Criminal Justice, MSCJ with Emphasis Areas

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Program Description

The Master of Science in Criminal Justice (MSCJ) is designed primarily for practitioners in the field of criminal justice interested in developing and/or enhancing administrative skills. The program is also designed to meet the analytical and theoretical needs of students who will continue with doctoral or law studies. The degree emphasizes four foundational areas: trends in criminal justice, policy development and analysis, research design and ethics in criminal justice. Understanding derived from these courses provides graduate students a solid foundation for dealing with the many critical issues confronting the contemporary criminal justice administrator. Courses are structured in a hands-on format, encouraging maximum student interaction while at the same time encouraging the development of useful action skills.

Program Learning Outcomes:

Identify and evaluate the major issues facing the Criminal Justice system.
Explain and analyze the relationship between criminal Justice theory and policy.
Analyze and evaluate the operational, legal, and ethical problems faced by criminal justice professionals.
Demonstrate an advanced writing capacity with the ability to locate, evaluate and reference academic research.

Program CIP: 43.0103 - Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement Administration.

Program SOC: 33-1012 - First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives

Admission Requirements

Admission Requirements

Completion of a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher
Goal statement consisting of 300 - 500 words which (1) describes your work experiences, skills, and abilities, (2) addresses your professional goals, and (3) demonstrates your ability to be successful in a graduate program.
Professional resume

Prerequisite Courses

If a student’s bachelor’s degree is in a field other than criminal justice, the following prerequisite courses with a grade of B or higher are required:

CJAD 101 - Introduction to Criminal Justice
CJAD 415 - Criminal Procedures

Conditional Admission

Conditional admission is based on appropriate professional experience or other preparation. Students may enroll in a maximum of six (6) hours under the category and must earn a grade of B or higher in all courses. When this condition has been met, students will automatically be updated to full program status.

Pre-Graduate Students

Students who have earned over ninety (90) undergraduate semester hours toward the baccalaureate degree at Columbia College who wish to start their graduate studies early may apply for admission in the Pre-Graduate category. Pre-graduate students may complete a maximum of nine (9) graduate hours without full program acceptance. After completion of the baccalaureate degree and up to nine (9) graduate semester hours, Pre-Graduate students must submit application materials to be considered for full program admission (see Full Admission policies). Pre-graduate students are subject to the same academic regulations and requirements as all degree-seeking students. MAT, MBA, and MSCJ Pre-Graduate students may enroll in designated courses only. MSCJ Pre-Graduate status is limited to main campus students only.

Students applying for Pre-Graduate status must submit a completed and signed application for graduate admission accompanied by transcripts from all colleges and universities attended. Applicants must have earned more than 90 undergraduate semester hours toward the baccalaureate degree at a regionally accredited college or university and have an overall GPA of 3.0. Eligible degree programs are those closely related to the criminal justice area at regionally accredited colleges or universities. Those accepted as Pre-Graduate status students may take up to nine (9) semester hours of graduate coursework in the MSCJ program while observing all existing MSCJ program requirements.

Degree Requirements

The degree requirements include 12 hours of foundation courses, 15 hours of core courses, and 9 hours of elective courses totaling 36 semester hours.

Required Criminal Justice Foundation Courses (12 sem. hrs)

Required Core Courses (15 sem. hrs)

Criminal Justice Electives (9 sem. hrs)

Total Semester Hours: 36

Management Emphasis Areas in Criminal Justice Administration

Students majoring in the Master of Science in Criminal Justice degree program desiring a greater focus in management skills may choose an emphasis in Law Enforcement Administration (LEA) as part of their degree completion plan. The management emphasis areas will appear on the student’s academic transcript and provide evidence that the student has satisfied academic requirements for departmentally recognized courses in the area.

The Law Enforcement Administration emphasis area consists of successful completion of three of the four designated graduate courses associated with that area (9 semester hours total). To qualify for the awarding of the emphasis, each course comprising the specialty area must be completed with a minimum grade of “B”. Management emphasis areas include:

Law Enforcement Administration Emphasis

Required Emphasis Courses

Students choose 9 hours (3 courses) from the following (taken in lieu of MSCJ electives):

Partners in Correction Equivalency Program

Criminal Justice graduate faculty have developed an equivalency program for MSCJ students that can receive up to nine (9) graduate hours of college credit for management training received through the National Institute of Corrections.

Graduate students accepted into the MSCJ Program who demonstrate that they have successfully completed the National Institute of Corrections “Management Development for the Future” series 70- hour course will receive 9 hours of course equivalency toward the completion of their MSCJ degree. The specific courses for which equivalency credit will be given are (1) MSCJ 526 (2) MSCJ 533 , and (3) MSCJ 550 .

Once all other coursework for the MSCJ degree has been successfully completed, these nine (9) hours will be awarded to enable the student to graduate with the Master of Science in Criminal Justice.

Focused Academic Sequence: Baccalaureate or Graduate

A Focused Academic Sequence (FAS) is a sequence of study (minimum of two courses) for which there is no academic degree major, minor or certificate. The FAS may be developed and implemented to quickly and effectively respond to a student’s specific needs. Any student may request an FAS to meet any baccalaureate or graduate academic need for which there is no present academic degree, major, minor, concentration, emphasis, or endorsement.

In a formal business memorandum, addressed to the academic department chair(s) and jointly signed by the student and the faculty member working with the student, a FAS must be requested. A FAS request, taking the form of a specific educational objective, or objectives, and specification of the completed coursework necessary for meeting the objective, or objectives, must be approved by the chair(s) of the department(s) in which coursework is to be completed. The chair of the academic department in which the student is pursuing an academic major is responsible for monitoring the student’s FAS progress, and for notifying the Dean when the FAS has been completed and a letter of completion is justified. The Dean issues the “Letter of Completion” and authorizes the Office of the Registrar Office to enter notice of the letter in the student’s academic transcript.

Assessment

The degree emphasizes four foundational areas: trends in criminal justice, research design, ethics and legal considerations in criminal justice management. Understanding derived from these courses provides graduate students a solid foundation for dealing with the many critical issues confronting the contemporary criminal justice administrator. Courses are structured in a hands-on format, encouraging maximum student interaction while at the same time encouraging the development of useful action skills. During each course, students are requested to evaluate the quality of instruction received in each class. Data from student evaluations is used to improve curriculum and pedagogy.

The Department has developed the following program learning goals for graduates of the Master of Science in Criminal Justice program:

To acquire increased skills in writing in a criminal justice context.
To acquire increased and improved skills in public speaking.
To enhance decision-making, organizational, and leadership skills.
To obtain real world critical thinking/problem solving skills as they relate to criminal justice and public policy.
To study recent developments and trends in criminal justice.
To apply experience and research to the development of public policy and acceptable criminal procedure.
To gain knowledge of comparative criminal justice policy and procedures and possible applications in an American criminal justice setting.

The Department’s Capstone Course, MSCJ 524 , is the primary site for gathering of program assessment information. Product and process components that form key outcomes or performance tasks relevant to the degree must be completed successfully as part of this culminating experience. Course work in MSCJ 524 requires a formal evaluation of a Criminal Justice policy or program by applying course concepts from all of the Master’s degree course work.

Students in MSCJ 524 will also be given a Program Assessment Instrument, which requests the students to submit answers to questions designed to assess the quality of the MSCJ program. Information and data obtained through these and other assessment activities are used to improve curriculum and pedagogy.