Criminal Justice Program -Executive Summary
Program Description
The Criminal Justice Program provides an AAAS track for students interested in immediate employment that satisfies the two-year degree required by an increasing number of police agencies. It also offers an AAS degree than transfers to five universities in the state of Washington with related baccalaureate programs. It also provides in-service professionals the chance to satisfy career advancement education requirements. The curriculum exposes students to all facets of the criminal justice field and prepares them for careers in local, state, and federal law enforcement, courts, corrections, private and corporate security and related fields. The program has a strong academic emphasis unlike most community college criminal justice programs statewide where the emphasis is on training.
Analysis and Appraisal
Ours is the states oldest community college criminal justice program and is highly regarded by university baccalaureate programs and criminal justice professionals alike. Graduates who transfer to UW’s Society and Justice program over the past ten years maintain an average 3.48 GPA in eleven upper level courses and graduate with a mean GPA of 3.23. Exit interviews with graduates reflect a high degree of satisfaction with the program and follow-up surveys conducted by the Office of Professional/Technical Education show the same result. Testimonial documentation consistently reveals a high level of satisfaction with the program and the quality of instruction. Our full-time and part-time faculty represent a total of over 200 years of professional experience the 1999 External Program Review characterized ours as “one of the strongest programs in the state.”
We serve a varied student population: 41% are below age 20; 89% are below age 30; 41% are female (reflecting an increasing interest by women in a traditionally male dominated profession); 85% are full-time students; 72% are Caucasian, reflecting the traditional hiring patterns of criminal justice agencies.
Declining enrollment is a concern, but available data reveals contradictions. One data set shows a 25% decline in FTES from 1995 to 1996, and a further 24% drop the following year. FTES have been consistent for the past three years, however. Enrollment on a course basis by quarter are also consistent, as are the Office of Professional/Technical Education’s Occupational Preparatory Enrollment figures, which show a consistent headcount of approximately 80 students for each of the past three years.
Criminal Justice education Washington is unique compared to states where police academies are held in the state’s community college, and where tracking graduation and job-placement rates is easier. There was an unsuccessful effort for several years to duplicate this model in Washington. However, many – if not most – Washington police agencies still don’t have any college requirements. This is changing however. While even the state’s largest police employer doesn’t require a degree, the competition for jobs is so intense that college graduates inevitably prevail in the selection process. Most agencies require a threshold written and physical exam, followed by a strenuous psychological assessment test, polygraph examination, oral board interview, medical exam, and exhaustive background review, which can take as long as six months. From the largest to the smallest agencies the process is the same and successful applicants then attend a 740-hour police academy conducted by the Washington Criminal Justice Training Commission (WCJTC). There is currently no method to recover data on which of our graduates have been hired and successfully completed the academy. This makes it difficult to obtain employment data on graduates since police employers do not routinely contact employees’ alma maters when they have hired someone. We are discussing with our Advisory Board the possibility of asking WCJTC to assist in collecting data on incoming student officers and academy graduates. This would give us feedback on hiring and success at the academy level at least, the threshold entry point for all of Washington state’s police officers.
Change/Future Directions: In light of declining enrollments, we recognize the need for more active marketing and community outreach efforts. Faculty has increased its involvement at local high schools. The program director has embarked on an effort to recruit a more diverse faculty. We have strengthened and refreshed the Advisory Committee and are exploring new program possibilities. We are beginning to explore the development of on-line classes as a way to increase enrollments by making courses available to working police officers trying to complete degree requirements. While the healthy state of the economy in recent years has attracted many graduating high school seniors directly into the workforce, we anticipate that the current economic decline coupled with the aforementioned efforts will generate enrollment increases. Also, the tragedy of September 11, 2001 has created a new awareness of, interest in, and respect for the criminal justice career field. We have observed increased inquiries about our program and we know from professional colleagues in the police and firefighter communities that applications for employment have increased substantially. Anticipated efforts in these areas will include:
Increased marketing efforts and community involvement to stimulate increased enrollment
Examination of feasibility of working with WCJTC to collect reliable program success assessment data
Continuing efforts to have a representatively diverse faculty
Creation of online courses in response to advisory committee recommendations
Funding of dedicated Criminal Justice Program computer lab
Creation of a new Police Communications Dispatcher program in response to advisory committee recommendations
Examination of feasibility of a Private Security training program
Restructuring of course sequence for AAAS track students
Strengthening of internship screening process
Institution of a criminal justice career advisory screening instrument