DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Chair: Dr. Robert V. Barrow (460-7161)
Graduate Coordinator: Keith Nicholls
Professors: Allen, Barrow, Fishman, Kressley
Associate Professor: Husain, Morris, Nicholls, Fisher
Assistant Professors: Bowers, O'Shea, Royster
Emeritus Professor: Kaempfer

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
A minimum of 48 quarter hours in Political Science, including PSC 130; 140 or 150; 250; 270; 334 (or CJ 334); one course selected from PSC 311, 312, 313; and at least one 400-level course.

REQUIREMENTS FOR A MINOR IN POLITICAL SCIENCE
A minimum of 32 quarter hours in Political Science, including PSC 130; 140 or 150; 270; and eight hours in courses numbered 300 or above.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE
The Criminal Justice program is designed to meet two broad objectives: (1) to give students, through core courses, an overview of the criminal justice system, and the ability to analyze critically problems associated with that system; and (2) to give students (through their selection of a track in either correctional administration, criminal justice administration, juvenile justice administration, or law enforcement administration), a concentration of elective, specialized courses that will allow them to assume professional-managerial careers in their chosen area at the federal, state, local, or private level. The program also prepares students to pursue further academic training in graduate or law school.

REQUIREMENTS FOR A MAJOR IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Students majoring in Criminal Justice must complete a set of core courses and choose one of the following tracks for a total of 52 hours. Criminal justice majors must take PSC 130 and CJ 205 before choosing either the Correctional Administration, Criminal Justice Administration, Juvenile Justice Administration, or Law Enforcement Administration track. Philosophy 131, Psychology 371, and Sociology 242, 340, and 440 are recommended electives for Criminal Justice majors.

CORE COURSES CREDIT HOURS

MAJORS TRACKS (Choose One)
Correctional Administration
375 Correctional Counseling
430 Rights of the Confined
450 Criminal Justice and Community Relations
CJ Electives (12 hours)

Criminal Justice Administration
PSC 330 Judicial Process
PSC 331 Constitutional Law I
CJ Electives (16 hours)

Juvenile Justice Administration
CJ 431 Rights of Youth
SY 340 Juvenile Delinquency
PSY 353 Psychology of Adolescence
CJ 496 Professional Studies: Internship
CJ 435 Juvenile Justice Policy
CJ Elective (4 hours)

Law Enforcement Administration
410 Criminal Procedure I
411 Criminal Procedure II
415 Criminal Investigation
450 Criminal Justice and Community Relations
496 Professional Studies: Internship
CJ Elective (4 hours)

REQUIREMENTS FOR A MINOR IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE
A minimum of 32 quarter hours in Criminal Justice, including CJ 205, 241, 301, 305 and 315.

GRADUATE STUDIES
The Master of Public Administration degree (MPA) curriculum in the Department of Political Science 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 below.

REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION
Students are admitted each quarter. 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 forty-eight quarter hours, as follows:

1. The following courses are prerequisites for the Core Curriculum: PSC 130, Introduction to U.S. Government, or its equivalent; PSC 334, Public Administration, or its equivalent.
2. Thirty-two hours in the following eight core courses: (NOTE: THE CORE CURRICULUM CYCLE SHOULD IDEALLY COMMENCE IN THE FALL QUARTER) PSC 500, Public Administration Organization and Behavior:
   Theory and Practice.
   PSC 510, Intergovernmental Relations
   PSC 520, Quantitative Methods I
   PSC 530, Quantitative Methods II
   PSC 540, Government Personnel Management
   PSC 550, Managing the Public Budget
   PSC 570, Administrative Law and Government
   PSC 580, Public Policy Analysis and Evaluation
3. Sixteen hours of electives approved by the Coordinator of the MPA Program in the Department of Political Science. These sixteen hours are to be selected from among the following: PSC 596, Internship (maximum of twelve hours); PSC 594, Directed Research (one to eight hours); PSC 599, Thesis (eight hours); and/or other graduate or 400-level courses offered by the University of South Alabama.

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 under 1) above. 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 Quarters. 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 twelve quarter 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 four to twelve hours per quarter), not to exceed a total of twelve 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 BEGIN ON PAGE 304. DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL CRIMINAL JUSTICE (CJ) COURSES BEGIN ON PAGE 217.

College of Arts and Sciences