Criminal Justice Department Mission Statement
The criminal justice department at Buffalo State College is committed to the intellectual, personal and professional growth of its students and faculty. The focus of the program is to provide a comprehensive education in criminal justice through an academically rigorous, multi-disciplinary program of study. The curriculum integrates social, cultural, political, and organizational influences on criminal justice polices and operations from both theoretical and real-world perspectives with the objective of preparing students for positions in the criminal justice profession and/or graduate study. The department is committed to fostering an intellectual climate that promotes excellence in teaching, scholarship and service.
Criminal Justice Department Goals and Objectives:
The goals of the criminal justice department are several. The primary goal of the department is to provide a comprehensive, current, and intellectually challenging education in the discipline of criminal justice to our students. This is an education that blends professional and academic course work with the social sciences and liberal arts. Through learning and the dissemination of knowledge, the role of the department’s multi-disciplinary faculty is:
1. to instruct in the operations of the individual and collective components of the criminal justice system;
2. to adopt relevant theoretical constructs and empirical analysis from social science and other disciplines;
3. to explore the area of criminal justice and jurisprudence;
4. to examine the etiology of crime and the manifestation of criminal conduct;
5. to analyze the application of legal principles; and
6. to explore methods of improving crime control strategies, and administration of justice and the operations of criminal justice and crime control agencies in a democratic society.
A second goal consists of involvement in scholarly activities. This includes but is not limited to such activities as the conduct of basic and applied research; the publication of books and monographs and articles in refereed journals; and, the presentation of papers before learned and professional societies and at professional meetings.
A third goal of the criminal justice faculty is one of providing a broad-range of professional service activities to the college and community. This service can include participation and leadership on departmental, school, and collegiate committees; technical and consultative activities with agencies of criminal justice; assistance to citizen groups interested in crime-related issues or topics; and, speaking engagements and service to the academic profession of criminal justice.
To the extent that the faculty can accomplish these goals, it will provide students with an excellent foundation to pursue careers in criminal justice or related areas, and for graduate education.
About the Program
Criminal justice is a multidisciplinary academic program that examines the characteristics and operations of the criminal justice system and relationships between crime and crime control within the context of a democratic society. The program explores social, cultural, political, and organizational influences on criminal justice policies and operations from both theoretical and real-world perspectives.
Admissions Requirements
Students (with the exception of transfer students) are not accepted during their first semester at the college. A minimum of 12 hours of coursework must be completed with an overall cumulative average of 2.5. A student is then eligible to apply for admittance as a Criminal Justice major. Major forms are available in the Criminal Justice Department office. Transfer students directly from community colleges are accepted based upon their academic average and according to their date of application.
Advisement for Freshmen
The Criminal Justice Department recommends that freshmen work on completing the College Writing and Math competency requirements and the Intellectual Foundations Requirements. Students wishing to take course work in Criminal Justice should register for CRJ101, Introduction to Criminal Justice, before taking any other Criminal Justice course work.
