How do majors gain practical experience?
What types of internship opportunities are available?
Do students and faculty work together on research projects?
Do students have the opportunity to attend conferences and present their research?

How do majors gain practical experience?
Every major is required to complete at least one internship or practicum. Students pursuing an associate degree or a certificate are required to complete a 90-hour practicum. A student pursuing a bachelor's degree will be required to complete the 90-hour practicum and an upper level practicum or internship consisting of either 180 or 270 hours with a chosen agency.

Students in the department gain a lot of experience through their internships. They work in a position within the criminal justice or legal field, where they will both observe and participate in the inner workings of various agencies.

Also, as part of the coursework, all students complete an independent research project under the direction of a faculty member, and students also have the opportunity to present that research at national and regional conferences. Criminal justice students enter several team and individual competitions at conferences.

Our department prides itself on the opportunity for practical experiences offered to our students during their academic career. 

What types of internship opportunities are available?
Every student in the department completes an internship, and there are a wide variety of agencies that offer internships, ranging from city and county agencies to organizations at the state and federal levels.

Some of these agencies include: St. Joseph Police Department, Buchanan County Juvenile Office, Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office, City of St. Joseph Prosecutor’s Office, law firms throughout the region; Kansas City International Airport Police, Worlds of Fun, Missouri State Highway Patrol, Legal Aid of Western Missouri, Buchanan County Drug Strike Force, Missouri Department of Corrections, Probation and Parole.

This experience has proven invaluable to students, and many have been offered permanent, full-time positions at their internship agencies after they graduate.

Do students and faculty work together on research projects?
Faculty members work closely with students on their independent research projects through LAW 380-Research Methods and LAW 420-Senior Research, and in the Summer Research Institute, where college students work with a professor and a high school student.

Recent research projects in the department have included “A Comparative Analysis of Elderly Abuse Between Different Demographical Areas of Missouri,” “The PATRIOT Act in Regards to Privacy as Seen by the Missouri Western State College Community,” and “Racial Profiling: Is There Really a Relationship Between Race and Crime?”

Faculty members have received four research grants in the past two years, and students have assisted faculty on those projects.

Do students have the opportunity to attend conferences and present their research?
Yes. Students have presented their research on campus and at regional and national conferences. In fact, one student won first place in the undergraduate division of the student research poster presentation competition at the American Corrections Association 2005 Annual Conference in Phoenix.

Criminal Justice majors often enter regional and national conferences as teams and individuals. Members of Delta Phi Epsilon, MWSU student chapter of the American Criminal Justice Association -- Lambda Alpha Epsilon, compete every year at regional and national competitions. They often win awards at these events, which include crime scene investigation, written competitions in administration, corrections, criminal law, juvenile delinquency, and Lambda Alpha Epsilon knowledge as well as other areas.