SUMMARY NOTES FROM 9-4-98 MEETING HELD AT THECB, ROOM 5.209

 Present were the following members from the original (1995-96) Criminal Justice Transfer Curriculum Review Committee:

Bill Stone, SWTSU (Committee Chair)
D.A. Miller, Alvin CC
Bob Walsh UH/D
Dave MacKenna, UT Arlington
Patrick Mueller, SFASU (for Ron Robinson)
Pat Schuster, ECCC of DCCCD
George Lawless, So Plains College (for Larry Nichols or Randy Fesperman)
Buryl (Bud) Canuteson, EPCC
Janie Tune, TCLEOSE
Kay Hale, THECB
Also in attendance were guests Dale Musso, SAC, and Todd Eubanks, Tyler JC.

 The meeting was called by the Coordinating Board staff in order for the committee to give their final recommendations on a Criminal Justice Field of Study list of courses to presented to the Coordinating Board at their October 22-23, 1998 meeting. Commissioner Brown had asked that 2-3 Transfer Fields of Study be presented to the CB in October, and since this group had already done a lot of work in this area, it was decided to reconvene the committee.  In 1996, this committee made recommendations for a revised transfer curriculum; however, since Senate Bill 148 was introduced and passed, the recommendations were put on hold until the Core Curriculum Advisory Committee had completed their work and made their recommendations for Fields of Study.  (See attached "Background Information")

 Charles Cook, Director of Instructional Programs and Julie Leidig, Asst. Director in the CTC division of the CB, also attended the meeting to answer questions and provide clarification regarding the requests of the Commissioner and the Core Curriculum Advisory Committee.  They provided clarification regarding the different intent of the Workforce Education Course Manual (WECM) courses and the Field of Study list of courses.  For example, the WECM courses will have different rubrics/prefixes than the Field of Study Transfer courses, which all begin with CRIJ.  WECM courses are not intended as transfer courses, as the Field of Study courses are; however, they may be transferable if the affected college has an articulation agreement with a 4yr college.

  The committee was given a charge by Charles Cook which included six components. After a thorough discussion the committee made its recommendations. (See attached "Criminal Justice Field of Study") The only change from the original recommendation was a difference in which courses are in the required list and which ones are in the elective list.  This change was due to recent changes in the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) recommended standards.

   These recommended courses are intended to be taken to the October 22-23 CB meeting and presented as a first reading.  The comment period (between the Oct and January, 1999 CB meeting) will allow all colleges the opportunity to voice their opinion regarding approval, disapproval, or revisions of the suggested list of courses.  In addition,  Bill Stone, SWTSU, will post the recommendations made by this committee to the website of the TACJE (Texas Association of Criminal Justice Educators) so that members can see and comment  on the proposed changes.  Their annual meeting, to be held in conjunction with SWACJ (Southwestern Association of Criminal Justice) will be held Oct. 1-3. At that meeting the recommendations will be discussed and voted on by the full state association.

Summary notes provided by Kay Hale, Coordinating Board.

See attached list of courses, as recommended by the C J Field of Study Committee.

(The following is based on the charges/questions provided by Charles Cook.)

Assumptions:  Each field of study should allow a student to graduate from a community or technical college with an Associate Degree (with 60-66 semester credit hours) and transfer the entire program into a baccalaureate program at a receiving university.
 

1. Core Curriculum - how the field of study accommodate the state-approved core curriculum?  Will the field of study accommodate the entire core or only a portion of the core?  Please explain.  What specific core areas will be included in the lower division field of study?

A. Assuming a 42 hour core: The 21 hour Criminal Justice Field of Study recommendation would accommodate the entire core.  The 21 hour C J Core would add to the 42 hour Core Curriculum, for a total of 63 SCH for the Associate Degree, transferable to a four-year institution.

 B. Assuming a 48 hour core: Since the four-year institutions are not required to accept more than 66 hours in transfer, the committee recommends that one of the C J courses (C J 1301) be accepted as part of the 15 hour Social and Behavioral Science Core requirement OR as 3 SCH of the 6 hour Component Area requirements.
 

2. Major courses - what specific courses or course choices will be allowed students in the field of study curriculum?  These should be courses taught at the freshman or sophomore level.  All courses should be identified in the Texas Common Course Numbering System.

    Required Courses: (12 hours)
                    C J 1301 Introduction to C J
                    C J 1306 Court Systems and Practices
                    C J 2313 Correctional Systems and Practices
                    C J 2328 Police Systems and Practices
  Elective Courses: (Any 3 courses for a total of 9 hours)
                    C J 1307 Crime in America
                    C J 1310 Fundamentals of Criminal Law
                    C J 1313 Juvenile Justice System
                    C J 2323 Legal Aspects of Law  Enforcement
                    C J 2301 Community Resources in Correction
                    C J 2314 Criminal Investigation

At the community college level, students would be advised to choose courses based on their special interest or major.  Twelve of the credit hours are in a specified criminal justice core (see above) and the remaining 9 hours are dependent on whether the interest is in Corrections or Law Enforcement.

