned a master’s degree in criminal Justice administration.
I am a veteran having served in the United States Army from 1982 to 1990. I served in a variety of assignments while in the Field Artillery Branch of the US Army, to include liaison officer for tactical operations between military branches and Battery Commander in South Korea. I achieved the rank of Captain.
I entered duty with the FBI as a Special Agent in March 1990, and was assigned to the Miami Division after graduation from the FBI Academy. While in Miami, I investigated Domestic Terrorism, Organized Crime, Drug, Violent Crimes and International Terrorism matters. I was also a founding member of the Miami Division Extraterritorial Squad, which was responsible for investigating all terrorist related incidents, overseas homicides and kidnaping of U.S. citizens in the Caribbean, Central and South America. I was the case agent during the 1996-97 hostage crisis in the Japanese Ambassador’s Residence in Lima, Peru, which lasted 120 days and where 73 victims, to include world diplomats were taken hostage by a terrorist group.
I served as the Assistant Legal Attaché in Bogota, Colombia from August 2000 to August 2002. During this period, several Colombian terrorists were extradited to the United States. In early 2004, I was deployed to Iraq where I conducted interviews of detained terrorists and obtained information reference the activities of insurgents; responded to several bombings around Baghdad and collected evidence and conducted witness interviews. I also reviewed captured documents and obtained valuable intelligence reference the activities of active terrorist groups.
I subsequently served as the Assistant Legal Attaché in Rome, Italy from August 2004 to July 2008. During this period, I assisted in establishing a command post in Turin, Italy and subsequently assisted with security sweeps of the venues for the Winter Olympics. I also coordinated with FBI headquarters and provided training on Bio Terrorism to World Food Program Officials from the United Nations headquartered in Rome, Italy.
Upon my return from overseas, I served as the Unit Chief of the National Security Analysis Center in Washington DC. In this assignment, I was responsible for tracking, detecting and assessing foreign terrorists in the U.S. with the primary mission of providing information to deny entry into the U.S. of foreign terrorists and their supporters; and locate, detain, surveil, prosecute or deport any such person already present in the U.S.
I returned to the Miami Division in March of 2013 and was assigned as the Supervisory Special Agent of the Human Intelligence squad. In this assignment, I had supervisory
responsibility for the Confidential File Room and the recruitment of confidential informants in support of the FBIs top intelligence collection priorities.
In May 2016, I was hired as an Adjunct Professor in the Miami Dade College School of Justice. I retired from the Federal Bureau of Investigation on May 31, 2017, and in August of 2017, I was hired as a full-time faculty member at the Miami Dade College School of Justice.
References:
Joseph Reyes (954) 629-8994 (Former FBI Supervisor/ Personal Reference)
Dr. Efrain Venezuela (305) 237-8388 (Dean of Faculty Miami Dade College)
Michael Stevens (774) 230-7106 (Chairperson Criminal Justice Department Miami Dade College)
Lauren Misale
Lauren Misale, MPA has been teaching for 11 years in the Criminal Justice field at various institutions. The Chief of Police at Clark University, Ms. Misale comes to us with many years of experience as a law enforcement professional, beginning her career in 2008 as an officer, being promoted to the role of sergeant in 2013, and being appointed chief in 2020. She currently serves the University in emergency management, policy development, and other safety-related matters. Ms. Misale prides herself on preparing the next generation of Criminal Justice professionals by applying her field experience and real-life scenarios to her classroom instruction.
Samuel Santiago
Chief Samuel Santiago has been a lifelong resident of the City of Worcester, Ma who grew up in Great Brook Valley, one of the city’s largest housing projects, as well as the Main South Areas of Worcester. Chief Santiago is of Puerto Rican descent and speaks a second language. Chief Santiago has been a police officer for over 26 years and is currently a twenty-year veteran of the Shirley Police Department, where he is the chief of police and currently the only Latino police chief in Middlesex County and Central Massachusetts. Chief Santiago is also a criminal justice adjunct faculty at Anna Maria College in Paxton, Ma, where he teaches history of policing and race and foundations of criminal justice. In addition, he has been a guest lecturer and has participated in numerous criminal justice speaker series on social justice, policing, and a panelist regarding police officers of color at Anna Maria College, California University of Pennsylvania, and Fitchburg State University.
Chief Santiago has earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Human Services/Criminal Justice from Springfield College, graduating (Cum Laude), a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in public sector leadership from Clark University, a Master of Science in Criminal Justice, and a Graduate Certificate in Leadership and Administration in Criminal Justice from Anna Maria College. He has also attended and completed the Massachusetts Municipal Association-Suffolk University Certificate in Local Government Leadership and Management, which has given him a solid grounding in public management. Chief Santiago is currently three courses away from earning an MBA, and on May 6, 2023, Chief Santiago will graduate with a doctorate in criminal justice.
Michael Stevens
Professor Stevens holds a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice Administration from Western New England University. The focus of his academic research centered on Regionalization, Interoperability, and Information Sharing. He earned his BS in Law Enforcement from Western New England University and is a graduate of the Southeast Florida Institute of Criminal Justice in Miami Florida, DEA National Training, FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development, and numerous other specialized trainings for law enforcement.
Michael is the Criminal Justice and Homeland Security Program Coordinator and full time faculty at Dean College in Franklin, MA. His academic experience includes serving as Chairperson of the School of Justice at Miami Dade College, Vice President of Public Safety Academic Programs at Anna Maria College, and Criminal Justice Team Lead at Southern New Hampshire University.
Michael enjoyed a 30-year police career ranging from conducting and supervising organized crime investigations in Miami Florida for the Miami-Dade Police Department to serving as Deputy Superintendent for Law Enforcement and Homeland Security for the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office. He was instrumental in the development of a Worcester County Regional Drug Task Force (DELTA Force). Michael has a broad range of law enforcement experience specializing in management and planning, criminal investigations, and homeland security.