And So It's Done

My day was in large amounts devoted to school choices. It looks like I'll be starting in APRIL :) My FAFSA should actually pay most of it. I *should* be able to successfully test out of several courses & if I do that then I can have my BS in Criminal Justice in under THREE years. I don't know exactly how I'm going to pull it off but I will. The curriculum, half of it is stuff that I'd read out of pure interest so I can not wait to get started. Here's a glimpse.

BUS1010 Business Law
This course combines the understanding of legal theory with an acquaintance of the various forms of contracts. Students are taught the essentials of the legal environment of business, tort law, contracts, commercial transactions, government regulations, and property.
4
BUS1050 Business Math
This course provides students with a basic understanding of mathematics concepts and methods applied to business situations. Topics covered include banking, markups and markdowns, trade and cash discounts, payroll, simple and compound interest, and promissory notes, and the discount process. The course also covers annuities, installment buying and charge credit cards, home ownership expenses, interpreting financial reports, and depreciation.
Prerequisite: Passing score on entrance assessment or MAT0950.
4
CJ1000 Introduction to Criminal Justice
The goal of this introductory course is to explore the past, present and future operations of the criminal justice system. This course will examine the myths as well as current information about the criminal justice system. The course is designed to assist students in determining whether to pursue a career within the field of criminal justice.
4
CJ1100 Introduction to Corrections
This course focuses on historical and contemporary views of offender management and treatment, and includes a comprehensive examination of the U.S. correctional system. Special focus is placed on theories of punishment and rehabilitation, and community-based corrections. The course examines the operation and administration of correctional facilities, prison life, and contemporary debates concerning the role of corrections in society.
4
CJ1210 Juvenile Justice
This course provides an introduction to juvenile justice theory and practice. This includes an examination of programs and institutions including the juvenile court process, intake services, rehabilitation and preventative programs.
Prerequisite: CJ1000.
4
CJ1300 Criminology
The course provides an overview of the nature, cause, extent and theories of crime. This course will review and describe the various theories and implications of criminal acts in relation to behavior discipline, causative and scientific aspects.
Prerequisite: CJ1000.
4
CJ1500 Introduction to Law Enforcement
This course provides an overview of policing and its evolution throughout modern history. Students will explore organizational and managerial concepts used to organize and operate police departments as well as the latest techniques being used by police departments to combat crime.
Prerequisite: CJ1000.
4
CJ2050 Legal Research and Writing
This course is designed to present the components of legal research and writing techniques covering case citations, use of indices, case law, interpretation of statutes, and the various forms of legal composition.
Prerequisites: CJ1000, CJ1300, BUS1010.
4
CJ2220 Criminal Investigations
This course covers basic investigative techniques, the taking of witness statements and interviews, and report writing. The role of advancing technologies used for investigation is explored, with emphasis on the use of forensic science in reconstructing an event. A review of police procedure is also covered.
Prerequisite: CJ1000.
4
CJ2250 Criminal Justice Ethics
This course introduces students to ethical decision making in the criminal justice system. Students will apply philosophical principles and theories to various segments of the criminal justice system including police, courts and corrections.
Prerequisite: CJ1000.
4
CJ2350 Introduction to Criminal Courts
This course examines the development, functions and controversies in the American court system. Students will gain perspectives on various aspects of the judicial process including bail, plea bargaining, punishment and the appeals process.
Prerequisite: CJ1000.
4
CJ2400 Criminal Law and Procedure
This course explores substantive criminal law, including crime and its elements, developments, and trends in this area. Procedural aspects of criminal law, including court jurisdiction, tactics, and methods used in investigation and pertinent ethical considerations are discussed. Emphasis is placed on the constitutional aspects of criminal law.
Prerequisite: CJ1000.
4
CJ2450 Cybercrime
This course introduces students to computer crime and the techniques used to investigate and prevent computer crimes. Students will learn the extent of computer crimes and study the problems, trends and future issues facing those who investigate cybercrimes.
Prerequisite: CJ1000.
4
CJ2500 Criminal Justice Forensics
This course addresses procedures, techniques and applications of forensics that are being used by criminal investigators. Students will learn how to identify, collect, preserve and analyze evidence through the use of forensic techniques.
Prerequisites: CJ1000, CJ2220, BUS1050.
4
CJ3000 Criminal Justice Policy Research Methods
This course is designed to introduce the student to the methods of criminal justice research. Topics include research designs, issues of survey and interview research, validity and reliability, and the use of secondary data.
Prerequisites: CJ1000, CJ1300, MAT3010.
4
CJ3100 History of Criminal Justice
This course is designed to present the major social, economic, legal and political events which have created the American criminal justice system with emphasis on the development of policing, courts, and corrections.
Prerequisites: CJ1000, CJ1300.
4
CJ3300 Interview and Interrogation Techniques
This course is designed to familiarize the student with the kinesics technique of obtaining verbal statements and reducing those verbal statements to the proper style to be submitted as evidence in a court of law. The course focuses on the interaction involved in the face to face interview, knowledge of behavior reactions; development of an awareness of likely responses to the behavior of the interviewer.
