Sul Ross State University
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Criminal Justice Graduate HandbookWhat is a Graduate Student?It is important for graduate students to understand that a graduate program is very different from an undergraduate program. To earn your undergraduate degree you completed a specified number of course hours. A comprehensive exit exam ensures that the graduate programs offer no such guarantee! Graduate degrees are conferred by the criminal justice graduate facility, only to those students who demonstrate an advanced understanding and deep knowledge of criminal justice issues and the criminal justice process. Graduate students occupy a unique rung of the education ladder, you are no longer an undergraduate, and graduate faculty will expect more from you. As a graduate student in criminal justice, you, like the faculty, represent the department and the university. What you accomplish, or fail to accomplish reflects back on faculty, current students, and successful graduates. The graduate faculty therefore, will be keenly aware of your progress, and behavior. Our reputation rests on you! The graduate faculty wants you to succeed; and will do everything within their ability to help you; however, this is ultimately your degree, your accomplishment, and you will only get out of it -- what you put into it! The degree plan and courses are only one part of the process: you will be expected to read more, write more, and think more (professional conferences are highly recommended): you must go beyond the scope of basic course requirements. AdmissionFull AdmissionStudents must have all three of these requirements:
OR You may have either one of the next two criteria:
While holding an undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice is not required for admission, background familiarity with the field and additional basic skills are required. Students will be required to take 12 sch in Criminal Justice with a 3.0 grade point average or higher in all courses; or CJ 4309, Senior Seminar; or students may choose to clep the Graduate Leveling Exam. Students opting to Clep the exam must score a minimum of 60%). Students pursuing a second Master's degree must present the same background as undergraduates, and might be able to have a maximum of 12 sch of graduate work from the completed degree program credited toward this degree. This will occur only after full admission to this program has been granted by the Director of Admissions and the Graduate Coordinator of the Criminal Justice Department. Probational AdmissionIf you do not have the qualifications required for full admission, Sul Ross offers a probational admission. In order to qualify you must have at least one of the following requirements:
You may fill out the graduate school application online. CandidacyIn order to graduate or write a thesis, a student must achieve candidacy. In order to do this, a student must successfully complete the following:
You may download the application for candidacy online. The request must be submitted no later than the semester prior to graduation. The Dean will review the request for candidacy and will notify the student of the decision Comprehensive ExamsComprehensive Exam. All students must pass a comprehensive examination which may be scheduled though the Graduate Coordinator any time after the student has been admitted to candidacy and has completed 24 sch including the 4 required courses. The exam will be made available to qualified students on Blackboard and will be graded instantly upon completion. Students who have completed at least 18 hours of course work including the 4 required courses may also request a practice exam be made available in the Blackboard format through the Graduate Coordinator. Graduate Student Academic PerformanceGraduate students must maintain a minimum 3.0 (B) in all courses attempted for graduate credit. Students with assistantships may lose their funding following any grade below (B). Students receiving any grade of (F) or two grades below (B) will be removed from the program. Graduate students who take undergraduate courses must have prior written permission from both the instructor and the Graduate Coordinator, and that course instructor must be a member of the graduate faculty. Only six credit hours can be taken via undergraduate course. Graduate students will be expected to do additional work in undergraduate classes taken for graduate credit. CoursesCourses are offered on a rotating schedule. If a course is offered in the spring, it will not be offered again until the following spring semester. This will be an important thing to consider in scheduling required courses when nearing graduation. Graduate courses are offered on a weekend format only. This is done to allow individuals with full time positions to pursue a degree. ThesisGraduate students cannot start a Thesis until they reach candidacy. A thesis is a product of the student's research in close supervision of a thesis committee. It reflects the student and the school faculty. There is no time frame on a thesis. It is completed when it is accepted by the faculty. The process can be slow or fast, depending on student interest and the type of research being done. It is the students responsibility to select a chair and committee members for their thesis. He or She must meet with each prospective member and request their participation. Students choosing this option must also sign up for the thesis class and must defend their thesis. The thesis defense will serve as a grade. Advisory CommitteeThe thesis advisory committee consists of the chairperson and two other faculty members. The chairperson and at least one other member must be faculty of the Criminal Justice Department. If a student chooses an outside member as the third member of their committee, the outside member must be approved by the committee chair. A compatible advisory committee is important to any student since the committee will be directing the student's academic progress. The committee further assists the student by overseeing and approving the program of study; monitoring and providing