Course Content and Outcomes Guides (CCOG)

CCOG for CJA 100 archive revision 202504

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Effective Term:
Fall 2025

Course Number:
CJA 100
Course Title:
Professions in Criminal Justice
Credit Hours:
3
Lecture Hours:
30
Lecture/Lab Hours:
0
Lab Hours:
0

Course Description

Provides overview of various public safety careers, including police, corrections, parole and probation, juvenile and adult casework, private security, loss prevention, and private investigator. Audit available.

Addendum to Course Description

Students attending this course are exposed to the academic requirements, lifestyle considerations, application processes, training and certification requirements and career opportunities within the public safety professions. During the course, students will prepare a personal career plan based their personal goals based on materials presented in the classroom, personal field experiences and the individual requirements of their chosen criminal justice discipline.
Guest speakers, who are experts in their discipline, will give the student "real world" insight, to assist the student with the preparation of their career plan. In addition, the student will participate in mock application, written examination and interview exercises.

Intended Outcomes for the course

Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:

  1. Articulate career options within the criminal justice field, with special attention to academic requisites, application processes, training requirements and lifestyle considerations.
  2. Discuss employment laws and safeguards specific to criminal justice occupations.

Course Activities and Design

  • Lectures
  • Attending outside classroom events
  • Guest speakers
  • Preparation of a portfolio
  • Practicing interview skills
  • Application preparation

Outcome Assessment Strategies

At the beginning of the course, the instructor will detail the methods used to assess student performance and progress, as well as the criteria for final grade. Methods of assessment will include the following: examinations, quizzes, homework assignments, research papers, class participation, oral presentations, and a personal career plan.

Course Content (Themes, Concepts, Issues and Skills)

This course will address topics that include, but are not limited to:
Criminal Justice Lifestyles, and Personal Career Plans
Police Careers, Requirements, and Considerations.
Adult Corrections Careers, Requirements, and Considerations.
Juvenile Corrections Careers, Requirements, and Considerations.
911/Communication Careers, Requirements, and Considerations.
Private Security/Prevention Careers, Requirements, and Considerations.
Criminal Justice Application and Examination Processes.
Criminal Justice Employee Safeguards and Laws