Prerequisites: CJ1000, CJ1300.
4
CJ3400 Criminal Justice Applied Statistics
This course is designed to present criminal justice statistics, hypotheses and theories, research and related problems, and ways and means of evaluating the effectiveness of criminal justice activities.
Prerequisite: MAT3010.
4
CJ3500 Drugs, Alcohol and Crime
This course is designed to present the history, pharmacology, health consequences, and crime-related aspects of mind-affecting drugs and alcohol with emphasis on the effects on criminal behavior, the legal response to the problem, and on treatment and prevention of abuse.
Prerequisites: CJ1000, CJ1300.
4
CJ4010 Homeland Security and Terrorism
This course is designed to present the causes and controversy of terrorism, including definitions and terms, the evolution of terrorism, and the types of terrorism from domestic to international. The course also presents issues in Homeland Security, focusing on the development of the concept, the protection of civil liberties, the bureaucracy of managing Homeland Security, and the role of the media.
Prerequisites: CJ1000, CJ1300.
4
CJ4100 Community Policing
This course focuses on community policing in regard to police responsibility and working relationships with the community, churches, schools, civic organizations, youth and juvenile population, and community minority groups.
Prerequisites: CJ1000, CJ1300.
4
CJ4200 Probation and Parole
This course is designed to present the history and purposes of probation and parole. The impact of probation and parole on crime and crime control are discussed. The various forms and mechanisms of probation and parole are presented.
Prerequisites: CJ1000, CJ1100, CJ1300.
4
CJ4300 Courts and Social Policy
This course is designed to present the role the courts pursue in determining social policy as it relates to criminology. Emphasis is directed toward the political and social inputs that influence judicial decision making and the role of democracy and punishment in the courts.
Prerequisites: CJ1000, CJ1300, CJ2350.
4
CJ4500 Advanced Criminal Justice Forensics
This course presents the process of analysis of forensic evidence and developments in crime scene techniques. This course is designed to train and prepare participants to become skilled in the recognition, discovery, processing, preservation, collection, and transmission of physical evidence found at the scene of the crime. Course includes photography, sketching, fingerprinting, marking, chain of custody, collection methods, sources of physical evidence, transmission to the laboratory, and testifying in court.
Prerequisites: CHM3050, CJ1000, CJ1300, MAT3010.
4
INT4100 Criminal Justice Internship
This course is designed to give students nearing graduation actual criminal justice experience. The student will be placed with an agency for a quarter, working a minimum of 160 hours. The experience can be used for job experience in the hiring process and there is a strong chance that the internship can lead to employment with the placement agency.
Prerequisite: To be taken during the final quarter of instruction.
4
or
CJ4900 Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
This course is designed to present an overview of selected world criminal justice systems including police, courts, and corrections. Cross-national and cross-cultural criminality from several perspectives will be examined.
Prerequisites: CJ1000, CJ1300.
4
MGT2000 Management
This course provides valuable information for students who will be entering business as employees and who eventually may have the opportunity to manage a business for others. Also, students who may eventually own and operate their own business will benefit greatly from this course. The material is presented to aid students in learning the appropriate terminology used in business and the many activities involved in the successful operation of a business.
4
MGT2150 Group Dynamics
This course introduces students to the psychology of groups, normal and developmental growth, development of leadership styles, and assessment of group change. Preparing for group meetings is essential in all organizations today, while participating in group meetings establishes employees as team players.
4
General Education Courses
What are general education courses? Gen Ed courses fall outside the program's core curriculum but provide valuable, applicable skills and knowledge.
CHM1150 Chemistry
This course presents the basic concepts of general chemistry including atomic and molecular structure, chemical reactions, and stoichiometry. Students will learn from lectures and laboratory experiences.
4
COM1050 Composition I
This course focuses on helping students develop writing, researching, and critical thinking skills through writing paragraphs and essays using different rhetorical styles. Students also gain experience with peer reviewing. Students are required to earn a grade of C or higher to satisfy the requirements of this course.
Prerequisite: Passing score on entrance assessment or COM0900.
4
COM2060 Composition II
This course builds on skills learned in Composition I and further develops writing, researching, and critical thinking skills with a focus on writing and reading academic essays. The course culminates in a well-reasoned research paper.
Prerequisites: COM1050 and KEY1010 or passing score of TEAS and acceptance into the Associate Degree in Nursing program.
4
COM3150 Advanced Composition
This is a writing course designed to engage the student in a more advanced exploration of the writing process. Students will continue to develop their writing skills through the reading of a variety of rhetoric selections and the writing of more complex essays. Emphasis is placed on expanding the knowledge of the research process and improving the ability to evaluate and integrate various kinds of research in the writing of an APA Style research paper.
Prerequisite: COM1050.
4
HUM3050 Introduction to Humanities
This interdisciplinary course examines the many ways that human creativity manifests itself in the areas of the visual arts, literature, philosophy, history, music, architecture and technology. In this course, students will gain a broad understanding of Western cultural history.
Prerequisite: COM1050.
