The Criminal Justice Department is committed to those items enumerated
in the mission statements of Marshall University and its College of Liberal
Arts. First and foremost, the Criminal Justice Department strives
to prepare future leaders by providing undergraduate and graduate students
with a quality liberal arts criminal justice education. This education
includes critical thinking skills, problem solving skills, research skills,
language/communication skills, and development of students' intellectual
capabilities. The Criminal Justice Department is committed to (1) applied
and basic research; (2) leadership and public service to the community;
and (3) developing insight into multicultural and global issues.
Program
Admission
Students may be admitted to the Master
of Science degree program in Criminal Justice in the fall or
spring semesters, although fall admissions are strongly encouraged
for full-time students. Applications to the program are due by July 1st
for the fall semester and by November 1st for the spring semester.
However, students are strongly encouraged to apply early. After the
due dates, students may still apply for conditional admission (see
below for requirements), but no later than three weeks from the
start of classes for the fall semester and four weeks for the spring
semester. Application for admission does not necessarily guarantee
acceptance into the program.
To apply, all students must first complete and return the Graduate
Application for Admission to the Graduate Admissions Office (available
at www.marshall.edu/mugc/).
Moreover, students are encouraged to review the Graduate Catalog online at
http://www.marshall.edu/mugc/grad_publ.html
for complete information on the graduate application process and
university policies. To be considered by criminal justice faculty for admission
to the M.S. program,
all applicants must provide a complete application file that contains the
following items:
-
A Marshall
University Graduate Application for Admission (obtained from the
Graduate Admissions office or online)
-
All
official undergraduate transcripts
-
Graduate Record
Examination (GRE) General Test and TOEFL scores (if applicable)
-
Two
letters of recommendation (college instructors strongly preferred)
-
A
personal statement (see below)
Admission to the Master of Science degree program in
Criminal Justice is based on an assessment by a faculty committee of the
applicant’s academic achievements and promise as indicated by transcripts,
scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), the TOEFL for international
students for whom English is not their primary language, two letters of
recommendation, and a personal statement. Students may be admitted and awarded
either a full, provisional, or conditional admission status. Students awarded a provisional
status must
maintain at least a 3.0 GPA in all coursework for up to 12 graduate credit
hours in courses identified by the program faculty. For provisional students, the first 12 graduate credit
hours must include, at minimum, 6 core course hours. All provisional
students are required to meet with the Graduate Director
to devise an appropriate schedule for the first 12 hours. Students admitted
under the conditional status are missing one or more items needed for full or
provisional admission (usually official GRE scores or a letter of
recommendation). The deficient item must be presented to the Graduate Admissions
office before classes begin or shortly thereafter. Once the requirements for the
conditional status have been met, the student will be reclassified as either
full or provisional (depending upon their credentials).
For
full
admission to
the master's degree program, the applicant should have:
-
a
baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university (preference
will be given to applicants with undergraduate majors in
criminal justice or closely related social science discipline);
-
an
undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher;
-
a
score in 50th percentile or higher in each assessment area of the GRE;
-
a
score of 550 or higher on the TOEFL (for international students only);
-
a C
or better in
an undergraduate statistics course;
a
C or better in
an undergraduate research methods course or equivalent (documentation of course content may be required);
two
letters of recommendation (college instructors strongly preferred); and
a
personal statement (1-2 page essay regarding the student's interest in
criminal justice and how the M.S. in Criminal Justice degree will benefit them).
In accordance with the Graduate Admissions office at Marshall University,
the department may admit a student as provisional after submission of all
required application materials when he or she possesses a baccalaureate
degree and shows academic promise, but does not meet the criteria for full admission. Thus, students with an undergraduate GPA between 2.75 and
2.99 may apply and be considered for provisional admission, if all
other full admission requirements are met including GRE scores above the
50th percentile in each assessment area. Conversely, students with GRE
scores lower than the 50th percentile in one or more of the assessment areas
may be considered for provisional admission, if all other full
admission requirements are met including an undergraduate GPA of greater
than 3.0. In addition, all other requirements for full or provisional
admission may be waived based on additional evidence of academic promise or
demonstrated competency. All prospective students are strongly encouraged to
contact the Criminal Justice Graduate Director before applying to the Master
of Science in Criminal Justice program to discuss
the application process and requirements.
