Criminal Justice
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John Klofas, Department Chairperson
www.rit.edu/cla/criminaljustice
The bachelor of science degree program in criminal justice offers students a broad education. The curriculum prepares students for a wide range of careers in criminal justice, provides continuing education for professionals already employed in criminal justice positions, and offers a strong academic foundation for graduate or law school.
RIT’s approach to the study of criminal justice combines theoretical perspectives with practical experience. The emphasis within the areas of crime, criminal behavior, social control mechanisms, administration, planning, and management is on problem-solving techniques based on the growing body of research in the field as well as students’ own guided research.
The program is unique in its broad core curriculum, the scope of professional course offerings, and an intensive field experience, where students blend knowledge gained in the classroom with a career-oriented internship.
Career planning
Upon acceptance into the criminal justice program, each student is assigned a faculty adviser who assists in formulating career goals and planning a field of study in accordance with those goals.
Through core courses, students are exposed to the widest possible range of perspectives from which to view crime and the nature of criminal justice administration, thus broadening their career options.
During the junior and senior years of the program students select professional electives in a specific area of interest from courses offered within the program. Students may select courses from the College of Liberal Arts or any of RIT’s seven other colleges. A faculty adviser may assist you in choosing courses that will enhance your program and meet your personal or professional career objectives. The criminal justice program offers concentrations in criminology, law enforcement, law corrections, and security. Other concentrations, planned according to individual career goals, may include courses in computer science, management, photography, and liberal studies.
Career opportunities
Alumni have entered a variety of careers in the criminal justice system directly following graduation or after completing graduate studies. Many graduates are engaged in law enforcement careers in agencies at all levels of government. The Rochester Police Department, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department, and suburban departments throughout the area employ a substantial number of our graduates. At the state and federal level, graduates are pursuing careers in agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Secret Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, Naval Intelligence Service, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Centers for Disease Control, the Department of the Interior, and the National Park Service, among others. A number have advanced in rank to positions of command, including several chiefs and deputy chiefs.
Other alumni work as correctional officers, counselors, probation officers, and parole officers, with many advancing to administrative positions. A significant number of alumni have used the program as a foundation for law school and have entered the legal profession as prosecutors, public defenders, and private practice lawyers. We have many graduates serving in U.S. Attorney Generals’ offices. Others serve the legal profession as investigators or paralegals.
Consistent with the liberal arts/social science nature of the program, some graduates have attained advanced degrees in related areas and entered teaching careers at the secondary and college levels. Others have become psychologists, social workers, drug and alcoholism counselors, youth service specialists, and victim assistance/rape crisis counselors. Many have completed advanced degrees in business, public policy, public administration, criminology, and criminal justice.
Technology information and computer crime
This program prepares students for employment in the emerging field of criminal justice technology development and administration as well as numerous positions within the criminal justice system, the managed security industry, and the federal intelligence community for which a background in information technology is preferred. Courses in this concentration include Criminal Justice Technology, Computer Crime, and Investigative Techniques. Because theories of crime and management—as well as independent research, critical thinking, and scholarly writing—are emphasized, students are well-prepared to undertake graduate study in a variety of fields including, but not limited to, information technology, criminology, public policy, and public or business administration.
Prelaw study
The criminal justice curriculum prepares students for law school by combining a broad liberal arts background with intensive study in criminal justice. Students work closely with a faculty adviser to select appropriate professional and liberal arts electives. During their senior year, prelaw students spend 10 weeks (30 hours a week) as interns working with attorneys in the office of the district attorney, public defender, or state attorney general; private law firms; or in any number of public or private organizations dealing with litigation. RIT’s Prelaw Association publishes student research papers each year in Legal Research at RIT.
Field experience
During their senior year, students have the opportunity to choose an internship from a number of agencies and organizations in the areas of law, law enforcement, institutional and noninstitutional corrections, courts, juvenile advocacy and counseling programs, and security. For one quarter (10 weeks), students work 30 hours a week under an agency field supervisor and meet regularly with an adviser and with peers who are doing field placements in other agencies. Placements are individualized to fit a student’s career objectives.
Cooperative education
Students may have the opportunity to participate in cooperative education as part of their undergraduate program. In general, they may apply for co-op employment after three quarters of full-time study in the criminal justice program. Cooperative education provides a working experience in a criminal justice-related field but does not carry academic credit hours.
Honors program
Students with a 3.0 grade point average at the end of their junior year may apply for admission to the departmental Honors program. The program requires students to complete Honors Research, which involves original research or problem solving under the direction of a faculty member. The program provides excellent experience and evidence of independent work for potential employers or graduate and law schools.
