Major: Criminal Justice
School: Liberal Arts
Interim Department Chair: Professor Benjamin Brown
Prerequisites: None
Total credit hours needed to graduate: 120
What is criminal justice? “I would say our goal is to make sure that students understand the key components of the criminal justice system, and how they are interrelated. By key components, I mean the law, the courts, the police, the law enforcement and corrections.”
Which classes can students expect to take? “Everyone has to take a course on criminological theory, research methods and a course in statistics. You’ll need a course on constitutional law and a course on corrections.”
What skills will students learn by the time they graduate? “Hopefully, they will improve their writing skills, as writing is essential to the field of criminal justice. It doesn’t matter whether you are a police officer, a probation officer or a lawyer, you are going to spend a lot of time reading reports and filling out reports. You are going to need to be able to express yourself in written form and communicate in written form. It is very, very, very important.”
What are some possible careers? “I would say a number of careers in the areas that I have mentioned. Some folks go into probation or parole, some go into law enforcement–local, state or federal. Some go to law school and become attorneys. Some work for the county sheriff’s office. Any number of federal offices. The [U.S.] Border Patrol is certainly a major presence.”
What salary can a student expect to earn after graduation? “That depends entirely on the agency they work for. A lot of [students] start off with a smaller agency, let’s just say for example, the Port Isabel Police Department. And I am not in any way, shape or form trying to be critical of the Port Isabel Police Department, but their salaries and benefit packages are not going to be equal to a larger agency, such as the Border Patrol. The salary will depend, pretty much, on the agency that they go to work for.”
Are there any student organizations related to criminal justice? “I know, for example, we have the American Criminal Justice Association. We also have Criminal Justice Student Association. Alpha Phi Sigma, which is the Criminal Justice Honor Society.”
–Compiled by Gabriel Galvan
