Doctor of Criminal Justice
in Public Administration

An examination of current management issues within the criminal justice field. You’ll learn the concepts and skills needed to address issues and problems confronting the criminal justice system. Societal and cultural changes affecting criminal justice agencies will be examined as you gain in-depth exposure to the application of theoretical and administrative principles.

In this course, you’ll analyze the internal structure, roles, and functions in criminal justice agencies. You’ll examine the theoretical and research issues related to the nature and causes of crime. You’ll also learn to formulate policies for coordination and control procedures, and you’ll apply administrative and managerial concepts to demonstrate these competencies. Finally, you’ll integrate theory and practice to evaluate the best methods for improving the overall performance of the agency.

This course provides a comprehensive review of ethics and moral behavior in criminal justice. Theoretical foundations for ethics will be introduced and applied to criminal justice practice. You’ll evaluate the ethical challenges faced by criminal justice professionals and the policies and practices in place to prevent unethical behavior. You’ll also explore the ethical obligations of crime scene investigation, evidence handling, and court testimony.

This course examines budget formulation, implementation, and execution within the context of public organizations and nonprofit or non-governmental entities. The goal is to learn the craft of public budgeting, assess the tools used in the budgeting process, and depict the budget process for various levels of government. You’ll also evaluate capital public budgeting and asset management within the context of the public sector.

People who choose to work for the public good are often motivated by different incentives than employees in private organizations. This course concentrates on personnel challenges specific to the public sector, such as the assessment of external environmental changes related to politics and policy. In addition, you’ll learn to evaluate the practices, trends, and legal and policy framework associated with public personnel management. Finally, you’ll learn the various management strategies that enhance human capital in the public sector.

Strategic planning is necessary for establishing both the current and future goals of a criminal justice organization. This course allows you to examine the tools and skills needed in the strategic planning process while also strengthening your ability to develop, implement, and assess those plans to achieve criminal justice goals. Several criminal justice agencies will be examined to provide you with a wide perspective before you begin developing your own strategic plan.

This course engages you in the process of scholarly literature reviews and academic writing. You’ll focus on (a) conducting effective literature searches, specifically in preparation for the dissertation, (b) developing a plan for writing critical, comprehensive, research literature reviews, and (c) critically reviewing and writing about theory/conceptual frameworks as a foundation for your own future research. The goal is for you to conduct an exhaustive search of peer-reviewed research literature on your chosen topic and identify potential areas of inquiry for your dissertation.

This course focuses on the statistical mindset and skills needed to perform and interpret univariate inferential statistics. The course builds your statistical confidence and abilities in assessing and performing statistics. You’ll explore univariate parametric and non-parametric statistical tests, interpretation of statistical output, and how to select statistical tests based on quantitative research questions.

This course teaches you how to design quantitative studies, analyze the data collected, and interpret the results of data analyses. The goal is to explore designs and statistical techniques to use with your envisioned dissertation research.

An examination of qualitative methods for studying human behavior, including grounded theory, narrative analysis, ethnography, mixed methods, and case studies. The objective is to explore designs and methodologies to use with your envisioned research.

The Pre-Candidacy Prospectus is intended to ensure you’ve mastered your discipline prior to candidacy status, and that you’ve demonstrated the ability to design empirical research before moving on to your dissertation coursework. You’ll demonstrate your ability to synthesize empirical, peer-reviewed research to support all course assignments. The Pre-Candidacy Prospectus is completed only after all foundation, specialization, and research courses have been completed.

Students in this course will be required to complete chapter 1 of their dissertation proposal, including the following: a review of literature with substantiating evidence of the problem, the research purpose and questions, the intended methodological design and approach, and the significance of the study. A completed, committee-approved chapter 1 is required to pass the course. If you don’t receive approval to minimum standards, you’ll be able to take up to three supplementary 8-week courses to finalize and gain approval of chapter 1.

In this course, you’ll work on completing chapters 1-3 of your dissertation proposal and receiving committee approval for the dissertation proposal (DP). Chapter 2 consists of the literature review, while chapter 3 covers the research methodology and design, including population, sample, measurement instruments, data collection and analysis, limitations, and ethical considerations. Completed, committee-approved chapters 2 and 3 are required to pass the course, as is a final approved dissertation proposal. If you don’t receive approval to minimum standards, you’ll be able to take up to three supplementary 8-week courses to finalize and gain approval of these requirements.

In this course, you’ll prepare, submit, and obtain approval of your Institutional Review Board (IRB) application. You’ll also collect data and submit a final study closure form to the IRB. If you’re still collecting data at the end of the 12-week course, you’ll be able to take up to three supplementary 8-week courses to complete data collection and file your IRB study closure form.

In this dissertation course, you’ll work on completing chapters 4, 5, and your final dissertation manuscript. Specifically, you’ll complete your data analysis, prepare your study results, and present your findings with an oral defense and a completed manuscript. A completed, committee-approved dissertation manuscript and successful oral defense are required to complete the course and graduate. If you don’t receive approval for either or both, you can take up to three supplementary 8-week courses to finalize and gain approval.

In this course, you will explain issues and challenges in managing resources in public organizations while analyzing concepts and theories that are relevant to the practice of public and nonprofit organizations. You’ll also explore and assess the values that guide the practice of public administration and the challenges of ethical conduct as a public administrator working in a dynamic environment.

The country’s framers deliberately structured a constitutional republic to constrain the potential abuse of power through federalism and checks and balances. The growth of federal agencies and administrative law stress these notions of limited government. In this course, you’ll develop practical knowledge about administrative agencies and the laws that govern their behavior. Through a variety of case studies, you’ll examine and critique administrative law and its effect on government accountability and abuse of power.

The management of public sector organizations presents unique challenges to public administrators due to the nature of work done for the public good. In this course, you’ll learn to navigate the unique attributes of public organizations and the people who work within them. You’ll critique the principles and techniques of management and organizational behavior, assess the challenges of supervising public employees, and learn the levels of planning in public organizations.

The practice of public administration operates as part of the administration-policy dichotomy. In this course, you’ll develop the skills needed to analyze models of public policy and assess how participants and stakeholders in the policy process impact decision-making. You’ll learn to evaluate how court decisions shape public policy, and you’ll examine how the media influences the decisions of public administrators.