Doctor of Philosophy in Justice Administration / Criminal Justice Program

The Ph.D. in Justice Administration / Criminal Justice is a degree that prepares graduates for careers in academia as well as public sector organizations

The Department of Justice Administration / Criminal Justice  offers a Doctor of Philosophy in Justice Administration/ Criminal Justice.  The Ph.D. in Justice Administration / Criminal Justice is a degree that prepares graduates for careers in academic (e.g., teaching and research) as well as public sector (e.g., research, policy analysis and development, planning, program development and evaluation) organizations.

The program consists of a core curriculum and electives that students may use to develop their particular areas of specialization. The core provides a broad orientation and the electives enable students to develop expertise in a particular field. The curriculum includes 54 credits: 21 credits of core courses, 21 credits of specialization courses, and 12 credits of dissertation research. Students qualify for official candidacy to the Ph.D. by satisfactorily completing all course work and qualifying examinations in the core curriculum.

Both full and part-time study is permitted.  Part-time students are required to meet residency requirements consisting of 4 continuous semesters of enrollment and participation in departmental activities offered to meet the need for scholarly integration and academic immersion in the program.

Admission

Entry to the program requires a master's degree or equivalent. Admissions requires a completed application form,  transcripts of previous undergraduate and graduate study, Graduate Record Examination scores, at least three letters of recommendation, personal statement, writing sample and curriculum vita or resume.  Additionally, applicants must show evidence, on their graduate transcript, of completion of both graduate-level statistics and methods courses. Minimum GRE scores of 1000 from the verbal and quantitative sections of the prior version of the exams or a score of 296 on the new version. Additionally a minimum graduate GPA of 3.25 is required.  Those applicants whose native language is not English and who do not hold a degree from a university where the language of instruction is English must also submit scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language, with a minimum score of 80 on the internet-based test and a minimum of 500 on the quantitative portion of the GRE.

Application Deadline is February 15 for those seeking Graduate Assistantships and March 15, for those not seeking assistantships.

Assistantships

The Department of Justice Administration / Criminal Justice offers a limited number of Graduate Research Assistants positions (GRAs) which are awarded competitively and are intended to support full-time study. Students in the Ph.D. program may receive a maximum of three years of support as a GRA. The Ph.D. GRAs are provided a stipend of $18,000 over 12 months. This also provides for remission of tuition and health insurance. Application (pdf) submission deadline is February 15.Application in Word Format.

Core Courses

JA / CJ 603 Criminal Justice Planning (3 credits)

JA / CJ 640 Seminar in Crime Prevention and Social Control (3)

JA / CJ 645 Advanced Theories of Crime and Delinquency (3)

JA / CJ 648 Seminar in Criminal Justice Program Evaluation (3)

JA / CJ 651 Computer Applications in Criminal Justice (3)

JA / CJ 749 Advanced Statistical Analysis in Criminal Justice (3)

JA / CJ 750 Field Research (3)

Elective Courses (21 hours total, minimum of 15 from Department of Justice Administration / Criminal Justice courses)

Students must take any combination of the elective courses within the department.  Students may also take a maximum of 6 credits from previously approved courses outside the department.

Justice Administration / Criminal Justice Electives

JA / CJ 602             History of Police in the United States

JA / CJ 605             Police in Our Political and Social Systems

JA / CJ 606             Personnel Management in the Criminal Justice System

JA / CJ 607             Law and Justice

JA / CJ 609             Economic Analysis of Crime

JA / CJ 610             Theoretical Foundations of Corrections

JA / CJ 611              Critical Issues in Corrections

JA / CJ 612              Criminal Justice Administration:  Police

JA / CJ 613              Advanced Comparative Criminal Justice

JA / CJ 614              Seminar in Policing

JA / CJ 626             Emergency Management

JA / CJ 630             Critical Infrastructure Protection and Resilience

JA / CJ 644             Seminar in Juvenile Justice

JA / CJ 652             Constitutional Issues in Justice Administration

JA / CJ 665             Special Topics in Criminal Justice/Criminology

JA / CJ 670             Directed Studies/Readings

JA / CJ 690             Practicum

JA / CJ 798             Mentored Research

Proposed Electives from Other Graduate Programs at U of L

COMM 605     Communication Theory and Practice

ELFH 605        Leadership Training and Performance

ELFH 612        Human Resource Management

ELFH 661        Adult Development and Learning

ELFH 662        Organizational Analysis

ELFH 683        College Teaching

GEOG 631      Urban Demography

GEOG 656      Advanced Spatial Statistics

POLS 619       Seminar in Public Policy

POLS625        Public Administration and Organizational Theory

POLS628        Mediation and Dispute Resolution

POLS 649       Seminar in Comparative Politics

SOC 660         Seminar in Crime and Correction

UPA602          Urban Policy and Government

UPA 647         Public Budgeting & Finance

UPA 660         Advanced Organizational Behavior

Dissertation (12 credits are required)

JA / CJ 799 Dissertation Research (1-12 credits)

 

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