WSU News Archive

By Richard H. Miller, WSU Global Campus

PULLMAN, Wash. - Washington State University will launch an online master’s of arts in criminal justice in Fall 2013, said David Brody, chair of WSU’s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology.

 

Brody said the program emphasizes theoretically based applied research, which will benefit both working professionals and recent graduates looking to enter the field or pursue a Ph.D.  

"The degree provides skills that help students advance their careers, be intelligent decision-makers, evaluate information, and conduct important research,” he said. "We don’t just teach them how to do something. We teach them theory and its application so they’ll understand why to do something.”

 

The WSU’s online criminal justice master’s degree was designed with input from the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology Advisory Committee, which is made up of  12 leaders of state and local criminal justice agencies and departments.

 

The online format allows students—particularly those working in the criminal justice system—to study issues that apply to their own locations. Students employed by a law-enforcement agency, for example, will have the chance to do evaluations and research work that could assist agency operations and provide data for grant applications and policy decisions, Brody said.

 

Sample research topics, Brody said, include methods of evaluating the performance of police officers in urban and rural settings and whether it’s better for officers to work four 10-hour shifts versus five eight-hour shifts from public safety, departmental efficiency, and officer well-being perspectives.

 

The program requires 31 credits, including a writing portfolio consisting of multiple research papers.  All courses are 3 credits, unless otherwise noted.
The curriculum is:

 

Required Courses

(19 credits; courses are 3 credits, unless otherwise noted)

• Crm J 520 – Criminal Justice Research Methods
• Crm J 522 – Foundations of Quantitative Methods
• Crm J 530 – Criminal Justice: Processes and Institutions
• Crm J 540 – Seminar in Criminal Justice Research and Evaluation
• Crm J 555 – Seminar in the Nature of Crime
• Crm J 702 – Master's Special Problems, Directed Study (4 credits)

Electives
(12 credits; courses are 3 credits, unless otherwise noted)
•  Crm J 510  – Leadership in Criminal Justice
• Crm J 511 – Criminal Justice Management
• Crm J 513 – Multicultural Issues in Criminal Justice
• Crm J 531 – Drugs, Addiction and Crime
• Crm J 541 – Seminar in Corrections
• Crm J 542 – Community Corrections
• Crm J 560 – Prosecution and Adjudication
• Crm J 570 – Police and Society
• Up to two other relevant courses, upon departmental approval.

 

Washington State University is fully accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges. WSU’s criminal justice department is the second oldest in the United States. It was established in 1943 as the Department of Police Science by V.A. Leonard. Leonard founded Alpha Phi Sigma, the national criminal justice honor society, and was one of the founding members of the organization that later became the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.

 

For more information or to enroll, please go to the website  or contact  Jacqueline van Wormer, jvanwormer@wsu.edu, 509-335-4042.

 

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