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Criminal Justice

Program and Application Information
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:

Theory/Policy Courses9
Advanced Criminology
Criminal Justice Policy
Introduction to College Teaching in the Humanities and Social Sciences
Research Skills15
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
Crime and the Life Course
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. Studies1-15
Total Credits60

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:

Theory/Policy Courses9
Advanced Criminology
Criminal Justice Policy
Introduction to College Teaching in the Humanities and Social Sciences
Research Skills15
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
Crime and the Life Course
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
Dissertation33
Total Credits90

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

Foundation Courses18
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. Studies6
Thesis or Policy Paper/Indep. Studies
Total Credits30

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).

Foundation Courses18
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. Studies6
Total Credits30
 

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