Our Mission
The Department of Criminal Justice has a long-standing commitment to improving the quality of justice through education, research, and public service. The faculty of the Department of Criminal Justice recognizes its mission as threefold. First, the department is dedicated to offering its majors a state-of-the-art education in criminal justice by providing them with a comprehensive and critical understanding of the criminal justice system and the society in which it functions. At the same time, as part of College of Social Sciences, Loyola University New Orleans, the faculty is committed to addressing the special needs of adult learners and to preparing students to move into criminal justice careers or post graduate work as liberally educated, intellectually mature, ethically aware, and culturally sensitive men and women. Moreover, the department is dedicated to providing students throughout the university with opportunities to examine critically the broad questions of how justice is administered in American society and globally as well as confront the fundamental issues of criminal justice, which they face as professionals and as involved citizens.
Second, the Department of Criminal Justice is dedicated to excellence in research and scholarship as reflected in grants, awards, and publications. The faculty is committed to research that advances the teaching, assessment, and the knowledge base of the field of criminal justice, and also research that has policy implications and serves the goals of equity and efficiency in the administration of justice.
Finally; the department has a special commitment to providing the expertise of its faculty as a resource to assist criminal justice and social service agencies in the greater metropolitan New Orleans area and the state of Louisiana in the realms of applied research, policy development, training, and planned change to meet the social and technological challenges of the 21st Century.
Grounded in the Ignation tradition of education and the Goals and Commitments of Loyola University New Orleans, the department values active learning, interdisciplinary and holistic education, open-mindedness, critical thinking, and respect for individual and cultural diversity.
At the undergraduate level, the department's mission is to equip students to think critically about the causes and consequences of crime and deviance; about evolving issues in the field of criminal justice; about the potential of empirical research to help guide policy development; and about the role social organization plays in the development of knowledge. Students are introduced to both established and contemporary theory, to research skills, and to the requirement of practice in the field. It is the department's mission to properly prepare students to join the ranks of professionals working for the criminal justice system or in the social services. In addition, it is the mission of the department to prepare those who plan to obtain advanced degrees to gain admission to prominent social science and professional graduate programs around the country.
Concerning students at the Master's level, the department's mission is the development of sophisticated analytical and evaluation skills and the critical linkage of conceptual, practical, and ethical knowledge necessary to fulfillment of leadership roles in research, planning, and administration in the field of criminal justice or in the social services. Masters' degree students can expect advanced training in the theories, methods and empirical findings that promote in-depth understanding of deviance, crime, criminal justice, and social organization along with applied studies in areas such as strategic planning, budget and resource allocation, assessment and program evaluation, GIS analysis, public relations and human resource management. For those masters' degree students interested in pursing advanced study at the doctoral level, the program prepares students for entry into top rated programs across the nation.
In order to accomplish its mission, the Department of Criminal Justice pledges:
- To provide a state-of-the-art curriculum and educational environment
- To foster the talent development of students, faculty, and staff
- To integrate technology into the curriculum including web enhanced instruction
- To promote each student's capacity for self-directed, life-long learning
- To ensure learner-centeredness in order to maximize learning
- To support faculty scholarly endeavors and research activities
- To enhance quality through a commitment to continuous improvement
- To honor the Ignatian tradition of educating the whole person by developing both cognitive and humane skills
- To reinforce the value of service to the community
- To develop ongoing partnerships and collaboration with criminal justice agencies
- To expand placement opportunities of graduates
- To inspire a sense of pride in being an alumnus or alumna of the Criminal Justice Department at Loyola University New Orleans