College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Catalog 2016

99 D OCTOR OF P HILOSOPHY IN C RIMINAL J USTICE (P H .D.) Program Description The doctor of philosophy is a research degree. Inherent to its design are the rigorous academics that produce a critical scholar. The program is intended for students who have mastered a general field of knowledge as well as an area of specialization. They should demonstrate familiarity with the history of their discipline as well as with current advancements and future trends. Students must have the ability to conduct independent original research and scholarly investigation in areas of significant importance. They should be able to correlate their specialization with a general field of knowledge and understand how the concepts of each influence and relate to one another. This 60-credit hour Doctoral program opens opportunities in areas of research, academia, and management to those who are ready to advance, as well as to individuals considering a career change. Management perspectives, investigative techniques, and the understanding of human behavior continue to evolve. Criminal behavior impacts legal, social, and cultural influences. A detailed understanding of these factors and their interrelationships prepares an individual in the criminal justice field with a solid foundation upon which to perform, teach, and lead. The doctoral program examines these relationships and seeks to produce individuals able to make significant contributions within the criminal justice profession Admission Requirements Admission to the doctoral program in Criminal Justice will be determined according to established university policies. The department will make a concerted effort to select only those students who are clearly and best qualified for the rigors and responsibility of advanced study. The following is required of all applicants for the doctoral degree in Criminal Justice: 1. Master’s degree from a regionally accredited University. Among those who hold doctoral degrees in Criminal Justice it is not unusual to find individuals who have earned graduate degrees in other fields such as Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, and Political Science. This diversity recognizes that criminal justice is not restricted to a particular kind of academic preparation for it shares aspects of many others. This multi-dimensional approach to academic study is repeated in the field as practitioners engage in research, problem solving and system reform. 2. The Criminal Justice doctoral candidate must have a background that encourages and enables him or her to conduct serious academic research across a variety of subject areas. Encouraging students with graduate degrees other than criminal justice to join the program furthers this objective. 3. GPA 3.0 for master’s level work 4. Three letters of recommendation that assess the individual’s capacity to successfully handle graduate-level academic work. Letters may be from employers, professors or others in the student’s life that have had sufficient opportunity to observe and evaluate the student’s dedication to the field of criminal justice, his or her academic or professional background, the student’s level of interest as well as his or her capacity for intense academic study. 5. The student’s background should reflect strong dedication to the field of criminal justice either through academic or professional endeavors. Academic achievement