Criminal Justice, M.C.J.

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Program Overview

The Master of Criminal Justice Degree provides students with the knowledge and skills to serve in managerial positions in a wide variety of criminal justice agencies. Each sector of the criminal justice system is studied to provide a balanced knowledge of policing, corrections, and the courts. A growing number of our students aspire to further their education as they apply to law schools pursuing a concentration in criminal law. Understanding and conducting research of criminal justice topics is a hallmark of the program, and students may pursue the completion of a thesis to indicate their mastery of doing empirical research.

Program Outcomes

The Master of Criminal Justice degree has some program outcomes which are assessed either at the end of a particular course or at the end of the coursework. The Program Outcomes are listed herein:

Students will have an advanced knowledge of the process of conducting research in the area of criminal justice.

Students will be familiar with the primary legal issues and their attendant court case citations related to the prominent legal findings in our field. Secondly, students must know the relevance of these preeminent legal cases and how they shaped operations in the areas of policing, corrections, and the courts.

Students can articulate how agencies of police, corrections, and the courts are managed, and the leadership qualities necessary for a successful administration of a criminal justice agency.

Students can discuss with confidence the primary reforms in the minds of the public that are likely to benefit the public’s perception of criminal justice agencies.

Students will have an advanced knowledge of the U.S. Constitution as it relates to citizenry of our country and the means taken by criminal justice agencies to operate without abridging the Amendments.

Admission Requirements

Admission into the M.C.J. program requires the student to have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college or university and an undergraduate grade point of 2.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale. Unconditional admission will be granted to students with a 2.8 GPA and no GRE score is required. Unconditionally admitted students also must have 18 hours of undergraduate Criminal Justice course hours, or courses that directly relate to Criminal Justice. Students with a 2.5 GPA up to 2.79, can also be unconditionally accepted into the program with a GRE score of at least 275 with the verbal and math sections combined. GPAs of less than 2.5 will not be accepted. Students can be conditionally accepted who have at least a 2.5 GPA, but less than a 2.8 GPA, but schedule to take the GRE during the first semester of graduate classes. Students conditionally accepted must achieve a 275 on the GRE to continue with graduate classes.

To remain in the program, students must maintain at least a 3.0 GPA for each semester throughout the program. All students must work diligently to complete all of the requirements for the program within six years of beginning the coursework.

Important Dates

Students may begin their coursework in the MCJ program at the beginning of any semester. The only significant dates are the acceptable dates for admission to the program. This small chart will display the last date of receipt of a completed application and the starting semester.

Summer March 15
Fall June 15
Spring November 15

Program Duration

The MCJ program requires 36 hours to complete. Many students work full time and generally take two courses per semester for the fall and spring semesters and one course in the summer for a total of 5 classes (15 credit hours) per year. For these working students, it usually takes 2 and a half years to complete the degree. We also have students pursuing their degree full time and can finish the coursework in one full year. Students pursuing a thesis may take a longer time to complete the program as a thesis is often a two-semester endeavor.

Transfer of Credits

At the master’s level, a student may be allowed a maximum of twelve (12) semesters or eighteen (18) quarter hours of graduate credit from another accredited college or university. At the educational specialist and doctoral level, a maximum of six (6) semester hours may be transferred. The Transfer of Credit is a fillable form that is to be completed with assistance from the assigned faculty advisor or program coordinator. The course credits being considered for transfer must be evaluated by the graduate program coordinator, department chair, college dean of the academic unit, and the dean of the Graduate School. Only courses in which the student earned grades of “B” or better, and which are taken within the degree program time limit, will be considered for transfer.

Degree Requirements

The Master of Criminal Justice program is comprised of 36 credit hours. These hours include 18 core course credit hours and 18 elective course credit hours. Three of the core course hours are for either a thesis or a comprehensive exam taken in the student’s last semester. All coursework is available online. The Coordinator will provide advisement and other guidance as you progress through the program.

