Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice

University of Wisconsin-Platteville

Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice

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Course Advice

First Semester Course Work
All students must successfully complete CJ1130, Introduction to Criminal Justice with a grade of a "C" or higher before they can take any of the other CJ courses. Therefore, it is recommended that a student enroll in this course as well as taking a class that will count towards the minor in business administration. Consider BSAD 1300 Global Business, BSAD 2630 Introduction to Marketing, and BSAD 2330 Leadership and Management as starting courses.

Grade requirements
All students must earn a "C" or better in the 5 core CJ classes to have it count towards the CJ major. These 5 classes are: CJ1130 Introduction to Criminal Justice, CJ2130 The Police Function, CJ2230 Correctional Philosophy, CJ 4030 Criminal Law, and CJ 4930 Criminal Justice Seminar.

Sequence of Courses
Students must earn a "C" or better in each core course before going on to the next (i.e. students must earn a "C" in Intro to Criminal Justice (CJ1130) before they take The Police Function (CJ2130), and Correctional Philosophy (CJ2230). They must earn a "C" or better in both of these classes before they are allowed to take Criminal Law (CJ4030) and Criminal Justice Seminar (CJ4930).

Take the writing proficiency exam
All CJ majors are required to take the writing proficiency exam BEFORE registering for upper division courses (course number of 3000 or higher). A good time to take this exam is after you have successfully completed CJ1130 and CJ2130 The Police Function or CJ2230 Correctional Philosophy.

Upper Division Courses
To graduate from UWP, all students must earn a minimum of 39 semester credit hours in upper-division (course number is between 3000-4999) course work. In order to take upper division CJ courses, students must successfully pass the departmental writing proficiency exam and have completed ENGLISH 1130 and English 1230 with a "C" or better.

Take COSC 1830 Microcomputer Applications to partially fulfill the B.S. Requirement
Students are required to take 6 credits that the CJ Department has identified as fulfilling the BS supplement. Students are permitted to take Computer Applications (CPS 105) offered through UW Colleges to fulfill this requirement.

Take BUSADMIN 2230 Leadership and Management to partially fulfill the B.S. Requirement
Students who minor in Business Administration are required to take BUSADMIN 2330 Leadership and Management course for the minor and are permitted to double count this as fulfilling both the minor requirement and Bachelor of Science supplement.

Take Elementary Statistics before the CJ Research Methods Course
The CJ Research Methods course has a prerequisite of CRIMJUS 2130 and 2230 with a "C" or higher, MATH 1830 (elementary statistics), and junior standing.

CJ4880 Internship
To be eligible for an internship, a student must have earned at least 60 credits plus 12 upper division criminal justice credits, a 2.25 GPA, and have passed the department's writing certification requirement. Furthermore, an intern cannot conduct an internship where he/she is currently employed full-time. Talk to your advisor if you are interested in doing internship.

Realize that all CJ courses are writing intensive
Always practice good writing skills. The ability to communicate effectively in writing will be extremely important to be successful in this program as well as in the criminal justice field. If you need help with your writing skills, visit the following webpage. http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/index.html

Verify the transfer of courses you plan to take through other institutions with your advisor or the Distance Learning Center staff before registering.

Contact your academic advisor about one month before you complete the last course on your contract enrollment plan if you are taking print-based courses for the minor in business administration. This will avoid a time delay in your studies while your new contract enrollment plan is processed.

Don't wait until your last 30 credits to begin taking courses at a distance from other universities and transferring them to UW-Platteville. Twenty-three of the last 32 credits must be taken from UW-Platteville. You may earn these credits at a distance.