The faculty
The eight full-time faculty members in the criminal justice program hold advanced degrees, have had professional experience in criminal justice, have proven teaching ability, and are committed to continuing professional growth in their areas of expertise. They spend many nonteaching hours in their offices with an open-door policy, in order to assist students with academic or personal concerns and questions. The full-time faculty members are supplemented by a strong cadre of adjunct instructors, many of whom are leading criminal justice practitioners in the region.
Professional elective options
One of the program’s strengths is the professional electives students may take from other designated colleges at RIT, thus enabling them to develop a concentration in a professional area related to their career goals. The following courses illustrate those offered periodically within the program. A student selects professional elective courses with the advice of a faculty adviser.
Corrections
0501-405 Major
Issues in Criminal Justice: Correctional Administration
0501-409 Legal
Rights of the Offender
0501-510 Interview
and Counseling in the Criminal Justice System
0501-511 Alternatives
to Incarceration
0513-457 Constitutional
Law
Criminology
0501-405 Major
Issues in Criminal Justice: Victimology
0501-446 Women
and Crime
0501-505 Corporate
and White-Collar Crime
0501-507 Computer
Crime
0501-522 Victimless
Crime
Law
0501-405 Major
Issues in Criminal Justice: Legal Research
0501-409 Legal
Rights of the Offender
0501-506 Evidence
0501-517 Comparative
Criminal Justice System
0501-522 Victimless
Crime
0513-457 Constitutional
Law
Law Enforcement
0501-307 Investigative
Techniques
0501-405 Major
Issues in Criminal Justice: Administrative Concepts of Law Enforcement
0501-405 Major
Issues in Criminal Justice: Hostage Taking and Terrorism
0501-405 Major
Issues in Criminal Justice: Police Community Relations
0501-405 Major
Issues in Criminal Justice: Substance Abuse
0501-410 Management
in Criminal Justice
0501-413 Civil
Disobedience and Criminal Justice
0501-505 Corporate
and White-Collar Crime
0501-506 Evidence
0501-507 Computer
Crime
0501-522 Victimless
Crime
0513-457 Constitutional
Law
Security
0501-307 Investigative
Techniques
0501-507 Computer
Crime
0501-529 Public
and Private Safety
0501-536 Seminar
in Security
Related professional areas
With the approval of the faculty adviser, a student may select an additional professional elective concentration from courses offered by the College of Liberal Arts or any of the other colleges of the university. Many students develop special concentrations in accounting, computer science, management, or social work.
Criminal justice, BS degree, typical course sequence |
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Qtr. Cr. Hrs. |
||
First Year |
Criminology 0501-400 |
4 |
Seminar in Criminal Justice 0501-201 |
4 |
|
Liberal Arts* |
12 |
|
Technology in Criminal Justice 0501-406 |
4 |
|
Courts 0501-456 |
4 |
|
Corrections 0501-441 |
4 |
|
Law Enforcement in Society 0501-443 |
4 |
|
Mathematics and Science Requirement** |
8 |
|
Current Issues in Criminal Justice 0501-460 |
2 |
|
Wellness Education† |
0 |
|
Cooperative Education (optional) |
Co-op |
|
Second Year |
Juvenile Justice 0501-440 |
4 |
Approved Electives |
8 |
|
Concepts in Criminal Law 0501-444 |
4 |
|
Professional Elective |
4 |
|
Liberal Arts* |
12 |
|
Mathematics and Science Requirement‡ |
12 |
|
Current Issues in Criminal Justice 0501-460 |
2 |
|
Wellness Education† |
0 |
|
Cooperative Education (optional) |
Co-op |
|
Third Year |
Theories of Crime and Criminality 0501-528 |
4 |
Management in Criminal Justice 0501-410 |
4 |
|
Research Methods I, II 0501-401, 541 |
8 |
|
Professional Elective |
4 |
|
Approved Electives |
16 |
|
Liberal Arts* |
12 |
|
Cooperative Education (optional) |
Co-op |
|
Fourth Year |
Field Experience 0501-403 |
8 |
Interviewing and Counseling in Criminal Justice 0501-510 |
4 |
|
Professional Elective |
4 |
|
Seminar in Criminal Justice and Public Policy 0501-526 |
4 |
|
Liberal Arts* |
12 |
|
Total Quarter Credit Hours |
180 |
|
* Please see Liberal Arts General Education Requirements for more information. ** Please see Mathematics and Science Requirements for more information. † Please see Wellness Education Requirement for more information. |
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