Department of Criminal Justice

Department Mission

The mission of the Department is to contribute to human understanding of crime and criminal justice. Our goal for our students is that they become creative thinkers and leaders who will reach beyond current intellectual and cultural boundaries to become change agents for shaping the future of criminal justice in the United States and the world.

Specific learning objectives include:

• Students will be able to demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the components of the criminal justice system and provide a critical analysis of the state of crime and criminal justice;
• Students will demonstrate improvement in written (hand and computer generated) and oral communication so they are prepared for further education and/or to communicate effectively in the field as a practitioner or advocate;
• Students will graduate with the ability to understand the proper way to both construct and analyze research on criminal justice issues and to be able to interpret statistics presented in the line of their work, academics, or presented by the media or other reporting agencies;
• Students will graduate with the ability to identify and confront ethical violations in their workplaces and lives; and
• Students will graduate with the ability to identify the benefits of working, learning, and living in diverse environments and the impact of differential treatment based on people’s differences.