The criminal
justice program helps provide students with an understanding of the nature of
crime and the personnel, institutions, and processes that prevent or respond to
crime. Students are introduced to both the theory and practice of the criminal
justice system. The curriculum covers crime and criminal behavior, law
enforcement, courts, corrections, security, and investigation. It helps provide
a solid foundation for further study or entry into a variety of criminal
justice professions.
Intended
Program Outcomes
The student who
graduates with a major in criminal justice should be able to
- Communicate,
accurately, orally and in writing, to complete organizational missions to
ensure public safety.
- Apply critical
thinking skills and logic to analyze and solve a variety of complex
problems in the criminal justice environment.
- Manage and evaluate
organizational efforts to ensure effective cooperation with stakeholders
to prevent, control, and manage crime to ensure public safety.
- Utilize an ethical
framework and an understanding of legal constraints to make decisions as a
criminal justice professional.
- Develop specialized
technical knowledge and skills relevant to subspecialties in the field of
criminal justice to ensure public safety.
- Use interpersonal
and leadership skills to work both independently and cooperatively as a
member of a criminal justice team.
With a master's
degree in criminal justice, you can get a variety of jobs. If you're not
looking for law enforcement work, there are other fields within the criminal
justice field that are rewarding and financially stable. When choosing a
criminal justice career, you want something that allows you to utilize your
strongest skills and interests, and also provide an opportunity for
advancement. For example, you may decide to work as a research analyst for your
state's department of education and help the state government recommend new
policies which will reduce the number of high school dropouts and youth
violence.
Criminal Justice Professor
o
Most community colleges require their professors to hold a master's degree with
at least 18 credit hours in the subject they plan to teach. If you desire to
train leaders who will interpret the country's laws fairly and protect the
rights of citizens, you can teach criminal justice courses. This is a good job
because you're able to get creative in developing courses, mentor students in
their careers and research and occasionally publish articles on recent trends
in criminal justice.
Non-Profit Organization
Director
o
If you enjoy making a difference in your community and you have a certain cause
that you want to advocate for, look into non-profit leadership careers.
Non-profit directors are responsible for developing an organization's mission,
making sure the staff carries out this mission through their individual duties
and seeking sponsorships and funds for the organization. They also collaborate
with the marketing team to get press coverage for their causes or specific
fundraising events.
Social Science Research
o
For those who want a career researching social trends and the history of them,
social science research is a good choice. For example, a person with a criminal
justice degree may decide to work as a managing editor and occasional writer
for a university scholarly journal. His or her duties would include reviewing
manuscripts and query letters from writers, conducting staff meetings, editing
articles and writing his or her own articles. The journal editor may also
attend academic conferences to promote the journal.
