The C.J. advising staff are available to meet with students to discuss a wide range of academic matters as relating to criminal justice. Students are welcome to drop by their office hours, or if they would like to make an appointment to meet with one the advising staff at a specific time, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  All students are encouraged to read through the information below, organized into convenient categories based on advising topics, including:Bench

  • Senior Certification and Graduation Information
  • Transfer Students
  • Transfer Courses from Outside Institutions
  • Pre-Law Advising
  • Registration Information
  • General Advising
  • Internships
  • Independent Study and Honors Thesis Options

 

Senior Advising & Major Certifications

Seniors should be sure to seek advising from various sources. All rising seniors should check in before registering for their final two semesters with each of the following individuals:

  • A general academic advisor to ensure that you are on track with CORE’s and general S.A.S. requirements.
  • The academic advisor for your major(s) to ensure that you have or will have completed all major requirements.
  • The department academic advisor for your minor(s) to ensure that you have or will have completed all minor requirements.

 

New Policy for Criminal Justice Seniors:

  1. No senior is eligible to register for any Criminal Justice class without a Special Permission Number.

  2. Seniors are not to use the general SPN Application Portal; instead, seniors must meet with the advising staff (Sarah Laboy-Almodovar) in order to complete a one-on-one advising session.
    1. The advising staff will assess the student's major progress to determine any/all remaining courses needed to complete the Criminal Justice major.
    2. Students will be given SPN's for C.J. classes (only) at the advising session.
  3. Advising sessions for seniors will occur after the schedule goes live: students are to use the C.J. Senior Sakai site for eligible dates.  All advising sessions will occur prior to general registration.
    1. In order to schedule an appointment with Sarah, all seniors must email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  Please refer to the C.J. Seniors Sakai site for the specific dates of scheduling senior advising appointments.
    2. Sarah will be hosting evening hours on Tuesdays, (in addition to her regular office hours).
  4. In order to prepare for the advising session, seniors must preview the course offerings via the Rutgers online Schedule of Classes to determine which classes they are interested in taking.

  5. Seniors may not decide to swap SPN's once assigned in a senior advising session: if a student decides not to use a granted SPN, he/she must inform the department via email, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. immediately.  The student must then follow the general SPN Application process; however, students are no longer guaranteed assignment of additional SPN's at that time.

 

Students should seek information only from authorized individuals. General academic advisors can be found at any of the S.A.S. Advising Centers located on each campus. Always get everything in writing, especially if something is out of the ordinary, such as a substituted course or a transfer course, etc. It’s also a good idea to write down the name and contact information of anyone who provides you with academic advising information. When in doubt, double-check!

 

It is highly encouraged that as a graduating senior you consider adding your email to the C.J. Announcements email list to receive email notifications when there are updates to the website regarding job postings, career information, internship postings, etc.  It is also a great way to keep in touch with the department as well.  Email the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your permanent email address.

Transfer Students

All transfer students new to Rutgers should be sure to attend a STAR Day which serves as orientations for transfer students and are usually hosted throughout the summer. For those entering in the Spring term, there are 1-2 STAR Days hosted during the winter break. STAR Days stand for “Students in Transition Advising and Registration Days.” The day generally begins around 9:00am and ends approximately 4:00pm. The day is geared to disseminate a wealth of information regarding the School of Arts and Sciences program at Rutgers, tutorials on how to use Degree Navigator and WebReg (the course registration system). Students will have the opportunity to attend presentations by various academic departments, as well as to meet with academic advisors who will assist students with registering for courses.

 

Students transferring from either Newark or Camden do not need to attend a STAR Day; rather, they should schedule an appointment to meet directly with the Academic Advisor. The academic advisor will help those students get situated, go over transcripts, evaluate transfer courses, and help students register for courses for the following semester. Students from Newark or Camden should only meet with the academic advisor once officially transferred to Rutgers New Brunswick.

 

If you are a new transfer student, all of the courses you have taken at your previous institution will be evaluated by the staff in the Transfer Center within the first several weeks after you accept your offer of admission. They will decide whether a course is able to transfer with appropriate credit(s), or whether a course is not able to transfer. All courses eligible for transfer must have earned a grade of “C” or better. Any course earning below a “C” (2.00) will not be transferred. Moreover, all transfer courses that successfully transfer will appear on your Rutgers transcripts as earning credit, but no grades will appear for these transfer courses. Transfer course(s) grades will not be included in the Rutgers cumulative grade-point average.

 

LampPostWhen you attend a STAR Day, you will receive a Transfer Summary Evaluation which will list every course you have submitted for transfer, and whether or not you earned credit for them. Each course that successfully transfers credit will also be assigned a specific coding. Codes match to the School of Arts and Sciences (01), the department of which the course is matched with (such as 202 for Criminal Justice), and then the last digits are matched to a specific course (if there is an equivalence, such as 201 for Introduction to Criminal Justice). The resulting code for this particular course would be 01:202:201.