Students who have previously taken graduate coursework at another
institution must submit all transcripts and also meet undergraduate and
examination requirements. Poor academic performance in prior graduate work
may serve as a basis for the denial of admission to the Marshall University
Graduate College and/or the Criminal Justice program.
The
Criminal Justice Department is housed on the Huntington campus, and all classes
take place there in Smith Hall. However, all application material (including
letters of reference) must be sent directly to the graduate admission's office
in South Charleston at the following address:
Marshall University
Graduate Records and Admissions
100
Angus E. Peyton Drive
South
Charleston, WV 25303-1600
International Students: Please contact the Center for International
Programs, Marshall University, One John Marshall Drive, Huntington, West
Virginia 25755-1054 U.S.A. Send email to
CIP@marshall.edu or visit the CIP web site at
http://www.marshall.edu/cip/. Marshall
University is approved for attendance of non-immigrant students under the
Federal Immigration and Naturalization Act.
Plan of Study
No
later than the semester in which the graduate student registers
for their 18th graduate credit hour, he/she must complete an official Plan of Study form to be approved by the
Graduate Director and submitted to the Office of the Graduate College.
A
student with an approved Plan of Study may be granted the privilege of
transferring credit earned in graduate coursework completed at another
regionally accredited graduate institution, provided that the courses are
related to criminal justice and the grades earned are B or better or equivalent
and approved by the Graduate Director and Graduate Dean. However,
transfer credit may only be used to fulfill elective or area of
concentration credits. All 18 hours of core course requirements must be
completed in the Criminal Justice Department at Marshall University.
Transfer credits may not exceed 12 hours and all transfer credits must have
been earned within a seven-year time limit, counted from the date of
enrollment in
the first graduate course.
Core Curriculum
The
Master of Science degree requires the completion of 32 hours of coursework
and writing a thesis, or completion of 36 hours of coursework and the
passing of written and oral comprehensive examinations.
The
curriculum is structured around a set of core requirements that provide a
broad foundation in criminological theory, research and statistics, criminal
law as well as aspects of criminal justice policy and practice.
All students are required to complete 18 hours of core courses:
CJ
602: Law and Social Control
CJ
603: Criminal Justice Planning
CJ
604: Advanced Theory in Criminal Justice
CJ
621: Advanced Criminal Law and Procedure
CJ
655: Research Methods in Criminal Justice
CJ
656: Applied Statistics in Criminal Justice
CJ 655, Research Methods
in Criminal Justice, and CJ 656, Applied Statistics in Criminal Justice, are a
two-course sequence that should be completed by all
students during the first academic year in the graduate program (within the
first 12 graduate credit hours for part-time students).
Exceptions are made for students who must take prerequisite courses before
enrolling in this sequence.
An area of concentration and electives designed to meet the individual needs
of graduate students supplements the core courses. Students are required to
select one concentration from the following five topical areas:
-
Applied Research and Evaluation
-
Legal Issues
-
Corrections Systems and Processes
-
Theory of Criminal Behavior
-
Law
Enforcement
Each
area of concentration consists of 12 graduate credit hours. Various elective
and special topic courses are offered to supplement the core courses and
area of concentration for each student. Elective courses should be chosen
around a coherent theme that complements the student’s area of
concentration.
The Graduate Director must approve all coursework
that constitutes each student’s concentration. Enrollment in core and
elective courses is subject to the completion of any prerequisite courses
and/or any requirement for permission to enroll from an individual
instructor and/or other department faculty member. In addition, all courses
to be considered toward graduation require
approval from the Graduate Director.
The Criminal Justice Department maintains a “two
C rule” whereby students cannot
continue in a graduate program if they earn more than two grades of C or lower in any graduate
courses. Criminal Justice students who earn a third C (or lower) will not be
permitted to continue taking courses, or to work on a thesis.
