Criminal Justice B.S. Degree

Introduction	Features	Advisement	Career Choices
Degree Requirements	Sample Curriculum	Pre-Forensic Sciences Program	Minor

Introduction

The goal of the criminal justice program is to provide students with the appropriate educational background to support potential careers in the criminal justice system. The five salient features of the criminal justice program are: (1) it is system-oriented rather than agency-oriented; (2) it is a highly interdisciplinary program of study; (3) it offers students the options of three major concentrations; (4) it is appropriate for pre-service as well as in-service students; and (5) it has a strong commitment to consideration of the moral and ethical issues in criminal justice.

Features

The program comprises a lower and upper division curriculum. Courses with numerical designations below the 300 level, e.g. CRJ221, are lower division courses and are appropriate for freshmen and sophomore students. Courses above the 300 level are upper division courses and are appropriate for juniors and seniors. Students should complete the CRJ Core before enrolling in upper division courses. However, this requirement can be and often is waived when scheduling and student population problems emerge. Students are required to achieve a grade of “C” or above in all CRJ courses.

Academic Advisement

Students are encouraged to contact the Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice for information and advising. He will be pleased to discuss the program with interested students.

Specific Career Choices for Criminal Justice Graduates are:

Law Enforcement
Property Officer	Public Safety Officer
Patrol Officer	Police Officer
Security & Loss Prevention
Security Officer	Animal Cruelty Investigator
Security Manager	Director of Campus Security
Library Security	Security Operations Manager
Loss Prevention Manager	Loss Prevention Investigator
Store Investigator	Security Specialist
Area Loss Control Manager
Law and Courts
Legal Coordinator	Paralegal
Pre-Trial Officer	Juvenile Court Register
Court Deputy
Corrections
Corrections Officer	Correctional Officer Trainees
Human Services
Caseworkers	Youth Care Workers
Social Work Supervisor	EEO Investigative Case Workers
Case Manager	Domestic Violence Technician
Social Worker
Substance Abuse Therapy
Program Director	Chemical Dependency Counselor
Substance Abuse Clinician	Substance Abuse Counselor
Drug & Alcohol Counselor	Substance Abuse Therapist
Federal Careers
Air Traffic Controller	Border Patrol Agent
Civil Rights Analyst	Civil Aviation Security Specialist
Correctional Officer	Customs Inspector
Immigration Inspector	Equal Opportunity Compliance Specialist
Internal Revenue Officer	Equal Employment Opportunity Specialist
Investigator	Environmental Protection Specialist
Paralegal Specialist	Game Law Enforcement Specialist
Park Ranger	Public Health Quarantine Inspection
Security Specialist	Securities Compliance Examining
Special Agent-Secret Service	Social Insurance Claims Examiner
Tax Auditor/Technician	Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms

B.S. Degree Requirements -

AKA Blue Planning Sheet [Word Document]

AKA Blue Planning Sheet [PDF]

CRIMINAL JUSTICE (45 CREDITS)

REQUIRED CORE COURSES (18 Credits)

CRJ 100 - Introduction to Criminal Justice
CRJ 211 - Criminal Law and Procedures
CRJ 221 - Policing A Democracy
CRJ 241 - Survey of Corrections
CRJ 309 - Theories of Crime & Crime Control
CRJ 310 - Research Methods

CRIMINAL JUSTICE ELECTIVES (21 Credits)

CRJ 321 - Criminal Investigation
CRJ 326 - Victimology
CRJ 336 - Introduction to Forensic Science
CRJ 345 - Organization & Mgmt of CRJ Agencies
CRJ 348 - Clinical Intervention and Treatment
CRJ 351 - Juvenile Justice
CRJ 356 - Organized Crime
CRJ 365 - White Collar Crime
CRJ 370 - Mock Trial
CRJ 390 - Selected Topics in CRJ
CRJ 393 - Selected Topics in CRJ
CRJ 396 - Selected Topics in CRJ
CRJ 397 - Selected Topics in CRJ
CRJ 411 - Terrorism
CRJ 433 - Evidence Law
CRJ 456 - Forensic Science: Evidence Analysis
CRJ 461 - Social Construction of Homicide
CRJ 463 - Comparative Criminal Justice
CRJ 464 - Popular Culture, Crime and Justice
CRJ 466 - Women and Criminal Justice
CRJ 471 - Internship I*
CRJ 472 - Internship II*
CRJ 473 - Internship III*
CRJ 474 - Internship IV*
CRJ 481 - Independent Study
CRJ 490 - Selected Topics in CRJ
CRJ 491 - Selected Topics in CRJ

*Each section of internship is worth 3 credits and equals 120 hours of agency work. Therefore, 3 credits = 120 hrs., 6 credits = 240 hrs., 9 Credits = 360 hrs., and 12 credits = 480 hrs. of work.

