Steve Swisher

Steve Swisher is an independent consultant in criminal justice.  He served 21 years as a correctional program specialist with the National Institute of Corrections (NIC). 

Mr. Swisher is an accomplished instructional designer and master facilitator/trainer.  He has developed hundreds of training curricula and training programs during his career.

As an advocate for the use of advanced technologies in training to meet the needs of today’s ever evolving corrections profession, he pioneered NIC’s development and use of e-learning technology in the design and delivery of distance learning strategies. 

Steve is a certified e-learning instruction designer using both synchronous and asynchronous platforms.  He led the NIC team developing its virtual learning management system, the NIC Learning Center, to electronically manage traditional classroom instruction, online courses, and virtual instructor-led learning experiences.  He also served as the executive producer of the NIC “live” satellite/Internet broadcast series.

Mr. Swisher is nationally recognized for his work in the design and development of the highly successful integrated cognitive behavior program, Thinking for a Change (T4C).  He has trained over 6,000 facilitators to deliver the program and has equipped over 250 agencies to train their own staff to facilitate the program.  He was a consulting sponsor of the T4C 3.1 revision.  He is actively involved in the advancement of the program including the new Thinking for a Change Certified Facilitator credential.

Steve began is correctional career in Maryland with almost 20 years of state service in corrections.  During that tenure, he last held the position of Regional Administrator for correctional education programs with the Maryland State Department of Education.  In this capacity, he administered all facets of correctional educational programming including academic, vocational education, post-secondary, apprenticeship and industries for the Western Region of the state.  Previously he served as the state’s academic coordinator, supervisor of correctional education for an institution and a teacher.

Mr. Swisher holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Frostburg State University, a Master’s Degree in Administration from Western Maryland College and a second Master’s Degree in the Teaching of Reading from the Johns Hopkins University.