Students who earn a
grade of D or F are allowed only one C (if they haven’t
already received one). Furthermore, they must repeat the course if it is part of
the core curriculum. If students already have two Cs when they receive
the D or F, they will be dismissed from the program without the
opportunity to repeat the course. Regardless of whether the course is repeated,
grades of D or F are recorded on the student's official academic
transcript, computed into the final grade point average, and count toward the
"two C rule." However, credit hours for courses in which students receive
a D do not fulfill the credit hour requirements for graduation.
Thesis Option
For students planning to continue graduate studies in a
doctoral program, the thesis is the
preferred option for receipt of the M.S. degree in Criminal Justice.
Students electing the thesis option must complete 32 hours of graduate
credit from the Criminal Justice Department.
Students selecting the thesis option must complete the core courses and area
of concentration requirements and have a written thesis proposal/prospectus
approved by the thesis committee prior to enrolling for thesis credit. The
remaining credit hours may be granted for thesis research (up to 6 credit
hours) or elective courses. The 6 thesis research hours are normally taken
in three-hour increments over two
successive semesters, immediately preceding graduation, and after course
requirements are completed.
Students must enroll in CJ 681, Thesis, for a maximum of 6 graduate credit
hours. All students selecting the thesis option must pass an oral defense. In
cooperation with the Graduate Director, a student should form a thesis
committee. The thesis committee assists in selecting and developing the
research problem and evaluates the student’s work on that problem. A student
who selects the thesis option should outline the thesis option early in his
or her studies in consultation with members of the graduate faculty. The
student should also determine the
graduate faculty member of the department who will serve as chair of the
student’s thesis committee.
Non-Thesis
Option
Students who select the M.S. degree without a thesis must complete 36 credit
hours of graduate coursework with a GPA of at least 3.0 and meet all other
requirements. The credit hours include the 18-hour core course requirement,
and the 12-hour area of concentration requirement. The remaining credit
hours may be completed using a variety of electives offered by the Criminal
Justice Department. All
students who select the non-thesis option must pass both written and oral
comprehensive exams.
In order to sit for the comprehensive examination, students must select a
committee as well as complete and return the Comprehensive Examinations form
to the Graduate Office prior to the end of the second week of the semester
they plan to graduate. The Comprehensive Examination form must be signed by
all committee members and will remain valid only for the semester in which
it is signed. The committee must consist of at least three
readers/evaluators who hold Marshall University graduate faculty status. In
addition, a majority of the committee must consist of full-time Criminal
Justice department faculty, and the committee chair must be a faculty member
in the Criminal Justice Department with graduate faculty status. This
committee will be responsible for both writing and/or selecting the
examination questions and evaluating the adequacy of the student’s
responses.
The comprehensive written examination consists of five questions. The five
questions assess knowledge rooted in the program’s core courses and the
student’s area of concentration. Students will be asked to answer one
question in each of the following content areas: criminological theory;
research and advanced statistics; advanced criminal law and procedures;
criminal justice planning; and the student’s area
of concentration. The comprehensive oral examination will focus on areas
deemed weak, incomplete, or inconsistent in the written portion of the test.
However, the committee may ask students other related questions deemed
appropriate. Both written and oral comprehensive examinations are
administered once
during the fall, spring, and summer semesters unless otherwise specified.
Choosing
Classes
All curriculum choices should be made in consultation with the Graduate
Director. Students should keep in mind that they cannot retake
undergraduate/graduate classes they took as an undergraduate student at Marshall
University (if applicable).
Departmental
Graduate Director
All new graduate students must
meet with the Graduate Director before their first semester as
a graduate student. The Graduate Director is Dr. Dru Bora (304/696-3087
bora@marshall.edu).
Once admitted to the program, students should contact him immediately to set up
an initial appointment.
Helpful Links
Criminal Justice Department
Marshall
University
One John Marshall
Drive
Huntington, WV
25755-2662
Office: Smith Hall
733
Phone: (304)
696-3087
FAX: (304)
696-3085
Email:
bora@marshall.edu
