CRIMINAL JUSTICE

60 credit hours

Department Chair:

David Marble . . . . . . . . . . SCC-BB211 . . . . . . . . . .972.516.5051

Academic Advisor:

Kari Ford . . . . . . . . . SCC-G151 . . . . . . . . . . .972.881.5782

The Associate of Arts degree with an emphasis in Criminal Justice provides general academic courses and electives which enable students who intend to major in criminal justice to transfer to a college or university which offers baccalaureate degrees in criminal justice. Students planning to transfer will have a solid foundation upon which to build as they pursue further studies in criminal justice.

The Field of Study (FOS) curriculum for Criminal Justice includes 15 credit hours of lower-division course work, which will transfer and apply to baccalaureate criminal justice programs at all public universities in Texas. Universities offering equivalent courses at the upper-division level will substitute the lower-division level courses for the upper-division ones, unless they can demonstrate substantial and significant difference in the content of the upper-division courses.

The FOS includes the five specified courses listed below. Students may also add an additional six credit hours of course work from the “Recommended Electives” which may be transferred by local agreement to the university or which may be required by the receiving university, as long as the additional course work does not duplicate content already covered in the other FOS courses.

Career Opportunities

Criminal Justice graduates are academically prepared for entry-level positions in law enforcement, court services, and corrections at the local, state, and federal levels of government. Through classroom and laboratory experiences, students acquire the fundamental knowledge and skills necessary to understand the criminal justice system and its agencies, personnel and functions. Challenging career opportunities await graduates at al levels of government as:

Corrections Officers

Law Enforcement Officers and Investigators

Probation Officers and Parole Officers

Victim Services Counselors

Youth Service and Juvenile Court Officers

AA Core Curriculum 45 credit hours

Additional Graduation Requirement 3 credit hours

See AA Core.

Field of Study 15 credit hours

CRIJ 1301 Introduction to Criminal Justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

CRIJ 1306 Court Systems and Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

CRIJ 1310 Fundamentals of Criminal Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

CRIJ 2313 Correctional Systems and Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

CRIJ 2328 Police Systems and Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Recommended Electives 12 credit hours

CRIJ 1307 Crime in America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

CRIJ 1313 Juvenile Justice System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

CRIJ 2301 Community Resources in Corrections . . . . . . . . . . . 3

CRIJ 2314 Criminal Investigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

CRIJ 2323 Legal Aspects of Law Enforcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3