The faculty of the Department of Criminal Justice recognizes its mission as three-fold. First and foremost, the department is dedicated to providing its majors with the best possible education in criminal justice by providing them with a critical understanding of the total system of criminal justice and the society in which it functions. At the same time, as part of the College of Liberal Arts and Education, we are committed to preparing our students to move successfully into criminal justice careers or postgraduate work as liberally educated, intellectually mature, ethically aware, and culturally sensitive men and women.

Secondly, the Department is dedicated to providing students throughout the university with opportunities to examine critically the broad questions of how justice is administered in American society and to confront at first hand the fundamental issues of criminal justice which they will face as involved citizens.

Finally, the Department of Criminal Justice is dedicated to providing the expertise of its faculty as a resource to assist criminal justice and social service agencies in the realms of applied research, policy development, training, and planned change to meet the social and technological challenges of the twenty-first century.

Graduates of the Criminal Justice program should:

1. exhibit an understanding of fundamental concepts related to the interrelationship of various components within the criminal justice system (i.e., law enforcement, courts, and corrections).
2. apply criminological theories in explaining criminal behavior and the criminal justice process.
3. demonstrate their ability to formulate a problem/topic, assemble relevant research and resources, and synthesize the data in a manner to constitute a formal proposal or research paper.
4. analyze and evaluate social, cultural, and technological change and its impact on the criminal justice system.
5. understand, analyze, and critically evaluate social research.
6. display a working knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research methods.
7. demonstrate in-depth knowledge of substantive areas within the discipline of criminal justice.
8. apply their knowledge toward further study and careers.