Criminal Justice and Legal Assistant Studies

Criminal Justice

Professor Helen Eigenberg, Head

Mission Statement:

The Department is committed to excellence in teaching, research, and service. Our undergraduate program prepares students for professional and personal success in the context of a strong liberal arts education. The program promotes an understanding of the legal and justice systems for both majors and non-majors. We are committed to coursework that is grounded in theory, research, and community engagement to help students prepare for careers in criminal justice and social services. Emphasis is placed on intellectual, experiential, critical thinking and problem solving abilities. We are committed to preparing students to become ethically informed, culturally sensitive, engaged scholars and practitioners. This goal is achieved by an inclusive curriculum that includes common core areas of study, while allowing for flexibility in electives which allows students to tailor their degree in ways that are most reflective of their career and academic goals.

Learning Objectives:

Graduates of the Criminal Justice program will:

Identify and apply the major theoretical perspectives in criminology and criminal justice and apply the social and policy implications of these approaches.
Demonstrate an understanding of the components and functions of the criminal justice system (police, courts, and corrections).
Apply knowledge of the operation of the criminal justice system to practical problems in the field and understand the role of ethical decision making in the process.
Demonstrate the ability to identify, analyze, and interpret data on and related to crime.
Illustrate how gender, race, ethnicity, age, social class, and sexual orientation function at both the macro and micro level in the criminal justice system.
Students will experience a curriculum that requires them to think about issues of race, class, gender, sexual orientation and ethnicity.

Transfer Students

The program also welcomes students who hold a two-year degree or who have had some criminal justice college courses. Transfer students in the program must complete the University General Education requirements or transfer the equivalent and meet all other university graduation requirements in addition to major requirements. Students who cannot physically attend UTC (due to location or other circumstances) may be eligible for our online degree completion program. Students interested in the online program should consult the departmental web pages at: http://www.utc.edu/Academic/CriminalJustice/

Legal Assistant Studies

Associate Professor Karen McGuffee, Coordinator

Mission Statement:

The Legal Assistant Studies Program is committed to providing students with a well-rounded legal education focused on the knowledge of substantive and procedural law and the acquisition of the practical skills necessary for a career in the legal profession. Students will become ethically informed, culturally sensitive, engaged scholars and practitioners.

Learning Objectives:

Students will complete a core curriculum emphasizing substantive and procedural law.
Graduates of the program will report they have the practical skills necessary to prepare them for a career in this field.
Graduates will report they have the ability to write clearly and effectively; have good computer and oral communication skills; and have experience integrating ideas from various sources and courses.
Students will demonstrate they have the necessary legal research and writing skills to be employed in the field.
Graduates will report they have an increased understanding of people from other racial and ethnic backgrounds.
Students will experience a curriculum that requires them to think about ethics as it relates to legal assistant studies.

Continuation and Graduation Standards:

In view of the nature of legal assistance and the fact that individual rights may be affected by individuals providing legal assistance, the following standards will be applied by the Legal Assistant Studies faculty:

To progress in Legal Assistant Studies, students are required to:
1. maintain a 2.5 (4.0 = A) grade point average in all legal assistant studies courses, and;
2. maintain an active liability insurance policy for the legal assistant practicum
If in the judgment of the faculty there is a reason to question the academic, emotional, ethical, or professional fitness of a student, the faculty have the right to make recommendations regarding continuation in the program.
Students who fail legal assistant studies courses may not be allowed to progress in the program. Students may only repeat a Legal Assistant Studies course(s) one time.

Transfer Students

The program also welcomes students who hold a two-year degree or who have had some legal and/or college courses. Students in the program must complete the University General Education requirements or transfer the equivalent and 51 hours of Legal Assistant Studies course work and electives to total a minimum of 120 hours. Transfer students majoring in Legal Assistant Studies must take a minimum of 15 hours from approved Legal Assistant Studies courses at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.