FACULTY
Department Chair: Kimberly Tobin, Ph.D.
Department Coordinator: Betty Raymond
Department Office: 333 Western Avenue
Department Telephone: (413) 572-5309
Graduate Advisor: Judith McDonald, Ph.D.
Graduate Faculty: Victor Ascolillo, Ph.D., J.D.
William Cook, Ph.D.
Hamid R. Kusha, Ph.D.
Audrelee Dallam-Murphy, Ph.D.
L. Michael McCartney, Ph.D.
Judith McDonald, Ph.D.
Penny Martin, Ph.D.
Thomas Roscoe, Ph.D.
Stephen Smith, Ph.D.
Elizabeth Stassinos, Ph.D.
Kimberly Tobin, Ph.D.
Description of Program
The graduate program in Criminal Justice focuses on theoretical and applied issues in law enforcement, corrections, administration, and public law. Its goal is to further critical thinking about significant issues in crime and criminal justice. Offered at Framingham as well as Westfield, the program seeks to examine how the criminal justice system works. Judges, lawyers, managers, and criminal justice researchers supplement the faculty, bringing many practical considerations to the study of the discipline.
Graduate students are required to complete 33 graduate credit hours and a comprehensive examination or 27 graduate credit hours and a six-hour thesis. Some students may choose to satisfy the requirement for a culminating experience by completing the Addiction Studies Concentration, described below. For all three tracks, there are four required courses: Criminological Theory I, Research Methods, Administrative Theory of Criminal Justice, and Statistics. Each student is assigned an advisor who will assist in selecting courses and, if undertaking a thesis, a thesis advisor. Thesis advisors are members of the graduate faculty.
Admission Requirements
In order to be considered for admission to the program, a complete application must be presented for review, including:
1. Bachelor’s degree with a major or minor in any of the social sciences with a 2.7 GPA or a 3.0 for the last
two years of undergraduate studies, class ranking will also be considered;
2. Three professional or academic letters of reference;
3. An official GRE with a combined score of 950 on two sections or a MAT score of 45 or better;
4. A narrative statement about your professional goals, academic experience, factors which support your future
endeavors.
Applicants not fulfilling one or more of these requirements may be admitted to the program on a conditional basis by recommendation of the graduate committee, with the approval of the Dean. No application, however, will be reviewed until information on all requirements has been filed.
BS/MS track for high achieving students
1. Students with a GPA of 3.5 entering into their final semester or after completing their undergraduate degree would be considered for the program.
2. Students who are entering into their final semester at Westfield State College may be eligible to take two courses from graduate credit, assuming the 120 credits needed to complete their BS will be fulfilled independently of the MS coursework.
3. All students must apply for the program. They will be required to complete the entire application packet, WITH THE EXCEPTION of the standardized test requirement.
Matriculation Requirements
Matriculated students are those who have been admitted to a graduate program at Westfield State College. If you intend to work toward a degree, you must apply as soon as possible. A maximum of six (6) Westfield State College credits taken prior to acceptance may be applied toward your degree program. Advising is recommended.
Once matriculated, students must see the graduate advisor and work out a Program of Study in accordance with the requirements for a degree in their major program. The Program of Study will include the following:
1. prerequisites in the area of concentration;
2. a planned program of courses necessary for competency in the field of concentration;
3. elective courses.
The Program of Study form must be signed by the student and approved by the graduate advisor, the chair of the department, and the Dean. A copy of this form will be sent to the student and to the graduate advisor. The original will be kept in the student’s file.
Specific Degree Requirements:
Required Courses: (12 s.h.)
CRJU 0606 Criminological Theory I
CRJU 0603 Research Methods
CRJU 0613 Statistics
CRJU 0624 Administrative Theory of Criminal Justice
Elective Courses: (21 s.h.)
Completion of 21 recommended graduate semester hours in Criminal Justice
Requirements for Master’s Degree: 33 s.h.
Please see the following page for a description of program completion options.
Program Completion Options: MS in Criminal Justice
A.Comprehensive Examination Option:
This option is intended for individuals seeking a terminal degree or wishing to continue their education beyond the master’s degree. In this option, candidates must complete a total of 33 credit hours of coursework. Students are also required to successfully complete a comprehensive exam to demonstrate knowledge gained in coursework and to relate concepts across the curriculum The exam may be taken only after completing all required courses and a minimum of 27 credits within the Master’s program.
