College of Arts and Sciences

Criminal Justice

Program Description

Associate of Arts
The Associate of Arts in Criminal Justice (AA-CJ) prepares the student to demonstrate a basic working knowledge of law enforcement, corrections, investigations, and juvenile justice. The student gains the core curriculum needed to be successful in the criminal justice workforce or to pursue a more advanced degree in criminal justice.

Program Outcomes

At the successful completion of the program, the student will be able to: 

• Communicate effectively within varied aspects of a criminal justice enterprise;
• Demonstrate basic knowledge of law enforcement, corrections, investigations, and juvenile justice
• Employ critical thinking skills to effectively solve problems

Bachelor of Arts
The Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice (BA-CJ) engages the student in theories of criminal justice as related to practical experiences. The student gains the ability to analyze both theories and concepts of crime and employ his/her analytical skills to make decisions and solve problems. The degree prepares the student for a career in local, state, or federal law enforcement.

Program Outcomes

At the successful completion of the program, the student will be able to:

• Communicate effectively with varied aspects of the criminal justice enterprise
• Analyze basic criminal justice theories and concepts
• Analyze data gathering and decision-making processes
• Use criminal justice theories to effectively solve problems
• Employ critical thinking skills using classical, biological and sociological theories of crime causation

Concentrations
The concentrations require a minimum of 18 credit hours in major electives from the criminal justice discipline.  These courses must be Criminal Justice (CJ) courses at the 300 level or higher.  These electives help the student to increase breadth or depth in specific concentrations in the criminal justice field.

Sets of elective courses have been grouped together around selected criminal justice concentration. A student may opt to take one of these sets as enumerated below in order to focus attention on homeland security or computer science.

Concentration in Homeland Security
The Homeland Security concentration elective courses prepare students for work in areas involving the protection of our nation’s borders and preparation and recovery from emergencies.  Graduates are qualified to work in such areas as border security and intelligence, terrorism prevention and analysis, and emergency and disaster planning. The recommended sequence of courses is as follows:

1. CJ450 Understanding Terrorism
2. CJ451 Principles of Terrorism
3. CJ452 Terrorism and U.S. National Security
4. CJ453 Border and Coastal Security
5. CJ454 Elements and Issues in Counterterrorism
6. CJ455 Emergency Planning

Concentration in Computer Science
Building on the general criminal justice core, this concentration involves study in computer crime, computer forensics, ethical hacking, computer crime scene investigation, and criminal intelligence analysis. The recommended sequence of courses is as follows:

1. CJ475 Introduction to Computer Crime
2. CJ476 Computer Forensics and Cyber Crime
3. CJ477 Computer Crime Scene Investigation
4. CJ478 Online Resource Guide for Law Enforcement
5. CJ479 Information Security
6. CJ480 Criminal Intelligence Analysis

If the student chooses to forego focusing on a specific concentration in CJ, it is highly recommended that the following six courses be taken for the CJ electives as they provide a solid knowledge base:

1. CJ412 Current Issues in Criminal Justice
2. CJ414 Multicultural Law Enforcement
3. CJ415 Police Community Relations
4. CJ416 Victimology
5. CJ421 Advanced Criminal Law
6. CJ425 Judicial Process

Criminal Justice Course Highlights

 To view the curriculum in its entirety, please download the University Catalog

Career Specific Information

The Criminal Justice degree program prepares graduates for the detection, apprehension, detention, pretrial release, post trial release, prosecution, adjudication, correctional supervision or rehabilitation of accused persons or criminal offenders through the knowledge and skills acquired during the successful completion of courses in corrections systems and practices, criminal procedure, community policing, police systems and practices, white collar crime, criminal justice research methods, and judicial process. The Homeland Security specialty prepares graduates for work in areas involving the protection of our nations boarders and preparation and recovery from emergencies.