Joel Bolante

Dr. Joel Bolante is an Assistant Professor at Flagler College and the Director of the Public Administration Degree Program. He began as an adjunct in 2003 and teaches various undergraduate courses in public administration, including leadership, management, public policy, administrative law, intergovernmental relations, research methods, and program evaluation, to name a few.

Before joining Flagler College full-time, Dr. Bolante served in law enforcement for more than 34 years, beginning as a correctional officer with the Florida Department of Corrections at Florida State Prison (FSP). In 1984, he joined the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office (SJSO), serving as a deputy sheriff in uniformed patrol. During his career at SJSO, he ascended through the ranks serving in patrol, criminal investigations, internal affairs, and corrections. Dr. Bolante retired in May 2015 at the rank of Undersheriff. Twenty-two of his more than 34 years in law enforcement were at the first-line, middle-management, and executive levels of command. He is a graduate of the Southern Police Institute’s 90th (1993) Administrative Officer’s Course at the University of Louisville, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Drug Unit Commander’s Academy (1993), the 195th Session (1998) of the FBI National Academy both in Quantico, VA, and the 35th Session of the Florida Criminal Justice Executive Training Institute’s Chief Executive Seminar in 2004.

In addition to teaching at Flagler College, Dr. Bolante has been asked on numerous occasions to provide supervision and command-level training to various Sheriff’s Offices throughout Florida, the Jacksonville Fire & Rescue Training Academy, the St. Johns County and St. Augustine F/R departments, and at the Florida Sheriff’s Association’s newly elected Sheriff’s and Commander’s Academies in Tallahassee, FL. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice, a Master of Public Administration from Troy University, and a Doctorate in Law and Policy from Northeastern University in Boston, MA.