academic guidance; and directing the thesis and oral defense. Therefore, it helps the student to be informed of the committee's research interests, personality, and work style. Before approaching any prospective committee members, the student needs to fill out the Thesis Committee Agreement Form detailing their proposed project. You may access the Thesis Committee Agreement Form online in Excel format. Thesis Prospectus DefenseEach student working on a thesis must present and defend their proposal or prospectus. The prospectus should state a need or reason for the research. It should also include the fundamentals of a good hypothesis, research design methodology, along with a comprehensive literature review of all past research done on the subject. If human subjects are to be used in the research, it must be approved by the University Research Council prior to this defense. If students do not demonstrate their mastery of the skills necessary to complete a thesis while defending their prospectus then faculty members may choose not to involve themselves further. Thesis DefenseAfter the research has been completed and all of the thesis requirements have been met, the student will formally present their thesis to their thesis committee and to any guests. Faculty should have a copy of the thesis at least 10 working days prior to the defense. Announcement of the defense must be posted in the major department, the appropriate school or division office and the office of the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs at least one week prior to the defense. After presenting their research, the student will answer all questions posed by the thesis committee followed by questions from the guests. The final copies of the thesis and abstract must be in the hands of the committee at least five weeks prior to the date of graduation. At least three weeks prior to the date of graduation, the final thesis, signed by the committee, must be in the Dean's Office for final approval. Students must also submit to the Dean's Office a receipt for the thesis fee paid in the Cashier's Office. Thesis fee pays for the binding of four copies of the thesis, two for the University Library, one for the major department, and one for the candidate. A portion of this fee is for publishing the abstract in the Master's Abstracts. Before starting a thesis, the student's committee must approve the prospectus (See above). In preparing the thesis for defense, the student will need the following four items from the Graduate Coordinator:
Proposal (Thesis)A proposal is a fully developed explanation of your proposed thesis or creative project. The more specific that proposal is in terms of statement of the problem, design, and method of procedure, the easier it will before your major professor and graduate committee to help you when you explain and defend it. This explanation and defense is designed to help you by suggesting some of the problems you are likely to encounter, some of the tests to which such a project should be subjected, and even the kinds of questions you might anticipate in your comprehensive examination. The properly-written proposal:
You should write your proposal in consultation with your major professor. You and your major professor should be able to determine: (a) whether the prospective thesis or creative project is feasible; (b) whether it is a proper project for the master's level; and (c) what changes, if any, need to be made. After your proposal is written in final form, you must present it to your graduate committee for discussion and approval. Writing a proposal:In writing your proposal, generally detail in the future tense what you plan to do, how you plan to do it, and what results you expect to obtain. This document outlines and explains what is expected in general in a graduate thesis proposal. Inasmuch as each thesis and descriptive report is unique, select only those parts discussed below that pertain to your thesis. If you wish to include or omit parts not discussed below, you may do so with the approval of your major professor and/or the Graduate Coordinator. Recommended Parts of a Proposal:
Non-Thesis OptionStudents who select the non-thesis option are required to take a total of 36 hours of coursework. Dual Degree OptionSul Ross State University now offers a dual Master's degree program. If you complete this program you will have a Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice and a Master of Arts degree in Political Science with an emphasis in Public Administration. With this program there are 18-shared credit hours for a total of 54 hours. If you were to do each program separately it would require 72 combined hours. Having knowledge of Criminal Justice and Public Administration will improve your ability to communicate with other professionals regardless of which field you choose. Two degrees will open more possibilities for you and put you ahead of the competition. Guest HousingGuest housing is available in campus housing on a space-available basis. A room with a roommate, another graduate weekend student, is $10 per night. A private room is $20 per night. These fees are payable in check or money order. You will be responsible for your own bathing supplies and bed linens. Call the Office of Residential Living at (432) 837-8190 on Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on the week prior to the weekend you will need the room. If you get a voice mailbox when you call, leave a message that clearly states your name, phone number and request. AssistantshipsAssistantships are based solely on academic merit. Individuals who receive assistantships are required to work at least 20 hours a week for the department. Assignments to specific faculty members will be made by the Graduate Coordinator at the start of each semester. Suggestions for Successful Program Completion10 Commandments for Success
Degree PlansClick on the link to view sample degree plans for both a Criminal Justice Master's degree and the dual degree program with a MS in Criminal Justice and Political Science/Public Administration:
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