 

It is possible that you might earn credits for a course that transferred, and is assigned a generic coding of TR:T01:EC. This is a generic coding assigned to transfer courses that do not have a direct equivalent to a course offered at Rutgers. What does this mean? This means that you have been awarded credits for the course that transferred and will count toward the 120 you need to graduate; however, these credits are not able to be used toward a major, minor, or Core requirements. If you believe that that a course that has been assigned the TR:T01: EC coding might match an equivalent course in a department, you will need to bring a copy of the syllabus from that course, and you must fill out a Departmental Transfer Evaluation Form to the related department academic advisor and ask for a review. If the advisor determines the course is equivalent to a Rutgers course they will fill out the form, which then needs to be submitted to any of the S.A.S. Advising Centers.

 

For more information relating to transfer students, please visit the Transfer Students section of our website.

Transfer Courses From Outside Institutions

In order to take a course outside of Rutgers and transfer those credits earned toward the Criminal Justice major, you must first complete a Transfer Course Preapproval Form. This form must be submitted to the Academic Advisor before registering for any intended courses outside of Rutgers [within the Criminal Justice field]. The courses that appear in the Transfer Course Databank are not definitive; rather, the databank should be used as a guide and not as a rule. The Academic Advisor has full governing authority to decide which courses transfer and how such courses would transfer and be coded.

 

The Transfer Course Databank can be found here. Additionally, you should be careful to read through the section on Transfer Course Policies to make sure you are not in violation of any rules or policies.

Pre-Law AdvisingRWindow

If you are interested in preparing yourself for applying to law school one day, you should definitely consider pre-law advising as early as possible. Offered through the Undergraduate Academic Affairs Office, there is a Pre-Law Advising office with a pre-law advisor who is available to help you with all aspects of “pre-law school.”

 

The pre-law advisor, Dr. Milton Heumann, is a Professor of Political Science and is located in the Office of Undergraduate Education counsel students interested in preparing for admission to law school. A library of law school catalogs and resource materials is available, as are statistics about application and acceptances to law school. Pre-law advising is available during the fall and spring semesters.

 

You can find more information about pre-law advising, law school information, a variety of resources (e.g. law school rankings, application instructions, LSAT information, etc.), as well as information on how to schedule an appointment with the pre-law advisor in the section of our website titled Law School.

Registration Information

Registration information for every semester can be found on the Rutgers Office of the Registrar’s website, in addition to the information provided by the Office of Academic Services: https://nbregistrar.rutgers.edu

General Advising

Rutgers Office of Academic Services offers academic advising to all S.A.S. students relating to any academic matter. They have branches on all 4 campuses: Busch, College Avenue, Douglass, and Livingston and are open standard business hours. They can be reached at 848-445-8888. 

 

Advising might sometimes be hard to navigate. Which people do you talk to? Which offices should you visit? To help students find the appropriate resources and information, the Office of Academic Services has a great resource tool which lists the various types of student you might be and the appropriate resources and information associated with each. You can find this type of student directory if you click here

S.A.S. CORE’s

SidewalksMany students are concerned with Core Requirements for S.A.S. The new Core Curriculum was implemented in Fall 2011. The Core Curriculum is structured as a set of core liberal arts and sciences learning goals. All are framed as activities students will be able to do at a foundational level by virtue of meeting the specified core goal. Courses may be counted as meeting multiple learning goals; students generally will complete the core in 10 to 14 courses of 3 or 4 credits each. A course used to meet core goals may also be used to fulfill a major or minor requirement. Only graded degree credit-bearing courses worth at least 3 credits and certified by the S.A.S. faculty may be used to meet core goals. For lists of courses certified as meeting each goal, see the Core Curriculum website. Or you can access a digital copy of the Core Curriculum booklet

 

Students can meet with a general Academic Advisor at one of the Office of Academic Services to discuss Core requirements and help in selecting schedules. Again, sometimes major(s) and/or minor(s) requirements also satisfy a Core requirement, which is why it is beneficial to pick your courses strategically.

Major and Minor Requirements

All School of Arts and Sciences students are required to complete 1 major and 1 minor. The requirement for a minor will be waived for students completing multiple majors and for second degree candidates. S.A.S. will also consider waiving the requirement of the minor for students transferring to S.A.S. from the Rutgers School of Engineering, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers Business School-New Brunswick, or College of Nursing if at time of transfer they have amassed 18 or more credits, with a GPA of 2.0 or higher, within a specific professional school subject. Finally, the requirement for a minor may be waived for students completing extraordinarily credit-intensive majors. Credit intensive majors are indicated on the List of Majors and Minors for S.A.S. students. Students in credit intensive majors are strongly encouraged to complete a minor, even though they are not required to do so.