Required CAPSTONE COURSES (6 Credits)

CRJ 452 - Race, Ethnicity, and Crime
CRJ 454 - Policy, Professionalism and Ethics

Criminal Justice Interdisciplinary Course (15 Credits)

Students may select any five courses from the list provided by the Department. No General Education courses or 100 level courses may be used to meet these requirements.

General Education Courses

Criminal Justice majors are required to take the following general education (Gen. Ed.) courses:

Category D - PLS 100: U.S. Government and Politics

Category E - PSY 101: General Psychology

Category E - SOC 101: Intro to Sociology: Society and Diversity

There is no language requirement for CRJ majors, although the department strongly recommends that our students gain a basic understanding of Spanish. The department also strongly recommends that our students take a basic computer science course, such as CPS 103: Overview of Computer Science.

Sample Curriculum

SAMPLE FOUR-YEAR CRIMINAL JUSTICE CURRICULUM

1st Semester	Freshman	2nd Semester
BIO100 Basic Biology		CSC103 Overview of Computer Science
CRJ100 Intro. to Criminal Justice		HCS100 Intro. to Human Communication
ENG106 Writing Intensive First Year Seminar		HIS106 World History II
HIS105 World History I		PSY101 Intro. to Psychology
MAT102 Intro. to Statistics		1 Free Elective
1st Semester	Sophomore	2nd Semester
ART101 Art Appreciation		CRJ241 Survey of Corrections
CRJ211 Criminal Law and Procedure		PHY110 Physics for Society
CRJ221 Policing a Democracy		SOC101 Intro. to Sociology: Society & Diversity
ENG250 Intro. to Literature		SPN101 Beginning Spanish
1 Free Elective		1 Free Elective
1st Semester	Junior	2nd Semester
CRJ309 Theories of Crime & Crime Control		CRJ310 Research Methods
ESS108 Cons of Natural Resources		PLS231 State & Local Government (Interdisciplinary)
GEO101 World Geography		PSY220 Psychology of Adjustment (Interdisciplinary)
PLS100 US Government & Politics		SOC241 Contemporary Social Prob.(Interdisciplinary)
1 Free Elective		1 Criminal Justice Elective
1st Semester	Senior	2nd Semester
CRJ452 Race, Ethnicity and Crime		CRJ454 Policy, Professionalism and Ethics
PSY270 Social Psychology(Interdisciplinary)		4 Criminal Justice Electives
SOC244 Criminology (Interdisciplinary)
2 Criminal Justice Electives
The above distribution of courses is not mandatory. Numerous combinations of course sequencing are possible.
The distribution is presented to help students visualize one possible sequence of courses over a four-year period.
Students may take 3 - 12 credits of Internship for Criminal Justice Elective credit as soon as they achieve a 2.0 cumulative grade point average (QPA) and earn a minimum of 60 credits.

Pre-Forensic Sciences Program

Forensic Science is a rapidly developing field that draws from many disciplines and is an attractive profession to people from variuos academic, social and economic backgrounds. Opportunities exist for employment and further education in criminal investigation, forensic law, forensic psychology, forensic anthropology, forensic nursing, wildlife forensics and toxicology to name a few careers in this diverse discipline. Thus, students who want to pursue a career or post-graduate training in forensic sciences can declare pre-forensic sciences as an option at the baccalaureate level through one of three departments: Biology, Chemistry, or Criminal Justice. The courses required for the pre-forensic sciences option are in accordance with the guidelines established by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and are linked to specific concentrations in each department. These include the B.S. in Biology/Biotechnology, B.S. in Chemistry/Biochemistry, or B.S. in Criminal Justice/ Pre-forensic Sciences concentrations.

The pre-forensic sciences program is under the direction of a committee chaired by Dr. Lucinda Elliott (Biology) and includes Dr. William Patrie (Biology), Dr. Robin McCann (Chemistry), and Dr. Todd Bricker (Criminal Justice). Biology, Chemistry, and Criminal Justice majors who are interested in a career in forensic sciences are encouraged to seek advise from any of these four professors.

Pre-Forensic Science Planning Sheet [Word Document]

Pre-Forensic Science Planning Sheet [PDF]