Penn State Live - Online criminal justice program receives pioneering certification

Online criminal justice program receives pioneering certification

Thursday, March 26, 2009

University Park, Pa. —The Penn State World Campus online criminal justice program, with its academic home in the Criminal Justice Program at Penn State Harrisburg, became the first online program in the country to be awarded certification through the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS).

Barbara Sims, professor of criminal justice and criminal justice chair at Penn State Harrisburg, said the certification reinforces the reputation that the online program is earning for quality criminal justice instruction.

"The ACJS Executive Board, along with the Academic Review Committee, worked diligently to ensure that criminal justice programs are held to as high a standard as are programs in other disciplines," said Sims. "Achieving the certification means that faculty, students and staff can be assured that they are teaching, learning and working within an environment that is committed to high quality programming."

The World Campus criminal justice degree program is a 120-credit program designed to provide students with the theoretical and practical knowledge of crime control, as well as the skills necessary to succeed in criminal justice and related careers.The format of the online degree offers students the convenience and flexibility of studying around personal and professional schedules.

The ACJS, an international association established in 1963 to foster professional and scholarly activities in the field of criminal justice, sets certification that calls for standards including quality faculty, sufficient resources for faculty and students, an appropriate curriculum, the use of evidence-based outcomes for assessing student learning and the ethical treatment of faculty and students.

For more details, visit http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/ACJS online.