Accreditation Information

The Master of Criminal Justice degree program at TSU is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

Career Opportunities

The field of criminal justice is vast in its career opportunities. Employment opportunities in policing, corrections, and the courts are prolific in all sectors of our nation. Our students also work in retail security, campus policing, the military, many federal agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Marshall Service, and other local, state, and federal agencies. Our students also are employed as counselors, trainers, investigators, researchers, and other positions related to criminal justice.

Program Coordinator/Contact Information

Professor Michael Montgomery, PhD

mmontgomery@tnstate.edu

615-963-5588

Program Website

https://www.tnstate.edu/criminaljustice/faculty_staff.aspx

Program of Study and Credit Hours Required

The requirements for the Master of Criminal Justice include the successful completion of thirty-six (36) hours of graduate coursework. The thesis or non-thesis (comprehensive examination) will be supervised by faculty designated at the time of admission to candidacy. The degree candidate must file a Program of Study after completing at least fifteen (15) semester hours of graduate study, but no more than eighteen (18) semester hours. The Program of Study lists the courses which will be used to satisfy degree requirements, as well as detailing how other requirements will be met. The student may later change the Program of Study with the approval of the Department and Graduate School. Students must have a minimum of a 3.0 GPA to be eligible for admission to candidacy. The Program of Study is accessible on Degree Works through your MyTSU account.

Required Courses (18 Hours)

Eighteen hours of core courses (required). Students writing a thesis are required to enrolled in CRMJ 6640 . Those pursuing the non thesis option are required to enrolled in CRMJ 6630 .

CRMJ 6000 - Criminal Justice Administration (3) CIP:
CRMJ 6010 - Seminar in Law Enforcement 3 CIP:
CRMJ 6020 - Judicial Seminar (3) CIP:
CRMJ 6030 - Contemporary Corrections (3) CIP:
CRMJ 6900 - Research in Criminal Justice (3) CIP:
CRMJ 6640 - Thesis (3) CIP:
OR
CRMJ 6630 - Non-Thesis Option (3) CIP:

Note:

All courses are offered in the evenings, Monday through Thursday, meeting one night per week and generally from 5:30 PM to 8:20 PM. for Zoom or on-ground classes.. Note that online classes do not meet in the classroom.

Elective Courses

Elective Courses (18 Hours) - Each class is a 3-credit hour course

CRMJ 6040 - The Concept of Justice (3) CIP:
CRMJ 6230 - Police Management System (3) CIP:
CRMJ 6250 - Criminal Justice Internship (3) CIP:
CRMJ 6300 - Innovations in Law Enforcement (3) CIP:
CRMJ 6410 - Advanced Constitutional Law (3) CIP:
CRMJ 6430 - Criminal Law: The Defense Side (3) CIP:
CRMJ 6500 - Interviewing and Counseling Juveniles (3) CIP:
CRMJ 6700 - Community-Based Corrections (3) CIP:
CRMJ 6830 - Violence and Victimology (3) CIP:
CRMJ 6920 - Seminar in Criminal Justice Planning and Management (3) CIP:
CRMJ 6930 - Comparative Systems in Criminal Justice (3) CIP:
CRMJ 6940 - Crimes, Criminals, and Their Treatment (3) CIP:
Students are expected to take classes within the Criminal Justice course offerings to satisfy the additional 18-credit hours. It may become necessary for a student to take a class outside of the Department of Criminal Justice if they have taken all the required courses and a CRMJ elective is not being offered that has not been taken. Students may take a total of two courses (six hours) from other graduate programs at TSU. These classes must be approved by either the Chair of the Department or the Coordinator of the MCJ Program. Students are expected to take classes from other graduate programs that relate to Criminal Justice. These classes may be taken from the Departments of Psychology, Social Work, Public Administration, or, on occasion, Education. Among the 18 credit hours of elective courses, students may also select a maximum of two 5000 level courses as electives, as they are considered as graduate courses.