DESCRIPTION OF COURSE:

CJA499 involves an extensive and demanding course of self-directed study by a student, performed under the direct supervision of a faculty member.

The course is designed to enable students to become "expert" in a specific area of criminal justice which has a special appeal or holds a special interest for them, personally or professionally. Further, it is meant to encourage students to explore, through a self-directed course of study, a specific topic or issue which is of particular interest to them, but which is beyond the scope of regular departmental class offerings. It also aims to help the student learn the importance of systematic investigation of a topic, independently pursued through a disciplined regime of scholarly inquiry and feedback.

In other words, the course provides an opportunity for students to pursue an in-depth and detailed investigation into a significant question or issue which was covered only briefly in class. Accordingly, it is meant to supplement, not to replace, regular department offerings. Additionally, the course is generally restricted to students who have already completed a significant amount of upper-division course work within the major. These requirements are meant to assure that CJA499 students are adequately prepared for the rigors of the special study, capable of identifying a significant researchable issue, and able to plan and complete successfully a course of independent research into that question.

In the alternative, a student may propose a different sort of project, involving the creation of a media presentation, a special work exercise, or the like, if that is more appropriate to the project than a written report. The project steps of such an alternative approach--including deadlines and specified project products--must be spelled out clearly and be approved by the supervisor.

PREREQUISITES OF THE COURSE:

1. 12 units of upper-division criminal justice courses, and
2. consent of instructor.

REQUIREMENTS OF COURSE:

To fulfull the requirements of the course, the student must:

• Identify a specific topic to be investigated (within the field of criminal justice);
• Outline a detailed investigative methodology for researching that topic;
• Submit a detailed schedule of activities to be performed, including deadlines for completion of each activity;
• Prepare an annotated bibliography of all sources used;
• Submit an outline, preliminary draft, and final version of a paper on the topic selected.

  The paper must meet the following criteria:

  • It must use an accepted system of citation and reference;
  • It must meet “publication” standards (i.e., it should be of a quality sufficient for publication in a professional journal in Criminal Justice);
  • It should be approximately 25 pages in length, excluding bibliography.
    
    

• It is also possible that the student may design a specific course of study or activity in conjunction with the supervisor. The deadlines for the completion of work under this arrangement will be by mutual agreement.

WORK REQUIREMENTS OF COURSE:

In the process of completing the requirements of the course, the student is expected to spend a minimum of six hours per week throughout the semester (for 3 units of credit). The following “deliverables” are due at 10 AM on Tuesday for each of the weeks indicated. The student is responsible for obtaining feedback from the supervisor on the following Tuesday, after the submission was due.

This course is evaluated on a CR/NC basis. In order for a student to receive a “CR” grade for the course, all course requirements must be completed satisfactorily and on time. Beyond this, this student’s work will be evaluated on the basis of the following:

• The resources used must be appropriate to the topic under investigation and sufficient in variety and number two unable a comprehensive and balanced treatment of the topic.
• The analysis of the topic must be properly organized, clearly presented, thorough, thoughtful, well documented, and balanced.
• The writing must be competent--both grammatically and stylistically.
• All deadlines must be met. In this regard, students are strongly encouraged to proceed expeditiously to the next assignment after meeting each deadline.