Program Coordinator:  Craig Ganster

The Concentration in Criminal Justice (CRJ) is intended for individuals who have baccalaureate degrees in sociology, psychology, or criminal justice, or who are currently working in an area of criminal justice.

The number of career opportunities in the field of criminal justice is unprecedented.  The demand for university-educated personnel is a result of society’s rapidly evolving political and social changes, which reflect a renewed interest in and a need for effective administration of the nation’s criminal justice system.  There are many areas of expertise within the broad scope of the criminal justice field.  This graduate program concentration addresses not only the pedagogy of criminal justice, but also the fundamentals of managerial science as applied in a criminal justice setting.  Students will learn to recognize and resolve policy decisions and management issues regarding law enforcement, courts, and corrections.

MSM Planner – Criminal Justice 

Back to Master of Science in Organization Management Main Page

Goals

The focus of the MSM: Criminal Justice Concentration (CRJ) is to educate professionals in both the theory and the application of criminal justice, and in the administration and management of criminal justice agencies.  Faculty members within the department continually strive to develop students’ abilities for critical thinking and analytical reasoning.

Students within the Criminal Justice Concentration have a number of unique characteristics.  First, upon entering the program, the majority of the students have had extensive exposure and academic understanding of the criminal justice system.  Second, students graduating with the MSM-Criminal Justice Concentration must be prepared to pursue a variety of careers, including further graduate school, law school, and a variety of management positions within the criminal justice system.

A core outcome of the Criminal Justice Concentration program is to promote critical thinking, social justice and civic responsibility through an academic curriculum designed to ensure that all students master the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of the criminal justice system through a multi-disciplinary lens.

Mission

To provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the structure, operation, and management of the criminal justice system;
To provide students with a comprehensive understanding of how criminal justice relates to other social structures and institutions, and how those structures and institutions impact criminal justice; and
To prepare students to employ critical thinking, social justice, and civic responsibility in their decision-making processes as they pursue their careers and encounter life situations.

Objectives

1. Make evident an understanding and command over key concepts, theories and data regarding society and the criminal justice system.
2. To be able to critically evaluate social research.
3. Demonstrate their ability to formulate a problem/topic, assemble relevant published background research, include an original explanation, conduct a new study, and/or provide new data toward the topic in a formal research paper or proposal.
4. Display a working knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research methods.
5. Exhibit an understanding of and an ability to apply criminological theories in explaining the criminal justice system.
6. Make evident an understanding of the process of management and supervision of personnel.
7. Demonstrate their ability to fiscally manage an organization and to pursue revenue and manage expenses.
8. Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of substantive areas within the discipline of criminal justice.  For example, such areas of specialization can include, but are not limited to, law enforcement, the courts and the law, and corrections.
9. Exhibit an understanding of ethics and obligation of service to others.

 Curriculum

MASTER OF SCIENCE IN ORGANIZATION MANAGEMENT			Required Credits
Core Curriculum
MSM	503	Budgeting and Financing Organizations (Finance)	3
MSM	504	Organizational Behavior and Communication (Diversity)	3
MSM	508	Personnel Management and Administration (Human Resources)	3
MSC	516	Statistics and Research Methods (Research)	3
Criminal Justice Concentration (core plus)
MCJ	541	Criminal Justice System	3
MCJ	542	Criminal Law and the Courts	3
MCJ	543	Administration of Law Enforcement Agencies                  or	3
MCJ	544	Corrections: History, Management and Alternatives	3
MCJ	545	Juvenile Justice System	3
MCJ	547	Psychology of Criminal Behavior	3
Approved CRJ Electives (6 credits)
MCJ	546	Youth at Risk	3
MAC	595	Internship	3
MAC	550	Etiology of Human Addictions	3
MAC	554	Pharmacology of Addictions	3
MSM	510	Evaluation	3
MSM	512	Grant Writing and Administration	3
MSC	526	Professional Ethics	3
MSC	606	Cultural Awareness for Professionals	3
TOTAL Credit hours			33

 Back to Master of Science in Organization Management Main Page