All of the courses are taught at the freshman or sophomore level at the community colleges and should be identified in the TCCNS and placed in the Academic Course Guide Manual (ACGM).
 

3. Other courses - what electives are appropriate or needed to comprise the remainder of the field of study and an Associate Degree?

See 1 and 2 above.
 

4. Academic Course Guide Manual (ACGM) - are all of the courses recommended in the field of study referenced in the ACGM?

Not all of the recommended courses are in the current ACGM; however, the committee recommends that all ten (10) courses be placed for reference in the ACGM.

The field of study committee should recommend adequate course descriptions which fully address the course content and expected competencies for students to achieve in terms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, abilities, etc.
 See attached list of course descriptions.
 

5. Evaluation - what means do you recommend for the continual evaluation and updating of the field of study to best serve student interests?

The committee recommended that the current CB appointed committee, made up of both two and four-year members, review the C J transfer field of study every four years.  In addition, the Texas Association of Criminal Justice Educators (TACJE - made up of both two and four-year C J educators) would also be utilized as an evaluation source.
 

6. Bench marking - All field of study curricula should be benchmarked against identified standards of professional organizations, national committees or associations, and recognized exemplary programs in the field.  A rational of why certain courses have been recommended for inclusion in the field of study should be included.

The Academy of Criminal Justice Science (ACJS) is the national association for this group.  All of the required courses are included in their recommended core.  The ACJS is the largest national association in criminal justice education and is the parent of the Southwest Association of Criminal Justice (SWACJ), covering a six-state region.  SWACJ is the parents association of the Texas Association of Criminal Justice Educators (TACJE).

The ten courses were selected based on the recommendations by the 1995-96 Criminal Justice Transfer Curriculum Advisory Committee who met for one year, considered national standards for criminal justice education, compiled results from a state-wide survey, and conducted an open hearing.

* The 1995-96 Criminal Justice Transfer Curriculum Advisory Committee's final recommendation included the following 21 hours: (See Background Information and Final Recommendation memo from D.A. Miller)
 Required Courses (12 Hours):
    C J 1301 Introduction to Criminal Justice
    C J 1310 Fundamentals of Criminal Law
    C J 1306 Court Systems and Practices
    C J 1313 Juvenile Justice System

 Elective Courses (Any 3 for a total of 9 hours):
    C J 1307 Crime in America
    C J 2328  Police Systems and Practices
    C J 2313 Correctional Systems and Practices
    C J 2323 Legal Aspects of Law Enforcement
    C J 2301 Community Resources in Correction
    C J 2314 Criminal Investigation

Note that the current transfer curriculum, adopted in 1984, and included in the January 1998 edition of "Transfer of Credit Policies and Curricula of THECB", provided a 21 semester hour transfer program with options in either Corrections or Law Enforcement and provided a foundation for other special areas or majors.
Twelve of the semester credit hours were in a specified Criminal Justice Core:
 C J 1307 Crime in America
 C J 1301 Introduction to Criminal Justice
 C J 1310 Fundamentals of Criminal Law
 C J 1306 Courts and Criminal Procedure
The remaining 9 hours were to be taken from either of two tracks:  Corrections or Law Enforcement.  Students pursuing the Law Enforcement track would complete C J 2328, C J 2314, and C J 2323.
Those pursuing the Corrections track would complete C J 2313, C J 2301, plus one course from the Law Enforcement track.
 It was possible for a student to take two courses from one track and two from another as long as the total number of credit hours earned did not exceed 21.  It was understood that four-year colleges could, at their option, accept a greater number of credit hours in Criminal Justice.

The lower division portion of the Criminal Justice academic major would consist of 21 Semester Credit Hours (SCH) of academic course work as follows:
 

12 SCH of required course work, including:

                    CRIJ 1306* Court Systems and Practices

                    CRIJ 2313  Correctional Systems and  Practices

                    CRIJ 2328  Police Systems and Practices

* This course is identical in content to the existing common course CRIJ 1306 but has a name change recommended by the work group.
 

An additional 9 SCH of elective course work consisting of three courses selected from the following list:

                    CRIJ 1310  Fundamentals of Criminal Law

                    CRIJ 1313  Juvenile Justice System

                    CRIJ 2323  Legal Aspects of Law  Enforcement

                    CRIJ 2301   Community Resources in Correction

                    CRIJ 2314   Criminal Investigation

(There have been no changes in the course descriptions from the previous recomendation)

All courses in this field of study curriculum will be included in the Texas Common Course Numbering System matrix.