Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice

A.A.S. Degree (D,G,S)

The Criminal Justice program prepares students for positions in local, state, and federal criminal justice agencies as well as private agencies. Career areas available to graduates are law enforcement and related services, corrections, counseling, probation, and parole. This program provides students the foundation for transfer to public and private four-year in-state colleges and universities to complete requirements for a bachelor's degree.

Program Graduate Competencies

The Program Graduate Competencies listed below identify the major learning goals related to your specific program of study and identify the knowledge and skills you will have when you graduate to be successful in your chosen field.

1. Discuss criminal justice professionalism in the performance of duties.
2. Articulate the function and interaction of criminal justice agencies and organizations.
3. Explain interviewing, counseling, or crisis intervention techniques with diverse criminal justice populations.
4. Apply knowledge of causation and correction to juvenile or adult offenders.
5. Describe the legal principles of criminal or constitutional law.

Core Curriculum Competencies

The Core Curriculum Competencies listed below identify what you will be able to do as a graduate, regardless of your program of study. You will acquire these core competencies through general education courses and program-specific coursework. You will be expected to use relevant technology to achieve these outcomes:

1. Apply clear and effective communication skills.
2. Use critical thinking to solve problems.
3. Collaborate to achieve a common goal.
4. Demonstrate professional and ethical conduct.
5. Use information literacy for effective vocational and/or academic research.
6. Apply quantitative reasoning and/or scientific inquiry to solve practical problems.

Graduation Requirements

Core Courses

ENG 101	Composition I	3
ENG 102	Composition II	3
MAT 152	Quantitative Reasoning	3
PSY 121	General Psychology	3
SOC 111	Sociology	3
SSC 100	First Year Seminar	1

Program/Major Courses

CRJ 101	Introduction to Criminal Justice	3
CRJ 102	Criminal Law	3
CRJ 104	Drugs, Society, and Human Behavior	3
CRJ 115	Essentials of Interviewing and Counseling	3
CRJ 118	Corrections in America	3
CRJ 217	Ethics, Professionalism, and Communication in Public Safety	3
CRJ 220	Criminal Judiciary	3
CRJ 222	Constitutional Law	3
CRJ 223	Criminology	3
CRJ 224	Juvenile Justice	3
CRJ 226	Crisis Intervention	3

Program/Major Support Courses

CIS 107	Introduction to Computers/Application	3
ENG 122	Technical Writing and Communication	3
PSY 223	Abnormal Psychology	3
POL 111	Political Science	3
	Or
HIS 112	United States History Post-Civil War	3
SPA 133	Using Beginning Spanish	3
	Or
SPA 136	Spanish Communication I	4

Suggested Pathway to Graduation (Course Sequence Sheet)

Semester 1

SSC 100	First Year Seminar	1
CRJ 101	Introduction to Criminal Justice	3
CRJ 115	Essentials of Interviewing and Counseling	3
MAT 152	Quantitative Reasoning	3
ENG 101	Composition I	3
CRJ 104	Drugs, Society, and Human Behavior	3

Semester 2

CIS 107	Introduction to Computers/Application	3
CRJ 102	Criminal Law	3
PSY 121	General Psychology	3
ENG 102	Composition II	3
SOC 111	Sociology	3
POL 111	Political Science	3
	Or
HIS 112	United States History Post-Civil War	3

Semester 3

CRJ 118	Corrections in America	3
CRJ 220	Criminal Judiciary	3
CRJ 224	Juvenile Justice	3
CRJ 223	Criminology	3
SPA 133	Using Beginning Spanish	3
	Or
SPA 136	Spanish Communication I	4

Semester 4

CRJ 222	Constitutional Law	3
CRJ 226	Crisis Intervention	3
ENG 122	Technical Writing and Communication	3
PSY 223	Abnormal Psychology	3
CRJ 217	Ethics, Professionalism, and Communication in Public Safety	3

To complete program requirements, you must pass the above courses and earn at least 65 credits. The number of courses and credits required for graduation may be more depending on your need for developmental education courses and the elective choices you make (if electives are a part of the program). Some programs also have college-level courses that you must take if you do not score at a certain level on the College Placement Test. If this applies to your program, the courses are listed at the top of the sequence sheet before the first semester of the course list.

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