Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice Administration

3 Credits

This course introduces students to the constitutional foundations and governing institutions of the federal government. Throughout the course, students address common political themes, such as the nature and scope of governance, democracy, and patterns of political behavior.

3 Credits

This course is an introductory overview of the organization and jurisdictions of local, state, and federal law enforcement, judicial and corrections agencies, and processes involved in the criminal justice systems. It examines the historical aspects of the police, the courts, and the correctional system, as well as the philosophy. Additionally, career opportunities and qualifying requirements, terminology, and constitutional limitations of the system will be covered.

3 Credits

This course is an introduction to the set of perspectives on human life that allows us to understand how our personal lives are affected by our place in society. It explores ways of looking at the world that allow us to understand how the events and experiences of our lives are part of group dynamics, of social institutions, and of cultural meanings. It allows us to see personal events and meanings as affected by historical forces and to see how historical events may be shaped by personal choices.

3 Credits

This course introduces the topics of critical and creative thinking. This overview course defines and differentiates the two topics, and helps students explore how personal beliefs are formed and evaluated. Special attention is placed on how critical and creative thinking are used to create solutions to problems encountered by criminal justice and security personnel.

3 Credits

This course provides students with an introduction to the organization, administration, and functions of American state and local governments. The relationship between state and federal governments is also analyzed.

3 Credits

This course is an introduction and overview of the legal system, the participants, the courtroom process, and post conviction process of the court system. It demonstrates the connection among all participants and how they relate to each other. Additionally, the course covers the history of the court system and the different types of court at the state and federal levels.

3 Credits

This course provides an introduction to forensic science. This survey course is developed specifically for non-science majors to familiarize them with the different forensic science disciplines, the types of examinations crime laboratories conduct, and how forensic science is applied in current American criminal justice systems. Students gain a basic understanding of the principles of science, specifically the scientific method and its application.

3 Credits

This course is an introduction to the study of personality. The course examines theoretical explanations for understanding personality development and explores each theory. The course also investigates how personality is assessed. The focus is on approaches that psychology has developed for understanding personality and on applications for organizational processes.

3 Credits

This course is a general introduction to the field of juvenile justice, including an overview of the juvenile justice system and the differences between dependency and delinquency. Students address current problems facing juveniles, and compare adult and juvenile justice systems. Special attention is given to the problems inherent in the police handling of juveniles, the function of juvenile courts, sentencing, and future juvenile justice system issues.

3 Credits

This course offers a survey of the major historical developments, structural cosmology, symbolic interpretation, and values of the Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian, and Shinto traditions.

3 Credits

This course provides a survey of the major historical developments, structural cosmology, symbolic interpretation, and values of the Judaic, Christian, and Islamic religious traditions.

3 Credits

This is an introductory course in the study of criminal law, general legal principles, and how the criminal law functions in and affects modern society. This course highlights a variety of key topics, including the concept of crime and the development of criminal law, defenses to criminal charges, and a number of specific types of crimes, including personal crimes, property crimes, public order crimes, and offenses against public morality. Legal issues affecting punishment will also be discussed, as will ways the criminal law impacts victims of crime.

3 Credits

This course explores the basic core knowledge of constitutional criminal procedure. Emphasis is placed on the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments, searches and seizures, interrogations and confessions, identifications, and pretrial and trial processes. In addition, the United States Constitution, as interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court, is examined along with philosophical policy considerations. Application of core knowledge is developed through simulation exercises and examination of homeland security issues.

3 Credits

This course is a survey of the origins and development of organized crime in the United States. It examines the structure and activities of organized criminal enterprises, considers different models that have been employed to describe organized crime groups, and explores theories that have been advanced to explain the phenomenon. Major investigations of organized crime and legal strategies that have been developed to combat it are also considered.

3 Credits

This course provides an overview of the key components, theoretical foundations, and processes involved in the administration of criminal justice. The course examines the application of historical and philosophical considerations between the components of the criminal justice system.

3 Credits

This course explores the ethical standards and codes of professional responsibility in criminal justice professions. It also provides a foundational perspective for ethics in relationship to professional organizations and agencies. Students will examine the interrelated nature of ethics, morality, legal responsibility, and social issues in criminal justice settings.

3 Credits

This course offers an inclusive, critical, and balanced examination of the American criminal justice system with respect to major aspects of multiculturalism and societal diversity. Students will examine policies, procedures, and issues of diversity prevalent in criminal justice administration.

3 Credits

This course examines fundamental theories on the causes of criminal behavior, determinations on the extent of criminality in society, associated policy implications and the application of criminological theories in the criminal justice system. This course also explores traditional victimology, special victims and responses to victimization including civil and criminal processes and the correlation of victimology and criminology.

3 Credits

This course in organizational behavior encompasses the study of individual and group behavior as they apply to criminal justice organizations. Organizational behavior management challenges individuals to understand organizational structure and systems, leadership, effective communication, and change management in our rapidly changing society.

3 Credits

This course explores the relationships across all levels of government regarding effective emergency management. Students examine the required planning, response, recovery, and mitigation components that government agencies must consider. Network management theories, interorganizational communication, and potential collaboration models are discussed.

3 Credits

This course examines introductory statistical techniques common to the criminal justice system including descriptive and inferential statistics, correlation, and factor analysis. Students will demonstrate knowledge of the application and limitations of specific statistical tests. Students also analyze the use of statistics in research published by criminal justice researchers.

3 Credits

This course explores public sector revenue sources, allocation of funds, governance, public stewardship, responsible economic policies, debt, and the requirement for accurate and complete reporting. Various budgetary approaches used in federal, state, and local agencies are analyzed.

3 Credits

This course examines the process to secure funding for criminal justice initiatives and problem-solving through the identification of potential funding agencies, communicating within the grant process, and the creation of a well-aligned grant proposal.

3 Credits

This course explores the concepts designed to promote solutions that assist criminal justice professionals when dealing with individuals affected by mental health issues and developmental disabilities. Students will evaluate the concepts and administration of crisis intervention and mental health services, and their practical applications in the field. Students will create strategies for providing services to varied populations in the criminal justice system.

3 Credits

This course explores strategies and alternative solutions used to develop, implement, and evaluate criminal justice policies and programs. Students analyze the operations of criminal justice programs against established standards in order to determine program improvement.

3 Credits

This course will examine the impact of current and future advancements that interface with the criminal justice system. Discussions will focus upon established research and predictive techniques in policing, courts, and corrections. Students will gain the requisite knowledge to advance the profession as positive change-agents, through the extrapolation of future themes within the ever-evolving criminal justice field.

3 Credits

This course examines problem-solving approaches to criminal justice issues through root cause analyses, application of problem-solving methodologies, and assessment of the effectiveness of the criminal justice responses to contemporary issues.

3 Credits

This capstone course is designed for students to integrate their acquired knowledge of theory into practical applications. Students will demonstrate ethical decision-making, research, public policy and administration as it applies to communities and the criminal justice field.