GHC Faculty and Staff

Biography:

Randy is a tenured Associate Professor of Criminal Justice and Political Science at Georgia Highlands College. He is a former Regional Director with the State of Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles. Randy completed a thirty-two-year law enforcement career in July 2011, after serving with the Rome, Georgia, Police Department for four years and then with the Board of Pardons and Paroles for twenty-eight years. He is a POST certified Senior Instructor and holds Instructor Specialization Certification in Firearms and Defensive Tactics. He is a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigations’ Defensive Tactics Instructor’s course. One of Randy’s proudest moments in his criminal justice career is when he was selected for the inaugural Parole Board’s Instructor of the Year in 1996. He was selected as the instructor of the year from a pool of outstanding and distinguished instructors that taught for the Parole Board at that time. Additionally, an equally proud moment and a profound honor for Randy was when he was named a recipient of USG’s eMajor eHero Award in November 2023. He is just one of many awesome professors who teach for the USG’s eMajor, and he enjoys every minute of teaching the wonderful students who take criminal justice classes in the eMajor Program.

Randy holds a Master in Public Administration with concentrations in Criminal Justice and Political Science from Jacksonville State University. He has taught at the college level since 1988, having taught at Georgia Highlands College, Berry College, Shorter University and Georgia Northwestern Technical College, and has been on faculty at Georgia Highlands College since 1990. He served on the Northwest Georgia Police Academy Advisory Board for many years, having served two terms as Chairman. He is a current member of the Community Criminal Justice Foundation, Inc., International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association and the American Criminal Justice Association – Lambda Alpha Epsilon. He is a past member of the Parole Association of Georgia and the National Sheriffs’ Association.

Randy serves as a Co-Advisor to the Criminal Justice and Political Science Club at GHC and enjoys the fun times with the club members at club meetings and events. He feels strongly that student engagement is very important in the lives of students and the networking that occurs in club activities is critical for future careers in criminal justice. On January 20, 2017, Randy was awarded the Quality Matters Expert Award, as he had successfully completed a series of training sessions in Quality Matters.

Randy and his wife, Sherry (Ret. Associate Professor of Education at GHC) live in Rome, GA. They have one daughter, Kasey Green Brant, and one grandson, Brody William Brant. They enjoy watching their grandson play baseball, watching GHC athletic events, and spending time in the Grand Tetons. Randy and his family attend Crosspoint City Church in Cartersville, Georgia.

Biography:

Dr. Greg Sumner is a tenured Professor and Coordinator of the Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice at Georgia Highlands College. Greg served as a Deputy Sheriff for the Polk County Sheriff’s Department, Patrolman First Class for the Rome Police Department, and Lieutenant/Senior Instructor for the Georgia Public Safety Training Center-Northwest Georgia Police Academy. In those agencies he has served as a patrolman, field training officer, honor guard member, SWAT team member, counter-sniper, and instructor. He holds instructor certifications in instructor training, firearms, defensive tactics, pepper spray, chemical agents (FBI), environmental crimes (EPA), health and wellness and ASP baton. He is the Founder and past President of Professional Screening & Information (PSI), a company that conducts pre-employment screening services internationally with clients in aviation, healthcare, insurance, business, government, energy, to name a few. Greg created products such as Background Wise, Reference Wise, and Med Wise, to include the pre-service background check model used by all police academies in the State of Georgia. After 15 years of successful growth, the company was sold in 2014 to a private investment group, where he maintains a seat on the board of directors.

Greg is founder of a non-profit organization, the Community Criminal Justice Foundation, Inc. (CCJF), that provides annual scholarships to those seeking a degree in criminal justice and an annual lunch for criminal justice personnel throughout Northwest Georgia. As an entrepreneur, Greg has developed properties in Rome, GA, Panama City Beach, FL, St Simons Island, GA and on the Toccoa River in Blue Ridge, GA.

Greg is a Veteran of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, serving in the Georgia Army National Guard (48th Brigade) and the United States Army (24th Infantry Division) as a Tanker and Physical Training Instructor.

Greg holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Human Services with a concentration in Criminal Justice from Walden University and conducted additional graduate studies in developmental psychology. He conducted his doctoral residency through Walden University at Indiana University. He holds a Master of Science in Criminal Justice and a Bachelor of Science in Forensic Science from Jacksonville State University, where he was a member of Alpha Phi Sigma-criminal justice national honor society, Lambda Alpha Epsilon-American Criminal Justice Association and Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity.

Greg is the recipient of the GHC Excellence for Online Teaching Award (2021); eMajor/eHero Award (2020), Rome Downtown Development Authority-Williams S. Frick’s Service Award (2016); Community Criminal Justice Foundation Leadership Award (2015); Georgia Highlands College Shining Star Award (2013); Heart of the Community Award (2012); Jacksonville State University Criminal Justice Alumni of the Year Award (2012); graduate of Leadership Georgia (2009); Better Business Bureau Torch Award Recipient of Ethics in Business (2008); Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year (2008); graduate of Leadership Rome (2000) and Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow, to name a few.

Greg has served on many non-profit boards of directors over the years as a member and in many instances as chairman. He currently serves on the boards of the Community Criminal Justice Foundation (founder and member), Northwest Georgia Police Academy (chair), Community Foundation for Greater Rome Board of Directors (member), Jacksonville State University Foundation (member, Chair 2022-2024), Rome High School College and Career Academy program of Study in Law, Public Safety and Corrections Advisory Board (member), and the Berry College Center for Integrity in Leadership (mentor).

Greg and his wife (Shani) are raising three boys, one cat and a dog. Much of his free time is spent with his family watching football, hiking, kayaking and fly fishing.