The graduate program in Criminal Justice and Criminology aims to prepare students to face and address security and justice challenges at the local, national, and international levels. This goal is achieved through the development of theoretical, methodological, and policy-related knowledge and skills as they pertain to criminal justice and criminology.

Specifically, students in the graduate program in Criminal Justice and Criminology will:

• Understand and be able to conceptualize, analyze, and theorize the changing nature of crime, order, security, and justice issues in the current societal environment of the USA and the world; and
• Acquire the cultural, methodological, and analytical skills needed to interpret available information related to security and justice issues.

These objectives will be expressed differently at each level of the program.

Ph.D. Student Learning Outcomes

All graduates will be able to demonstrate:

• Disciplinary Proficiency: Students will be generally knowledgeable across the entire field of criminal justice and criminology.
  • Assessment location: CRMJ 530, 555, Dissertation
• Diversity Knowledge: Students will understand how history, structures of power and privilege, and cultural, social, and economic forces affect criminal justice and criminological outcomes.
  • Assessment location: DEJ course
• Methodological Competence: Students will be competent in the full range research methods and analytical techniques used in the field of criminal justice and criminology.
  • Assessment location: CRMJ 520, 522, 523, and 540; Dissertation
• Specialized Expertise: Students will develop a comprehensive understanding of the published scholarship and contemporary research methods in a specific, defined area of study within the field of criminal justice and criminology.
  • Assessment location: Preliminary examination and Dissertation
• Proficient Communication: Students will become proficient communicators in terms of research and pedagogy according to professional standards in both written and oral formats.
  • Assessment location: All written coursework and oral presentations, Prospectus defense and Prospectus, Dissertation defense and Dissertation