Criminal Justice

The criminal justice program produces engaged, committed and self-aware graduates who are skilled in using reflective judgment to critically evaluate and resolve theoretical, ethical and practical problems in the field. These alumni are prepared for entry or advancement in their chosen careers or for further graduate or professional study

The criminal justice program supports the mission of the university by providing students an opportunity to become career-ready professionals in the field of criminal justice through an active and experiential education and civic engagement. Students will explore topics in the areas of justice studies, law enforcement, the court system and corrections.

Specific areas to the field, including juvenile delinquency, criminology, terrorism and homeland security, ethical decision-making and research methods for justice studies, are addressed through coursework. This major includes coursework from allied fields, such as political science, psychology, sociology and business, to provide students with a broad range of concepts and information.

My time in the criminal justice program at Tusculum was always intriguing and allowed individuals to push the boxes on what they thought criminal justice encompassed. This was especially the case in the discussions about individual rights, movements that were happening as we were learning and the passion that instructors had to improve the system and educate others about it. The criminal justice program laid a solid foundation of my understanding of law, law enforcement and any consequences that followed broken laws.

This foundation helped tremendously in my training for federal law enforcement. In both phases of my training, the basic understanding of the law is something that cannot be emphasized enough. Being able to have the foundation of the knowledge allowed me to assist others in understanding and learning. I have been able to utilize my education in academics, firearms, self-defense, defense of others, civil disorder and many more areas of training.

All of our criminal justice students engage in community research through a service learning project. From project initiation to execution, students explore the impact of social problems on the local community and participate in projects that focus on community engagement and improvement

Throughout the program, students in the major collaborate with their peers on criminal justice-specific projects to enhance their teamwork skills. Students not only develop the academic knowledge necessary to succeed in the field of criminal justice but leave able to clearly communicate their skills and abilities to potential employers and graduate/professional schools through effective résumés and practiced interview skills.

Students are provided numerous opportunities to engage, inside and outside of the classroom, with current and retired professionals in the criminal justice field at the local, state and federal level through guest lectures, simulation exercises in class and internships. Our students have interned with local police and sheriff’s departments, jails, law offices, crime scene investigators and community corrections agencies.