Criminal Justice Degree Online

The Master of Arts in Criminal Justice degree requires a minimum of thirty-one credit hours, including the completion of a master’s essay.

Curriculum Objectives

Through their coursework, students develop an understanding of the complexities involved in the functioning of the criminal justice system. They learn how to conduct and evaluate applied research used by policy makers and criminal justice professionals. The close association among WRICOPS, WSICOP, DGSS and the Criminal Justice program affords students the opportunity to engage in meaningful research and gain experience working with a variety of criminal justice agencies—in law enforcement, courts, and corrections.

This training prepares students to meet the primary need faced by the criminal justice system: well-educated professionals capable of making policy decisions based on up-to-date research and theory. Students earning their MA in Criminal Justice at WSU Spokane are also well prepared to continue their studies in pursuit of a PhD.

Program requirements

Pol S/Crm J 503: Introduction to Political Science Research Methods

Crm J 530: Criminal Justice: Processes and Institutions

Crm J 504: Quantitative Methods in Political Science and Criminal Justice

Crm J 555: Seminar in the nature of Crime

Two courses in the area of policing, corrections, or courts

Master’s candidates round out their program with electives and with the completion of a master’s essay developed in cooperation with the student’s committee.

Two core and two elective courses are offered each semester, rotating such that students can complete the program in one year, if they so desire. In addition to catalog courses, we offer special topics courses every year, allowing students the opportunity to explore different aspects of the criminal justice system.

PhD in Criminal Justice

Doctoral candidates build on their master’s coursework, pursuing more in-depth and specialized studies in developing their dissertation. Students examine the criminal justice system, criminological theory, and methods of analysis. Students can begin their PhD studies at WSU Spokane; some courses must be completed at WSU Pullman.

For advising, contact
WSU Spokane Campus Academic Director
David Brody, JD, PhD
E-mail: brody@wsu.edu
Telephone: 509.358.7952

For admissions and registration information, contact
Student Affairs, WSU Spokane
E-mail: enroll@wsu.edu
Telephone: 509.358.7978

Students must be registered by the first day of class to avoid a late registration fee. Students are encouraged to apply for graduate admission as soon as possible. Acceptance to a class does not guarantee admission to a graduate program.

The Criminal Justice program emphasizes a multidisciplinary approach to understanding deviant behavior and crime, the nature of law and social control, the organization and management of criminal justice agencies, and the use of research and evaluation for planned change in criminal justice. Criminal Justice is an interdisciplinary field that includes material from sociology, political science, and psychology.

Washington State University Spokane offers the Master of Arts degree in Criminal Justice and, in collaboration with our Pullman campus, a PhD in Criminal Justice.
Students

The program is designed for those who have an interest in understanding societal issues associated with crime, the work performed by criminal justice professionals, and the impact public policy decisions have on the operation of the criminal justice system.

Our student body is comprised both of traditional students who have recently completed their undergraduate degrees and working professionals interested in furthering their careers in criminal justice. Classes are held in the evening, making the program accessible to both full-time and part-time students.
Scholarship

The program is taught by highly qualified faculty in small seminar settings. Excellence in scholarship, combined with applications of knowledge useful to practitioners in the field, provides students with both an understanding of the criminal justice system and opportunities to engage in meaningful research in the community.

The Criminal Justice program prepares students for positions of leadership in law enforcement, court administration, corrections, and academia.
Research

WSU Spokane is home to the Western Regional Institute for Community Oriented Public Safety (WRICOPS), the Washington State Institute for Community Oriented Policing (WSICOP), and a branch of WSU’s Division of Governmental Studies and Service (DGSS).

These units are closely associated with the Criminal Justice program, and offer opportunities for master and doctoral candidates to work on a variety of applied research projects.
Heritage

Established in 1941 as the Department of Police Science and Administration, the WSU Criminal Justice program is among the oldest in the country. It is ranked in the top twenty criminal justice programs nationally. Degrees in Criminal Justice are offered at two of WSU’s four campuses: WSU Spokane (MA, PhD [in collaboration with the Pullman campus]); and WSU Pullman (BA, MA, PhD).
WSU Spokane Campus Academic Director:

David Brody, JD, PhD
E-mail: brody@wsu.edu
Telephone: 509.358.7952
Program Director, WSU Pullman:

Jeff Bouffard
E-mail: jbouffard@wsu.edu
Telephone: 509.335.0942

We are very proud of the graduate Criminal Justice program that has been developed at Temple. We offer a traditional Masters degree - the MA in Criminal Justice -and we have our doctoral program that leads to a PhD in Criminal Justice.

These pages will give you an overview of our program, the enrollment requirements and process, and will also answer some of the many questions that you are likely to have.

Our graduate program comprises a faculty that is diverse in background and academic interests yet very focused and similar in their professional goal – to excel in all aspects of their profession. At Temple you will experience a dynamic research environment in which faculty with students and in teams conduct research on the local, regional, national and international levels. You can assess for yourself the evidence of our success to date – review the wide variety of research grants we receive, the range of publications we (and our students) produce, the reputations of our faculty and the quality of the graduate students we develop.

For example, in recently released doctoral program rankings, we ranked 6th in the USA. The Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index ranks thousands of individual doctoral programs in over 100 disciplines at US institutions. Published in the Chronicle of Higher Education, the 2007 Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index has ranked the Department of Criminal Justice at Temple University as the 6th most productive faculty of all doctoral programs in Criminology and Criminal Justice. Last year we ranked 7th. We are the only department at Temple University to make it into the top 10 rankings for two consecutive years.

Please use the links on this page to access information about our vibrant program. Please read these pages carefully, as you find that they answer many of the questions that commonly arise. If you wish further information, there are contact details in later pages.

Jerry H. Ratcliffe, PhD
Professor & Graduate chair