Why Augustana University brought back its criminal justice major after 35 years

Augustana University has had five students declare their major as criminal justice this spring, the first full semester the major's been available after a 35-year hiatus.

The major was officially approved by the Higher Learning Commission in October, the university's communications director Jill Wilson said. The program is part of the university’s list of interdisciplinary academic programs being developed in its strategic plan, “Viking Bold: The Journey to 2030,” which is responsive to new and emerging student interest, and community needs.

Augustna’s first criminal justice program was a partnership with the University of Sioux Falls starting in 1969, with funds from the Law Enforcement Administration Program (LEAP) and Law Enforcement Education Program (LEEP), according to a university press release. The program later dissolved, and Augustana transitioned to a minor in sociology — criminology and deviance, which is still available.

Adam Heinitz, associate vice president of enrollment management, said the major will keep Augustana on the college search list for prospective students interested in criminal justice. He added there are well-documented shortages of law enforcement professionals across the U.S. including in the region.

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Seven criminal justice courses and extra courses in sociology, criminal law and statistics are part of the renewed major, which can pair well with majors in government & international affairs, sociology, anthropology, and the pre-law track, the university stated in a press release.

William Swart, professor of sociology and coordinator of the criminal justice program, stated in the release that the program builds in core courses with a “critical edge,” like criminological theory, policing and society, criminal justice procedures and systems, and some creative electives.

Swart also said the major takes a deeper dive into the criminal justice system than a normal criminal justice major would, asking questions about what’s right or needs improvement in criminal justice, what initiatives are working well and “where are the pitfalls and trapdoors of past practices that we could bring new ideas to,” he stated in the press release.

Faculty will work with students to tailor the major to their interests and future plans. In the past, students have interned at the Minnehaha County Regional Juvenile Detention Center, Second Circuit Probation Services and Sequel Transition Academy.

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“If a student wants to go into probation, I'm going to say, ‘I think you need an internship in a probation office to get that experience coupled with your criminal justice coursework,’” Swart said in the release. “If a student's interested in going on to grad school or wants to study criminological theory or teach a criminal justice program, that may mean internships are not the right thing — maybe it's doing an independent research project.”

Amelia Jibben was one of the first students at the university to add criminal justice as a major. She’s also majoring in anthropology, and said her interest was piqued by watching a documentary about prisons in her Sociology 110 class, according to the release by the college.

“That class changed my perspective on the criminal justice system and made me so much more interested in its potential,” Jibben said in the release. “My interests in the criminal justice system lie within federal policies and organizations, the prison systems and tribal police, however, all my classes bring in something new and compelling.”

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Why Augustana University brought back its criminal justice major after 35 years