Program Requirements
Intellectual Foundations Requirements 39–66 cr
Total Required Credit Hours in Criminal Justice 42 cr
A. Core Courses (18 cr)
All six required:
CRJ 101 Introduction to Criminal Justice
CRJ 201 Criminal Law
CRJ 202 The Police Process
CRJ 204 The Correctional Process
CRJ 303W Criminal Justice Theory and Ideology
CRJ 315W Research Methods in Criminal Justice (1)
B. Supporting Courses (6 cr)
Select two courses from the following:
CRJ 250 Introduction to Intelligence Analysis
CRJ 301 Police Organization and Management
CRJ 302 Criminal Justice and the Community
CRJ 305 The Juvenile Justice System
CRJ 306 Probation, Parole, and Community Corrections
CRJ 307 Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
CRJ 308 Crime Prevention
CRJ 317 Constitutional Issues in Criminal Justice
CRJ 320 Criminal Courts
CRJ 355 Crime Analysis
C. Criminal Justice Electives (6 cr)
Select two courses from the following:
CRJ 402 Advanced Administration in Criminal Justice (2)
CRJ 404 White-Collar and Corporate Crime
CRJ 406 Correctional Institutions and Programs
CRJ 408 Pro-seminar in Criminal Justice (3)
CRJ 409 Advanced Issues in Law Enforcement
CRJ 410 Organized Crime
CRJ 420 Advanced Issues in Punishment and Corrections
CRJ 440 Drugs, Crime, and Drug Policy
CRJ 450 Terrorism and Criminal
CRJ 455 Advanced Intelligence Analysis
CRJ 470W Advanced Seminar in Criminal Justice
CRJ 485 Moot Court
CRJ 488 Internship (4)
CRJ 495 Special Project (5)
CRJ 499 Independent Study (5)
D. Criminal Justice Diversity Elective (3 cr)
Select one course from the following:
CRJ 425 Race and the Administration of Justice
CRJ 430 Gender and the Administration of Justice
E. Professional, Behavioral, and Social Science Electives (6) (9 cr)
Select three courses from the following
ANT 307 Urban Anthropology
ANT 325 Anthropology
BIO 322 Human Heredity
BUS 312 Financial Accounting
BUS 313 Managerial Accounting
BUS 334 Business Law
BUS 360 Principles of Management
BUS 410 Accounting Analysis
CHE 312 Chemistry and Criminalistics
CRS 302 Creative Approaches to Problem Solving
ECO 305 Statistics for Economics
ECO 312 Urban Economics
ECO 350 Public Finance
ECO 360 Introduction to the Economic Analysis of Law
EDF 311/SOC 311 Family Violence
ENG 300 Writing for the Professions
GEG 425 Fundamentals of GIS
HIS 341 African Americans and Civil Rights
HIS 342 English Legal History
HIS 343 Introduction to American Legal History
LIB 300 Advanced Library Research Methods
MAT 311 Introductory Probability and Statistics
PHI 304 Philosophy of Law
PHI 323 Moral Issues
PSC 315 State and Local Government Politics
PSC 316 Urban Ethnic Politics
PSC 320 U.S. Constitution/Civil Liberties
PSC 350 Introduction to Legal Thought
PSC 360 Public Administration
PSC 364 American Public Policy
PSY 306 Statistics in Psychological Research
PSY 325 Social Behavior
PSY 367 Organizational Behavior
PSY 375 Forensic Psychology
PSY 376 Health Psychology
PSY 411 Abnormal Psychology
SOC 301 Social Statistics
SOC 351 Sociology of Race and Ethnicity
SOC 353 Environment and Society
SOC 380 Sociology of Crime
SOC 382 Sociology of Law
SOC 390 Sociology of Juvenile Delinquency
SPA 201 Intermediate Spanish I
SPA 202 Intermediate Spanish II
SPC 306 Public Speaking
SWK 319 Dynamics of Poverty
SWK 320 Organization of Community Services
SWK 346 Child Abuse and Neglect
All College Electives: 12-39 cr
Total Required Credit Hours: 120 cr
Concentrations in Major:
Concentration in Policing: CRJ 202, CRJ 301, CRJ 409
Concentration in Correction: CRJ 204, CRJ 306, CRJ 406, CRJ 420
Concentration in Intelligence Analysis: CRJ 250, CRJ 350, CRJ 355, CRJ 450
(1) ECO 305, PSY 306, MAT 311, SOC 301, or an approved statistics course is a prerequisite for CRJ 315.
(2) CRJ402 requires upper division status, CRJ101 and completion of introductory course in public administration, business management, or criminal justice administration.
(3) CRJ408 may be taken three times as long as three different topics are taken. Only two CRJ408 courses will apply to the CRJ major. If you take more than three CRJ408 courses, the extra courses will be invalid and you will not receive credit.
(4) CRJ488 requires senior class standing, a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 at Buffalo State and/or instructor permission.
(5) CRJ 495 and CRJ 499 require senior class standing and a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 at Buffalo State. No more than one CRJ 499 and/or CRJ495 course may be used in the major and none may be used in the major if taken prior to successful completion of CRJ 315 without written consent of the department.
(6) No more than seven credit hours from one department course area (i.e., no more than two PSC courses, two PSY courses, two SOC courses) allowed.