Master of Science in Criminal Justice

CRJS 5802    Corrections Law and Liability    3 s.h.

Analysis and examination of legal mandates and restrictions affecting the field of corrections. History of the development of offender rights, current issues surrounding offender rights, and future concerns in this area. Jail and prison standards, accreditation standards, case law, and liability concerns.
Prereq.: CRJS 3719 or graduate student standing.

CRJS 5825    Criminal Procedures and Constitutional Issues    3 s.h.

Constitutional foundations of the American criminal justice process with special emphasis on recent Supreme Court decisions. Legal and practical applications of the laws of arrest, criminal procedure, search and seizure, court structures, and federal civil rights.
Prereq.: CRJS 3719 and must be a criminal justice major or have permission of chairperson.

CRJS 5831    Violence in America    3 s.h.

Analysis of violence in America including official and unofficial statistics, types and levels of violence, research findings, and profiles of offenders. Case analysis of domestic violence, juvenile violence, gangs, and other forms of violence.
Prereq.: CRJS 3735.

CRJS 5840    Critical Incidents and Homeland Security    3 s.h.

This course provides an overview of emergency planning at all stages from the initial development of an emergency plan to the management of crisis situations to the evaluation of the response. The course culminates in the creation of an emergency preparedness plan for jurisdiction or agency of the student’s choosing, and the student is encouraged to select a situation consist with present work or long-term career plans.
Prereq.: CRJS 1500, PHLT 1531, OR graduate student status.

CRJS 5841    Terrorism and Countersurveillance    3 s.h.

The course provides an introduction to terrorism and counter-terrorism techniques. Generally, the course material is divided into two parts. First, the course offers a description of terrorist and anti-government groups. Topics covered include the background and history of terrorist and anti-government groups as well as the tactics of these groups. Second, the course takes the perspective of homeland security and law enforcement agencies proactively counteracting the threats to public safety that they groups may pose.
Prereq.: CRJS 1500, PHLT 1531, OR graduate student status.

CRJS 5865    Gathering and Using Information in Criminal Justice    3 s.h.

Specialized communication skills to prepare criminal justice practitioners in information-gathering techniques, written presentation techniques, verbal and nonverbal communication skills within constitutional guidelines.
Prereq.: CRJS 2601 or graduate student standing.

CRJS 5872    Drugs and Crime    3 s.h.

This course will cover the drug-crime connection. In doing so, a wide variety of topics will be highlighted from a history of criminal justice policies on various drugs to ways to prevent and treat substance abuse. The three learning objectives (LO) that will be pursued in this course are: 1) explain the context of the criminal justice approaches to specific types of drugs; 2) apply criminal justice (CJ) theories on drug use and abuse; and 3) analyze and assess drug-control policies and criminal justice intervention/management strategies. These three course objectives relate to the overall CJ degree learning outcomes in fostering critical thinking relative to CJ policies, literature review development, and the inter-relationships within the CJ system.

CRJS 5875    Juvenile Justice System    3 s.h.

In-depth analysis of the specialized agencies and procedures developed to deal with problems of juveniles from a historical and philosophical perspective. Consideration of the juvenile court, community-based programs, institutionalization.
Prereq.: Graduate student standing or CRJS 2602 and CRJS 2603.

CRJS 6910    Law and Criminal Justice    3 s.h.

An historical analysis of criminal law as a social control. An overview of substantive criminal law and criminal procedural law in the United States.

CRJS 6915    Advanced Criminology    3 s.h.

A comprehensive analysis of the causes of crime from an interdisciplinary perspective. Major criminological theories are considered in light of contemporary empirical research.
Prereq.: CRJS 3735 or equivalent or permission of the Graduate Coordinator.

CRJS 6920    Criminal Justice Studies, Practices, and Theories    3 s.h.

A critical analysis of the field of criminal justice studies including crime statistics, crime causation, the criminal justice process, and the agencies involved.
Prereq.: CRJS 1500.

CRJS 6925    Administration and Management Theory    3 s.h.

Administration and management theory as applied to criminal justice agencies. Includes the functions of the executive, the nature of authority and leadership, organizational communication, and theories of employee motivation.

CRJS 6940    Statistical Techniques in Health and Human Services    3 s.h.

A consideration of the courses of statistical information in the human resource systems and the limits of such data, with primary emphasis upon multivariate statistics and their application to the field.

CRJS 6942    Research and Statistics in Health and Human Services    3 s.h.

A consolidated statistical and research course in human services to design and use qualitative and quantitative research, use and interpret descriptive and inferential statistics, and evaluate the research of others.

CRJS 6945    Research Methods in Health and Human Services    3 s.h.

An analysis of the design and execution of both quantitative and qualitative research in the human services, and the development of research designs most useful to human services research problems.

CRJS 6950    Selected Topics in Criminal Justice    3 s.h.

Addresses specific topics relating to the crime problem and the criminal justice process. The topics may vary from semester to semester and will be announced prior to enrollment. This course is repeatable provided it is on different topics.

CRJS 6955    Independent Study    3 s.h.

Study under the personal supervision of a faculty member with the approval of the graduate coordinator. May be repeated once.

CRJS 6957    Readings in Criminal Justice    1-4 s.h.

Extensive reading assignments in the student's interest area under the supervision of a graduate faculty member. May be repeated for no more than a total of six semester hours.
Prereq.: Approval of graduate coordinator.

CRJS 6960    Program Planning and Evaluation    3 s.h.

A systematic review and evaluation of human services programs with special attention to the posting of questions in context; questions relating to the selections of design, method, and process of summative evaluation; and assessing the effectiveness of programs.

CRJS 6975    Applied Police Correction Management    3 s.h.

Systematic examinations of the principles and practices of criminal justice organizations and the historical contexts of their implementation. Readings emphasize best practices, legal standards, and interdisciplinary cooperation affecting law enforcement and corrections, especially as they affect financial management, human resources, community relations, homeland security, and the treatment of vulnerable populations.

CRJS 6985    Grant Writing    3 s.h.

Insight into the methods, strategies, and techniques of grant writing, with emphasis on the proposal components and exploration of funding sources. Each student will exhibit competence in planning, developing, and evaluating a proposal as well as creating a draft of a grant proposal based on an actual Request for Proposals.

CRJS 6990    Criminal Justice Public Policy Seminar    3 s.h.

Types of policy and how policies are formulated are covered. The evaluation of policy, with attention to what constitutes good public policy. Special attention is given to the impact of crime control policies, particularly crime legislation and current laws.

CRJS 6995    Criminal Justice Practicum    3-6 s.h.

Supervised experience in an applied criminal justice setting.
Prereq.: Approval by graduate director; Permit required.

CRJS 6998    Graduate Capstone Project    2 s.h.

Under the direction of a graduate committee, led by the committee advisor, this course will provide the student with the structure and support to develop a scholarly project or paper related to the field of Criminal Justice. The course will allow students to search, review, critique, and appraise current research and evidence in the field of Criminal Justice and to develop a project or paper making a significant contribution to the discipline. Permission of the Graduate Coordinator.
Prereq.: Permission of the Graduate Coordinator.

CRJS 6999    Research and Thesis    1-6 s.h.

A research project under the supervision of a full-time faculty member of the department in CRJS with graduate faculty status. Permission of the Graduate Coordinator. May be repeated for a maximum of 6 semester hours.