4
MAT2950 Introductory Algebra
This course is the study of real numbers and variables. Topics studied include operations involving real numbers and algebraic expressions, solving linear equations and inequalities, the Cartesian coordinate system, graphs of linear equations and inequalities, simplifying rational expressions and exponents, factoring and radicals.
Prerequisite: BUS1050 or PHM1100.
4
MAT3010 College Algebra
This course is an in-depth study of the traditional topics of college algebra. These topics include solving linear and quadratic equations and inequalities, graphs of equations and inequalities, operations involving polynomials and rational expressions, exponents, radicals, and an introduction to exponential and logarithmic functions.
Prerequisite: Passing score on placement assessment or MAT2950.
4
POL3100 American Government
This course is an introduction to the structure of the American government at the national level. It emphasizes the institutions of American government and the actions of politicians as they try to control public policies that affect our lives.
4
PSY1060 Psychology
This course provides students with a basic understanding of what psychology is, its relationship to the life sciences, and how behaviors affect our everyday lives. Emphasis is placed on developmental psychology and the problems that face us in regard to the relationships and mental and physical dilemmas they may pose. Topics such as stress, altered states of consciousness, aging, conflict, and types of therapies will be presented.
4
PSY3000 Critical Thinking & Problem Solving
This course is designed to develop students’ basic skills of logical reasoning relative to problem solving and related argument analysis. Learning to provide evidence and well-reasoned support for asserted solutions and/or positions within frameworks of clarity, depth, precision, relevance, and fairness are central to the course.
Prerequisites: COM1000, COM1050 or COM1040.
4
SCI3050 Environmental Science
This course is an introduction to environmental science that includes energy principles, relationships of organisms in ecosystems, and human impacts.
4
SOC1010 Introduction to Sociology
This course examines the basic concepts and terminology, research, theories, and facts associated with the understanding of human interrelations within various cultures, individual organizations, and distinct social groups. Through the scientific study of human behavior focused around the major sociological paradigms, human interactions within social institutions will be explored, including family, religion, economics, politics, government, medicine, as well as additional social groupings. Utilizing the sociological perspective, analysis will include stratification and institutional inequality, deviance, and other environmental dynamics. Numerous contemporary social issues will be discussed such as sexism, racism, class bias, and general inequality.
4
SOC3250 Introduction to Ethnic Studies
This course is designed to survey the field and problems of Ethnic Studies as an area of knowledge and investigation. The instruction is to be interdisciplinary in nature and focus on the communications aspect of ethnic relations. Major considerations of the entire Ethnic Studies field will be defined and analyzed.
4
SPC1010 Presentation Skills
This course provides students with the basic skills necessary to organize their thoughts and communicate effectively through public speaking. Students learn to research, organize, and properly convey oral messages. Through practical classroom application, students gain sound experience in the art of oral presentation. Students are required to earn a grade of C or higher to satisfy the requirements of this course. Students earning a grade of C- or below will be required to repeat the course.
4
Foundation Courses
What are foundation courses? These courses provide a foundation to your program and are often required by the field in which you’ll work.
CD2600 Career Development
This course provides information and resources important for anyone’s career development. It uses guest presenters and mock interviews, in addition to individual consultations, to provide career guidance. The class starts by having the students perform a self-assessment of their interests and values while at the same time, focusing on their professional goals. It emphasizes the importance of understanding how to create a successful resume no matter where a person is in their career path. In addition, it highlights how to apply a variety of other job search documents and execute follow-up. Instructors illustrate traditional and nontraditional methods of job searching to include some of the latest online resources. A significant element of this course is training students to have great interviewing skills. Additional time is spent researching employers, exploring employment opportunities available in the area, and setting up interviews with prospective employers. Toward the end of this course, students also learn value of teamwork and being successful in their career. By applying these techniques and suggestions in this course, students are able to approach their career exploration and job search with a more confident and winning attitude. This course is scheduled during the final or next to last quarter of the program.
2
CPU1000 Computers and Office Automation
This course provides students with a basic understanding of computing fundamentals including hardware, software, Internet concepts, and file management. This course also provides hands-on experience with basic word processing, spreadsheet and presentation applications. This course provides students with the necessary foundation for further study in desktop applications, and to apply these skills in advanced courses requiring electronic processing.
Prerequisite/Co-Requisite: KEY1010.
4
CPU2120 Word Processing
This course prepares students for an in-depth study of word processing techniques. Students completing this course are able to perform word processing functions ranging from document editing and formatting to graphics and web design. The class is structured to provide students with hands-on opportunities to practice and apply their skills.
Prerequisite: CPU1000 or ITS1000.
4
KEY1010 Keyboarding I
This course teaches students the fundamentals of keyboarding, including correct finger positions, machine operation, and correct posture. An introduction is made to the word processing program.
2
PSY1050 Strategies for Success
This course is designed to enhance the college learning experience and prepare students for personal and professional success. Concepts presented include managing change, setting and achieving goals, and thinking in ways to create success. This course also incorporates assessments that will increase one’s self-awareness, and improve the student’s interpersonal and intrapersonal skills.
4
Total Credit Hours 180