Master of Science in Criminal Justice
The Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice is designed to broaden and enhance each student’s ability to understand, analyze and evaluate issues that confront the American criminal justice system. Included in the objectives of the program’s core coursework are (a) to prepare students to understand, analyze and evaluate the principles and functions of personnel administration in criminal justice applications; (b) to prepare students to understand, analyze and evaluate trends and developments affecting the interpretation of the U.S. Constitution in light of historical case precedent; (c) to prepare students to understand, analyze and evaluate issues that affect the structure and functioning of the criminal justice system; and (d) to understand, analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the American judicial process with respect to its legal basis, organization and management. Specific institutional objectives of the program are as follows:
- to prepare students to fulfill a need in American society for professional law enforcement personnel and competent criminal justice administrators by providing educational programs that develop each student’s problem solving skills in ways that prepare the student to address the issues that arise in the dynamic and evolving criminal justice field;
- to develop each student’s ability to synthesize and apply knowledge of the critical theories and concepts in the field of criminal justice in their problem solving analysis;
- to develop each student’s ability to identify and develop alternative solutions to problems that confront the modern criminal justice system based on their knowledge of current theories and concepts;
- to develop each student’s ability to evaluate and appropriately choose solutions to problems that confront the criminal justice system;
- to develop each student’s ability to effectively communicate the results of his/her analysis.
- to provide students who seek administrative and managerial positions in the field of criminal justice with the credentials to qualify for those positions;
- to provide an appropriate program of graduate study for students who are interested in research in the field of criminal justice and in advanced graduate study.
Degree Requirements
Any student completing the course work with a 3.0 GPA or better, fulfilling candidacy requirements, successfully completing the required comprehensive examinations (for CJ 6610, 6620, 6622 and 6624) and the research requirement (CJ 6650), will be awarded the master’s degree. (If the student makes a “D” or “F” in a core course, the course must be retaken. If the student makes a“D” or “F” in an elective course, the course may be retaken or another elective taken in its place.)
| Required Courses (15 credits) | ||
| CJ 6610 | 3 | Principles of Administration |
| CJ 6620 | 3 | Current Trends in Criminal Law |
| CJ 6622 | 3 | Seminar in the Administration of Justice |
| CJ 6624 | 3 | Court Administration |
| CJ 6650 | 3 | Survey of Research Methods in Criminal Justice |
| Electives (15 credits) | ||
| Select any 15 hours of graduate course work from the following: | ||
| CJ 5571 | 3 | Probation, Pardons, and Parole |
| CJ 6621 | 3 | Current Issues in Corrections |
| CJ 6625 | 3 | Specialized Study |
| CJ 6630 | 3 | Juvenile Justice |
| CJ 6635 | 3 | Community-Based Corrections/Correctional Systems |
| CJ 6636 | 3 | Criminological Theory |
| CJ 6638 | 3 | Seminar in Civil Liberties Related to Corrections |
| CJ 6640 | 3 | Seminar in Law Enforcement |
| CJ 6644 | 3 | Administrative Law |
| CJ 6649 | 3 | Statistics for Criminal Justice Research |
| CJ 6652 | 3 | Seminar in Corrections |
| CJ 6655 | 3 | Special Topics in Criminal Justice |
| CJ 6660 | 3 | Advanced Readings in Criminal Justice |
| CJ 6671 | 3 | Organizational Theory |
| CJ 6692 | 3 | Agency Experience |
| CJ 6693 | 3 | Masters Project |
| CJ 6694 | 3 | Thesis Practicum |
| CJ 6695 | 3 | Thesis |
TOTAL 30 Hours |
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