P.h.D in Criminal Justice Policy Studies Course Requirements

GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS
All Ph.D. students must complete a minimum of 45 credits beyond a master’s degree program.
Students entering without a master’s degree must also complete the requirements of the master’s
degree in addition to the requirements listed below as part of the doctoral degree. Specifically,
the 45 credits of the doctoral degree include: CJ 701; CJ 702; CJ 703; and CJ 704; 9 hours of
substantive core, including a minimum of 3 hours in each of the three substantive core areas:
criminal justice system & issues; methods, data, & analysis; and policy studies; an additional 6
hours of approved elective courses; and 18 hours of dissertation credits.

Course Requirements
Introductory Course (3 credits)
CJ 701 – Proseminar in Criminal Justice Policy Studies (3 hours)
First-Year Core Courses (9 credits)
CJ 702 – Advanced Criminal Justice Statistics (3 hours)
CJ 703 – Advanced Criminological Theory & Policy (3 hours)
CJ 704 – Advanced Criminal Justice Policy Studies (3 hours)

Core Area Electives (9 – 15 credits)
Students must take a minimum of one course in each core area for a minimum of 9 hours.
Core Area 1: Criminal Justice System & Issues
CJ 621: Seminar in Law Enforcement (3 hours)
CJ 622: Seminar in Courts and Sentencing (3 hours)
CJ 623: Seminar in Corrections (3 hours)
CJ 630: Seminar in Homeland Security Operations (3 hours)
CJ 641: Transnational Crime (3 hours)
CJ 642: Cyber Crime & Cybersecurity (3 hours)
CJ 643: Legal Issues in Criminal Justice* (3 hours)
CJ 646: Special Topics in Criminal Justice* (3 hours)

Core Area 2: Methods, Data, & Analysis
CJ 661: Criminal Justice Policy Analysis (3 hours)
CJ 664: GIS and Crime Mapping Analysis (3 hours)
CJ 659: Data Management & Data Science (3 hours)
CJ 666: Big Data Analytics (3 hours)
CJ 667: Qualitative Research Design & Analysis (3 hours)
CJ 668: Analytic Writing (3 hours)
CJ 669: Grant Writing (3 hours)
CJ 663: Special topics in Methods, Data, & Analysis* (3 hours)

Core Area 3: Policy Studies
CJ 620: Criminal Justice in American Society: Policy & Practice (3 hours)
CJ 681: Law & Public Policy (3 hours)
CJ 682: Comparative Criminal Justice Systems & Policy (3 hours)
CJ 683: Policy, Politics, and Leadership in Criminal Justice (3 hours)
CJ 684: Policy Issues in Criminal Justice* (3 hours)
CJ 687: Policy Development & Implementation (3 hours)
CJ 686: Ethics & Criminal Justice Policy (3 hours)
CJ 648: Special Topics in Policy Studies* (3 hours)

*May be taken 2 times with a different topic.
Other Electives (0 – 6 credits)
CJ 749 – Advanced Independent Study** (3 hours)
**Can be taken up to twice. Requires Instructor and Graduate Program Coordinator approval.
Dissertation (18 credits)
CJ 797 – Dissertation (18 hours)

OTHER ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS
The student also must complete: 1) a first-year qualifying written (take-home) exam that is taken at the end of the first year of doctoral coursework, and is based on material from the first-year required core classes (i.e., CJ 702, CJ 703, and CJ 704). Successfully passing the first-year qualifying exam is required to continue on in the doctoral program; 2) a “publishable paper” which represents a single-authored, independent research project that resembles a manuscript suitable for submission to a peer-reviewed journal. This is equivalent to the comprehensive exam, and must be passed successfully in order to continue on into the dissertation phase of the program; 3) a written and oral defense of a dissertation prospectus; and 4) a written and oral defense of a dissertation.