Criminal Justice
Program and Application Information | |
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Department Head: | Dr. Jeffrey Bumgarner |
Graduate Coordinator: | Dr. Amy Stichman |
Department Location: | Criminal Justice & Public Policy |
Department Phone: | (701) 231-8567 |
Department Web Site: | www.ndsu.edu/cjps/criminal_justice/graduate_program/ |
Application Deadline: | April 1 for PhD applicants, Master's applications accepted for fall and spring enrollments on a rolling basis. |
Degrees Offered: | Ph.D., M.S. |
Test Requirement: | GRE |
English Proficiency Requirements: | TOEFL ibT 100, IELTS 7 To qualify for assistantship TOEFL ibT 114, IELTS 8 |
Program Description
The Department of Criminal Justice offers graduate study leading to both a MS and a Ph.D. degree in Criminal Justice. The MS degree has two tracks; Applied Criminal Justice and Criminology. The program in Criminal Justice is designed to enhance student's skills in understanding, gathering, processing, and analyzing research in the areas of criminology and criminal justice. The topical curriculum is geared to understanding, critiquing, and analyzing the criminal justice system with an orientation toward urban issues as they impact crime and criminal justice. The curriculum consists of foundation courses in theory, policy, and research methods, plus three substantive areas: 1) criminology, 2) policing, and 3) corrections. Students have their choice of specializing in one of the three. Elective course work can include classes such as Violence, Gender and Justice, and crime commodities. Students also will be afforded course work in learning how to teach a college course.
Graduates will find an expanding and terrific academic job market available as well as professional employment in the criminal justice policy and research sector. There are currently less than 40 Criminal Justice Ph.D. programs operating on a national level, so students graduating with a Criminal Justice Ph.D. will be competitive for the 350 positions available annually in academic units.
Admission Requirements
Ph.D. in Criminal Justice
Students should enter the program with either a baccalaureate degree or with an approved master's degree. Students will be required to have had one course in research methods; and one course in statistics. Plus, students should have adequate background preparation or demonstrated potential in the field of Criminology or Criminal Justice.
Students will be required to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and submit their undergraduate and/or graduate transcripts. For admission to full standing, students are required to attain a combined minimum score on the GRE of 1,000 (verbal and quantitative) and achieve a minimum grade point average of 3.0 over their last 60 credit hours. Students not meeting these standards will be evaluated and possibly admitted on conditional status.
A student entering the program with a master's degree would take a minimum of 60 credit hours. Students entering the program with a master's degree should submit their research thesis to the graduate committee for review. This committee would be charged with determining whether the research project is sufficient in scope and depth to warrant further supervised research.
MS Degree in Criminal Justice
Students will need to enter the program with a baccalaureate degree. Students will be required to have had one course in research methods, one course in statistics, and should document adequate background preparation or demonstrated potential in the field of Criminology or Criminal Justice. For admission to full-standing, students are required to achieve a minimum grade point average of 3.0 over their last 60 credit hours. Students will be required to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and submit all scores to the Graduate School.
Ph.D. in Criminal Justice
Students admitted to the doctoral program who have earned a master’s degree in criminal justice/criminology will be given credit for their master’s degree (up to 30 credits). The amount of credit for the master’s degree will be determined by the graduate coordinator. The curricular structure of the program is listed below for students entering the program with a master's degree in criminal justice/criminology:
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
Theory/Policy Courses | 9 | |
Advanced Criminology | ||
Criminal Justice Policy | ||
Introduction to College Teaching in the Humanities and Social Sciences | ||
Research Skills | 15 | |
Advanced Criminal Justice Methods | ||
Applied Statistics | ||
Applied Regression and Analysis of Variance (STAT 725 is a prerequisite for this course) | ||
Program Evaluation | ||
Advanced Research Design in Criminal Justice | ||
Electives | ||
Select 3 credits from the following: | 3 | |
Deviant Behavior | ||
Gender and Justice | ||
Qualitative Methods | ||
Experimental Methods | ||
Experimental Social Psychology | ||
Applied Survey Sampling | ||
Meta-Analysis Methods | ||
Substantive Areas | ||
Students must complete four courses in substantive area of choice (12 credits) plus complete one course (6 credits) in each of their non-substantive areas. | 18 | |
Area A – Criminology: | ||
Crime and Delinquency | ||
