Chair's Welcome

Welcome to the Department of Criminal Justice. Our program provides students with the most up-to-date curriculum taught by experienced professors, opportunities for exciting, hands-on learning experiences, and rewarding careers in the criminal justice field. In addition to Criminal Justice, students have the opportunity to minor in Forensic Studies, as well as Homeland Security. Criminal Justice students interested in law can choose to major in the highly acclaimed duel program in Paralegal Studies.

Exceptional Faculty

Criminal Justice students at KU are taught by experienced faculty. Many have held positions in the field, and all faculty are active researchers and scholars. Our faculty are also involved with major professional organizations in criminal justice, including the American Society of Criminology (ASC), and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS). Students interested in graduate work or enhancing their résumé are encouraged to conduct research under the guidance of a faculty member, and present their papers at one of the major conferences.

Experiential Learning

The Department of Criminal Justice maintains close ties with many prestigious agencies in the field. Our students routinely complete internships at the federal, state, and local level, as well as within the private sector. Internship opportunities are diverse and available within the Kutztown region, as well as in other states. Recently, many of our students received internships in juvenile and adult probation, the coroner’s office, county detectives, prosecutors, state police, FBI, and U.S. Marshals.

The department offers annual on-campus speaker forums by experts on critical and timely topics such as drug policy, school violence, and police use-of-force. We encourage participation in our highly active student-led Criminal Justice Association. The student leaders invite criminal justice practitioners to campus, and organize trips to various agencies in the area. Students who excel academically are invited to join the national Criminal Justice Honors Society, Alpha Phi Sigma, which recognizes scholarly achievement in the field of criminal justice.

The department also holds a biennial Career Development Day, which provides valuable networking opportunities to our students who are either looking for more information about a specific career path, or who are nearing graduation and are actively applying for positions.

Rewarding Careers

Our faculty plays a critical role in helping our students achieve their career goals. As Chair, I often hear from graduates of our program who are now well underway in their criminal justice careers. Many of our them are currently working throughout the United States as state troopers, federal agents, detectives, crime analysts, probation officers, correctional officers, loss prevention managers, attorneys, deputy sheriffs, among many other positions. Our former students consistently remark how much they have clearly benefited from the education they received at KU, and how the program has helped them achieve their goals.