Online Criminal Justice & Criminal Psychology Degree Requirements Major in Criminal Justice Degree Requirements

Candidates for the Faculty of Science degree with a major in Criminal Justice must meet the following requirements.

1. Hours for the Degree: Completion of a minimum of 124 total semester hours, with 24 of the last 30

hours completed at UNT; a minimum of 42 hours must be advanced, with at least 12 hours of advanced work in the major and 24 of the 42 advanced hours completed at UNT.

2. General University Requirements: See “General Degree Requirements” in the Academics section of this catalog.

3. General Academic Requirements for Degree (including University Core Curriculum): Minimum of

52 hours. See “Summary of Degree Requirements” for exact hours.

4. Major Requirements: Major of 57 hours, including 45 hours of criminal justice courses and 12 hours of supporting courses.

5. Electives: 15 hours.

6. Other Requirements:

• All students entering the criminal justice program must have a cumulative grade point average of at least

2.0 or otherwise be in good academic standing.

A career in Criminal justice offers an individual numerous challenges, opportunities and room for growth. The latter paper is a rough draft of what it entails to follow such a line. This information was obtained through a personal interview between myself and a Sergeant in the Department of Corrections. The interviewees name was Sergeant B. Harris. He has been with the Department of Corrections for a number of years and was also my supervisor during my term of service within the force.

Physical fitness was another important milestone in this process. He was required to demonstrate that he could run for long distances, do long jumps, push ups, bench presses and even vertical leaps within a short span of time. As if these were not enough an officer in that line is required to demonstrate their mental capabilities through a series of interviews. Here, one is required to show that they are capable of making good decisions under high stress situations since police work my subject one to choose between life or death. Also, high levels of discipline, respect for authority and passion for police work had to be demonstrated.

Having a online degree and was given extra points for doing a post graduate diploma in accounting. It took a lot of patience for him to enter the force because he was rejected three times. The reasons given were that there were no vacancies within the Department of Corrections at that time and that he had no prior experience.

After gaining admission into the Department of Corrections, the Sgt. warned that all is not over. In fact, this is where the real challenge begun. First of all, he had to maintain his level of physical fitness because any sloppiness in the job could result in a very big repercussion. Additionally, the officer was challenged to lead a clean life because members are subjected to random checks and trials every now and then. On top of these, there was a need to have multitasking abilities since officers are required to make frequent reports of everything that they have done within any given day. The Department of Corrections was a particularly interesting one owing to the fact that one has to come in contact with some dangerous criminals. In certain circumstances, the Sergeant explained dealing with these cases was the most challenging aspect of his career. He added that the situation was particularly tricky owing to the fact that one could not be able to predict another's reaction within a high stress scenario. In this regard, he asserted that it was indeed difficult for him to handle such situations because if he demonstrated bad judgment, then he would be answerable for it.

The officer also explained that a good memory was an important part of the job within the correctional department because in certain scenarios, he was expected to testify in the court of law. Therefore a police officer has a lot of responsibility in his hands. If anything like a false accusation is made, then chances are that the individual under trail will miss a chance in justice. Additionally, such kind of conduct could put one's job on the line after it has been established that there are some problems with the testimony given by a police officer.

Being a sergeant also requires a different set of challenges. First of all, one has to be committed to the job because one can get called at any time of the day be it day or night. On top of these, the needs of the unit are always the most important and sometimes, this may come in the way of one's personal life. In fact, the sergeant asserted that this was one of the most difficult issues that he had to face in his position.

The police officers in general and sergeants in particular have a wide online criminal degree of job incentives such as health insurance for their family members. Also, one enjoys a relatively high level of security within their job positions in this particular Department. However the Sergeant was quick to add that one's own security was the major issue within this line of work. He claimed that the hardest point for him was when a close associate was knifed twice in the stomach when trying to capture a suspect that had tried evading this respective officer. Sgt Harris had a hard time recovering from that sight because he was there when the events unfolded. At the back of his mind, he knew that the same thing could happen to him as well. However, he claims that no such thing has happened in subsequent periods.

The sergeant also explained that pressure levels in such a line of duty were extremely high. He asserted that one had to be on their toes most of the time because one could never be sure when or where their services were required. In fact, he claimed that the most important quality within his line of work was having multitasking abilities. One had to be able to respond to another call from their associates, supervise other individuals while at the same time review performance records and job ratings.

Summary of Degree Requirements:

Criminal Justice (and supporting courses): 57

General Academic Requirements (including Core): 52

English 15

History 6

Political Science 6

Laboratory Science 8

Economics 3

Mathematics 3

Visual and Performing Arts 3

Computer Science 3

Oral Communication 3

Wellness 2

Electives: 15

Criminal Justice Major: 57

CJUS 2100, Crime and Justice in the United States 3

CJUS 3201, Criminal Law 3

CJUS 3300, Police Systems 3

CJUS 3400, Correctional Systems 3

CJUS 3600, Criminology 3

CJUS 3700, Ethical Issues in Criminal Justice 3

CJUS 4200, Criminal Procedure 3

CJUS 4500, Administration of Criminal Justice Agencies 3

CJUS 4901, Senior Seminar: Criminal Justice and Public Policy 3

Criminal Justice Electives 18

PSYC 1630, General Psychology I 3

SOCI 1510, Individuals in Society 3

PADM 2100, Diversity in Urban Governance 3

SOCI 4870, Research Methods and Practice 3

There are many online universities that offer online criminal justice and criminal psychology degree programs and they are all over the internet. It is very important that you enroll in a reputable, accredited online university such as Wilson State University. WSU is nationally and internationally, recognized and also accredited by the World Higher Educational Association Services (WHeAS). WSU educational documents can be verified 24/7, from any where around the globe. when a working adult requires such verification, our management sends the required educational documents to his/her employer (s) through postal mail, FAX, or e-mail. If an employer requires verification come directly from the university, our education verification personnel, on your request we will provide that service.