Individual Theories of Crime | ||
Structural Theories of Crime | ||
Violence | ||
Criminogenic Commodities | ||
Area B - Corrections: | ||
Juvenile Corrections | ||
Community Corrections | ||
Correctional Rehabilitation | ||
Punishment and Society | ||
Classics in Policing | ||
Area C - Policing: | ||
Police and Society | ||
Administrative Policing | ||
Police and Race Issues | ||
Police Effectiveness | ||
Dissertation/Indep. Studies | ||
Dissertation/Indep. Studies | 1-15 | |
Total Credits | 60 |
The curricular structure of the program is listed below for students entering the program with a master's degree that is not related to criminal justice/criminology:
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
Theory/Policy Courses | 9 | |
Advanced Criminology | ||
Criminal Justice Policy | ||
Introduction to College Teaching in the Humanities and Social Sciences | ||
Research Skills | 15 | |
Program Evaluation | ||
Advanced Criminal Justice Methods | ||
Advanced Research Design in Criminal Justice | ||
Applied Statistics | ||
Applied Regression and Analysis of Variance (STAT 725 is a prerequisite for this course) | ||
Electives | ||
Select 15 credits from the following: | 15 | |
Deviant Behavior | ||
Experimental Methods | ||
Applied Survey Sampling | ||
Meta-Analysis Methods | ||
Experimental Social Psychology | ||
Qualitative Methods | ||
Gender and Justice | ||
Substantive Areas | ||
Students must complete four courses in substantive area of choice (12 credits) plus complete one course (6 credits) in each of their non-substantive areas. | 18 | |
Area A – Criminology: | ||
Crime and Delinquency | ||
Violence | ||
Criminogenic Commodities | ||
Individual Theories of Crime | ||
Structural Theories of Crime | ||
Area B - Corrections: | ||
Classics in Policing | ||
Community Corrections | ||
Juvenile Corrections | ||
Correctional Rehabilitation | ||
Punishment and Society | ||
Area C - Policing: | ||
Police and Society | ||
Administrative Policing | ||
Police and Race Issues | ||
Police Effectiveness | ||
Dissertation | ||
Dissertation | 33 | |
Total Credits | 90 |
MS Degree in Criminal Justice
Students will need to declare their choice of a Track by the end of their first semester in the program.
Applied Track
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
Foundation Courses | 18 | |
Both Tracks require to completion of the following 6 foundation courses (18 credits total). | ||
Advanced Criminology | ||
Criminal Justice Policy | ||
Program Evaluation | ||
Applied Statistics | ||
Advanced Criminal Justice Methods | ||
Advanced Research Design | ||
In addition to the foundation courses, students enrolled in the Applied Track must complete 1 course from two of the three areas (6 credits total). | ||
Corrections | ||
Select one of the following: | 3 | |
Corrections | ||
Community Corrections | ||
Crime Prevention | ||
Correctional Rehabilitation | ||
Juvenile Corrections | ||
Policing | ||
Select one of the following: | 3 | |
Criminalization | ||
Administrative Policing | ||
Community Policing | ||
Police Effectiveness | ||
Police and Race Issues | ||
Thesis or Policy Paper/Indep. Studies | 6 | |
Thesis or Policy Paper/Indep. Studies | ||
Total Credits | 30 |
In addition to the Foundation Courses, students enrolled in the Criminology Track must complete 1 course from the Theory area (3 credits total) and 2 courses from the Elective Area (6 credits total).
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
Foundation Courses | 18 | |
Advanced Criminology | ||
Criminal Justice Policy | ||
Program Evaluation | ||
Applied Statistics | ||
Advanced Criminal Justice Methods | ||
Advanced Research Design | ||
Theory | ||
Select one of the following: | 3 | |
Individual Theories of Crime | ||
Structural Theories of Crime | ||
Electives | ||
Select one of the following: | 3 | |
Crime and Delinquency | ||
Violence | ||
Criminogenic Commodities | ||
Deviant Behavior | ||
Advanced Psychopathology | ||
Thesis or Policy Paper/Indep. Studies | ||
Thesis or Policy Paper/Indep. Studies | 6 | |
Total Credits | 30 |
Carol Archbold, Ph.D.
University of Nebraska-Omaha, 2002
Research Interests: Policing, Race and Gender in the Criminal Justice System, Qualitative Research Methods
Sarah Boonstoppel, Ph.D.
University of Maryland, College Park, 2014
Research Interests: Crime and the Life Course, Criminological Theory, Qualitative and Mixed Research Methods
Steven J. Briggs, Ph.D.
University of Nebraska-Omaha, 2007
Research Interests: Police Effectiveness, Police Discretion, Social Ecology of Crime
Jeffrey Bumgarner, Ph.D.
University of Minnesota, 2000
Research Interests: Policing, Federal Law Enforcement, Federal Crime Policy, and Criminal Justice Administration
Andrew Myer, Ph.D.
University of Cincinnati, 2010
Research Interests: Effective Correctional Interventions, Evidence Based Program Evaluation, Actuarial Offender Risk Assessment Practices, and Macro-Social Research Methods
Amy J. Stichman, Ph.D.
University of Cincinnati, 2003
Research Interests: Corrections, Institutional Life, Inmate and Correctional Officer Attitude, Treatment Program Evaluation
Kevin M. Thompson, Ph.D.
University of Arizona, 1986
Research Interests: Delinquency, Quantitative Methods, Alcohol and Drugs, Juvenile Drug Courts