When to Declare a Major and Minor

Full-time students normally declare their major in the second semester of their second year, although some majors encourage students to declare even earlier in order to facilitate the planning needed for an appropriate sequence of the courses required to complete the major within four years. Part-time students normally declare their major by the time they have completed 60 credits. Declaration is done by submitting a major/minor declaration form, available online in the MyMajor Portal. Some academic departments may have prerequisites and/or require approval by an advisor.

 

In order to declare a major with Criminal Justice, students must first complete Introduction to Criminal Justice (01:202:201) and earn a grade of "C" or better.  Once grades are posted, and if a minimum GPA of 2.0 is achieved, students are able to register directly on the MyMajor Portal.

 

N.B. Criminal Justice majors are not allowed to minor in Criminology (offered via the Sociology department).

 

Students who have not declared their major and minor by the time they have completed 60 credits will not be permitted to register for the next term until they have either declared or met with a general education advisor to develop a specific and approved plan of study. For transfer students who have transferred 45 or more credits, this restriction on registration will not apply until the end of their second semester.

Tips on Selecting a Major

StainedGlass“Selecting a major, like other academic planning decisions, depends on your goals and interests. Here are some things to consider:

  • Do you enjoy the subject? If you have taken classes in a subject, have you enjoyed them? Were the readings and homework pleasant and stimulating? If you don’t know much about a major, you can try a class or two to introduce yourself. If you go to the website of the major of your interest, you may find a useful summary of the philosophy of that academic subject.
  • Will you enjoy classes you might take in the future? If you go to the website of the major of your interest, you can find course descriptions and even syllabi.
  • What out-of-classroom opportunities does the major offer? Departmental websites have lots of information about these opportunities. Departmental academic advisors can discuss these opportunities with you. You can ask your instructors. You can ask other students: did you know that many majors have student organizations where you can learn about careers, out-of-classroom opportunities, and other information about the major?
  • How might your career goals fit with your major? Career counselors at Career Services can meet with you to discuss this. Departmental websites often have career information, and departmental academic advisers can help as well.”

--Office of Academic Services

 

For more information and tips about choosing an academic path—including how to select a major and a minor—visit the Office of Academic Services Major and Minor Advising website

Internships

The internship program, as part of the Criminal Justice major, is designed to provide students in their senior year of academic study with field experience in the areas of criminal defense and prosecution, court administration, law enforcement, corrections, probation and parole, criminal justice planning, and juvenile justice. Each semester interns find placements in sites including Police Departments, Juvenile Justice Programs, Prosecutor's and Public Defender's Offices, Probation, Parole, and Correctional Institutions, Family and Criminal Courts. Completing an internship in the criminal justice field is an excellent way to network and make connections, to build field experience to help polish a resumé, as well as to lead to potential job opportunities post-graduation.

 

Students earn three credits for completing an internship, and may use these credits to satisfy the 400-level elective required for completion of the major. Students may only take 3 credits of internship per semester, and may earn a maximum of 6 credits overall. However, students may only apply 3 internship credits total toward their Criminal Justice major.

 

The internship consists of field placement and an actual course attendance. The internship course (01:202:406 or 01:202:407: or 01:202:408) are offered every semester, including the summer session. Students are required to register and attend the internship course during the same semester of their internship field placement. Overall, students are required to complete 120 hours of field work.

 

For more information about the process of setting up an internship, please visit the Internships section of our website.

Independent Study and Honors Thesis Options

HamiltonThe Independent Study allows Criminal Justice students in their junior or senior year a unique opportunity to conduct specific, in depth research in an area of their choice (as relating to the field of criminal justice). Students work under the guidance of a faculty member. The Independent Study course (01:202:495) can be used to satisfy the 400-level elective required for completion of the major. Students may only take 3 credits of Independent Study per semester, but may earn a maximum of 6 credits overall, which can be used for the major.

 

Similar to the Independent Study, the Honors Research Thesis allows Criminal Justice students in their senior year a unique opportunity to conduct specific, in depth research in an area of their choice (as relating to the field of criminal justice). Students work under the guidance of a faculty member. As the honors research thesis project is more intense and rigorous than the independent study project, students are required: to have completed at least 15 credits toward the Criminal Justice major, to hold a 3.4 GPA in the major itself, and to maintain a 3.0 GPA overall. Per arrangement and approval of the faculty mentor, students have the option of defending their research thesis after completion of the research paper in front of a panel of Criminal Justice faculty. The Honors Thesis course (01:202:498 and 01:202:499) can be used to satisfy the 400-level elective required for completion of the major. Students may only take 3 credits of Honors Research per semester, but may earn a maximum of 6 credits overall, which can be used for the major.

 

For more information about the process of completing an Independent Study or an Honors Thesis, please visit the Independent Study section or the Honors Research Thesis section of our website.