B.Capstone Experience Option
The capstone experience option is intended for individuals seeking a terminal degree. After completing 27 credit hours, the student will enroll in a six credit capstone experience. The capstone experience is a formal writing project on a scholarly topic, overseen by a faculty advisor. The student must submit an abstract for approval to the faculty advisor and a capstone committee before undertaking the project. After choosing the area and focus of the project, the candidate writes a scholarly paper. The work will include an abstract of approximately 150 words and an annotated bibliography. It is expected that the paper will be approximately twenty-five to thirty pages in length. The final work is evaluated by a faculty advisor and a capstone committee who have an expertise related to the focus of the student’s work. The Addiction Studies Concentration is the first capstone option for completion of the Criminal Justice Master’s program. A description of the concentration follows the Program Completion Options section.
C.Master’s Thesis Option
This option is intended for students who wish to continue their education beyond the master’s degree. The student is required to complete 27 hours in addition to the six credit hour thesis. However, the student may register for the thesis after completing 24 credits of graduate program coursework with a B or better GPA. With the approval of a thesis advisor, the student develops a significant problem for research and study. The work is to be of publishable quality and is evaluated by a thesis committee. After the work is complete, it is to be defended in a public forum. The student is also required to provide bound copies of the thesis to the Department of Criminal Justice, Westfield State College Library, and the Dean of Graduate and Continuing Education.
Addiction Studies Concentration
The course concentration will offer graduate students studying for the Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice the opportunity to become familiar with the symptoms of substance abuse, the functions of substance abuse counselors and the diverse populations served by an extensive network of treatment modalities. It will help to enable those employed in various positions in the criminal justice system to identify individuals suffering from substance abuse and to arrange the most appropriate handling of their cases in the criminal justice environment. The concentration will combine coursework in the Criminal Justice Master’s Degree Program with course offered in the College’s Addiction Counselor Education Programs. Please see the description for CRJU 0651 in the Criminal Justice course listings for more information about this 6-credit capstone option.
As such, the concentration will require students to study the following topics:
1. Substance Abuse and Criminal Justice,
2. The Delivery of Alcoholism/Chemical Dependency Treatment Services,
3. Counseling the Alcoholic and Other Chemically Dependent Persons,
4. Psychopharmacology,
5. Family Alcoholism and Chemical Dependency Treatment, and
6. Co-occurring Disorders (Dual Diagnosis). The concentration will also include an Addiction Studies treatment facility.
The concentration itself will not be sufficient to meet the substance abuse counselor certification requirements of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is intended only to help students who have or who aspire to professional responsibilities within the criminal justice system for making decisions about the handling or arrestees, defendants, probationers, inmates and parolees. The concentration is intended to assist those criminal justice agents in becoming more proficient at recognizing the problems of alcoholism and chemical dependency and in formulating more effective recommendations regarding the diversion of arrestees to pre-trial resources, or the disposition of defendants’ cases, or referrals to appropriate agencies , or classification within the most effective correctional programs. It will also benefit those students who choose to continue beyond the Master’s Degree requirements to complete the requirements for certification as Addictions Counselor by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Capstone Paper
At the conclusion of the course students will be required to write a capstone paper demonstrating their mastery of the required course work and its application to individuals and to treatment service modalities as observed during the internship phase of their studies. In the capstone paper students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the methods for identifying alcoholic and chemically dependent individuals as well as a familiarity with the techniques and modalities for treating such persons individually and on a family basis within the framework of the criminal justice process. Additionally, the student should demonstrate an ability to recognize the existence of co-occurring disorders and an understanding of the psychopharmacological dimensions of the problem. In sum, the capstone paper will demonstrate the extent to which the student has mastered the essential concepts of the files.
Upon completion of the required courses, students will work with the Addiction Counselor Education Program and the Criminal Justice department to prepare a scholarly capstone paper. The paper will include an abstract of some 150 words and an annotated bibliography. The paper will be evaluated by three Westfield State College faculty who have expertise related to the focus of the student’s work.
Please consult with the Criminal Justice graduate advisor and with Dr. L. Michael McCartney, advisor for the concentration, for specific information about applying to and completing the Addiction Studies Concentration.