College of Business and Public Administration

Master of Public Administration (MPA)

Option: Criminal Justice Option

Please visit the Criminal Justice department website.

PROGRAM COORDINATOR

Dr. Vanessa Garcia
Willis W-311-B
(908) 737-4301
vgarcia@kean.edu

This option prepares graduates for career opportunities in both Public Administration and Criminal Justice. The program provides students with courses in the areas of policing, law, the legal system, corrections, victim services and the juvenile justice system and is designed to develop analytical skills through an examination of theories and practices surrounding the criminal justice system. Students are also afforded the opportunity to enroll in criminal justice internships as means of integrating scholastic knowledge with field experience. This option is designed to assist individuals who currently serve or seek to serve in governmental, non-profit, and private sector criminal justice positions.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

In addition to the University's admission requirements:

* Two letters of recommendation
* Furnish an appropriate scholarly writing sample
* Departmental interview may be required
* Students are required to have a minimum 3.0 GPA in their undergraduate course work

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

* 48 credits; 12 Public Administration credits, 15 Criminal Justice credits, 12 credits in electives, 3 credit culminating research seminar, 6 credit in required internship. (Internship waived for students with appropriate experience.)

REQUIRED Public Administration COURSES - 12 credits

* PA 5010 Public Bureaucracy 3
* PA 5030 Analytical Methods for Public Management 3
* PA 5031 Quantitative Methods for Public Management 3
* PA 5040 Public Budgeting and Financial Management 3

REQUIRED CRIMINAL JUSTICE COURSES - 15 credits

* CJ 5620 Foundation of Criminal Justice 3
* CJ 5670 Theories of Crime and Delinquency 3
* CJ 5600 The American Legal System 3
* CJ 5690 Corrections 3
* CJ 5650 Race, Class and Gender 3

ELECTIVES - 12 credits

(6 must be chosen from Criminal Justice courses and 6 from any PA Graduate Course)

* CJ 5610 Research Methodology in Criminal Justice 3
* CJ 5630 Ethics in Criminal Justice 3
* CJ 5640 Constitutional Theory 3
* CJ 5660 Research Seminar in Criminal Justice 3
* CJ 5680 Victimology 3
* CJ 5700 The American Court System 3
* CJ 5720 Graduate Internship in Criminal Justice 3

A listing of all the Public Administration graduate courses is available from the Public Administration office in Willis Hall, Room 305.

RESEARCH – 3 credits

· PA 5990 Research Seminar in Intergovernmental Relations 3

INTERNSHIP - 6 credits

* PA 5960 Graduate Internship in Public Administration 6

(Required for all students without relevant job experience in public administration)

Total of 42 credits plus 6 credits of internship to complete the program