Political Science / Criminal Justice

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Chair: John Ortiz Smykla (251-460-7161)

Graduate Coordinator: Sam Fisher

Professors: Fishman, Kressley, Morris, Smykla

Associate Professors: Bowers, Fisher, Husain, Nicholls, O'Shea, Wims

Assistant Professors: Blakely, Bright, Nelson

Emeritus Professors: Harkins, Kaempfer, Barrow

Academic Avisor: Alene Ferguson

Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice web site
http://www.southalabama.edu/poliscie/

UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES

The courses offered in the Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice are designed to achieve three important objectives:

1.	to help students attain a liberal education;
2.	to encourage and prepare students to participate actively in public affairs;
3.	to help students advance toward professional careers in such fields as education, law and government.

REQUIREMENTS FOR A MAJOR IN POLITICAL SCIENCE

For a major in Political Science a student must take a minimum of 36 semester hours in political science, of which 18 hours come from the core political science courses, 12 hours of PSC electives at the 300/400 level, and six hours of PSC electives at the 400 level.

Political Science Major:

PSC 130	3	PSC 250	3
PSC 270	3	PSC 310	3
PSC 311 or PSC 312 or PSC 313	3
PSC 334	3
400 level PSC electives			6
300/400 level PSC elective			12
Total Required Hours			36

REQUIREMENTS FOR A MINOR IN POLITICAL SCIENCE

For a minor in political science a student must take a minimum of 21 semester hours in political science, of which 12 hours come from the specific political science courses listed below, nine hours of PSC electives, and a minimum of three hours of PSC electives at the 400 level.

POLITICAL SCIENCE MINOR:

PSC 130	3	PSC 250 or PSC 270	3
PSC 310	3
PSC 311 or PSC 312 or PSC 313	3
400 level PSC elective	3
PSC electives	6
Total Required Hours			21

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

The Department of Criminal Justice provides students interested in law enforcement, criminal law, corrections, and the criminal court system with a broad educational background emphasizing social science and the University's general education skills of critical thinking, writing and analysis. At the same time, students in the department gain basic knowledge of the criminal justice field to the extent of specialization compatible with University and College requirements. The curriculum leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree. The mission of the department must be conceived as interdisciplinary in nature, since no traditional discipline covers the wide spectrum of expertise required. The undergraduate program addresses issues respecting the entire criminal justice system, from the nature of crime and delinquency to society's varied responses to crime. Such a focus includes the organization and operation of each of the functional components in the field.

REQUIREMENTS FOR A MAJOR IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE

The major in criminal justice requires 39 semester hours, including PSC 130, CJ 205, CJ 310, CJ 320, CJ 330, CJ 340, and CJ 360, plus 18 semester hours of criminal justice electives. CJ 205 is a prerequisite to all CJ courses and must be passed with a grade of "C" or higher before enrolling in any other CJ course.

GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE MAJORS

General Education Requirements for Criminal Justice majors are specified on the College of Arts and Sciences section.

REQUIREMENTS FOR A MINOR IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE

The minor in Criminal Justice requires 18 semester hours, including PSC 130 and CJ 205, plus 12 semester hours of criminal justice electives. CJ 205 is a prerequisite to all CJ courses and must be passed with a grade of "C" or higher before enrolling in any other CJ course.

GRADUATE STUDIES

The Master of Public Administration degree (MPA) curriculum in the Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice is a professional degree program designed principally for present and future administrators and officers in government and other public related organizations. It is open, however, to other qualified students as well.

Students entering the program come from varied academic and vocational backgrounds. Accordingly, no specific undergraduate major is required for admission to the MPA Program. However, certain course prerequisites must be satisfied prior to enrollment in any of the required core courses of the curriculum.

All students in the program have an option of non-thesis (Plan A) or thesis (Plan B).

Students in the program who are not already employed in the public sector should, if possible, serve in government internships, discussed as follows.

REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION

Students are admitted each semester. The following criteria supplement the Graduate School criteria (see Categories of Admission).

REGULAR ADMISSION

1.	Minimum cumulative undergraduate grade-point average of 3.00 (on a 4-point scale).
2.	Satisfactory GRE (or equivalent standardized test) scores (at least 1000 combined score on the Verbal and the Quantitative Subtests).
3.	The GRE requirement may be waived for holders of earned advanced degrees on the recommendation of the program coordinator.

PROVISIONAL ADMISSION

In addition to the minimum standards required by the Graduate School, the student must have a minimum undergraduate GPA of 2.7 and submit GRE general test scores.

REQUIREMENTS FOR DEGREE

To qualify for the degree of Master of Public Administration, all candidates must satisfactorily complete a minimum of thirty-six semester hours, as follows:

1.	The following courses are prerequisites for the core curriculum: PSC 130, Introduction to US Government, or its equivalent; PSC 334, Public Administration, or its equivalent.
2.	Twenty-four hours in the following eight core courses:

Note: The Core Curriculum Cycle Should Ideally Commence in the Fall Semester

PSC 500	PSC 510	PSC 520
PSC 530	PSC 540	PSC 550
PSC 570	PSC 580

Twelve hours of electives approved by the Coordinator of the MPA Program in the Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice. These twelve hours are to be selected from among the following: PSC 596, Internship (maximum of nine hours); PSC 594, Directed Research (one to six hours); PSC 599, Thesis (six hours); and/or other graduate or 400, 500 or 600-level courses offered by the University of South Alabama as approved by the advisor.

Any substitutions for the above requirements must be approved in writing by the Coordinator of the MPA Program.

GRE (or equivalent standardized test) scores must be submitted prior to any category of admission except for the person with an earned advanced degree from an accredited institution.

A candidate for the MPA degree must complete successfully a comprehensive written examination covering the eight core courses listed previously. To be eligible to take this examination, a student must have achieved at least a 3.00 (B) grade-point average on the core curriculum course work. Normally, the examination will be administered during the Fall and Spring Semesters. The comprehensive examination may be attempted no more than twice.

INTERNSHIP

Students in the MPA Program who are not suitably employed full-time in public agencies may be allowed to enroll in PSC 596, Graduate Internship in Public Administration, for a maximum of nine semester hours.

Normally, admission to the Internship Program will be dependent upon the following prerequisites:

1.	satisfactory completion of at least six of the required core courses;
2.	approval by the internship professor of the prospective intern's qualifications and proposed project; and
3.	placement of the student in an appropriate agency of the government or other public service institution.

The length of the internship and corresponding credit (at the rate of three to nine hours per semester), not to exceed a total of nine hours, will be determined for each student on the basis of the student's particular needs and opportunities.

Each intern will be required, in consultation with the intern professor, to develop a research design for the project to be undertaken during the internship. Each intern will also be required to write a paper showing how that research design has been carried out. Particular emphasis will be placed in the paper upon the relationship between the internship experience and academic course work. Close and continuing supervision of each intern's progress will be provided by the intern professor.

DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL POLITICAL SCIENCE (PSC) COURSES

DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL CRIMINAL JUSTICE (CJ) COURSES

College of Arts and Sciences