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CRMJ 1350 Syllabus

Course Syllabus

CRMJ 1350 - Criminal Justice Career Planning

3 Credit Hours

Course Information

Course Description:

This course is designed to acquaint students with careers in criminal justice, and prepare you for the overall hiring process for criminal justice occupations. Students will complete job searches, employment applications, and learn about criminal justice careers in local, state and federal agencies, and private sector. Students will be exposed to requirements for completing a background investigation for employment and learn about what might disqualify them. Students will learn about needed knowledge, skills, and abilities for various positions within criminal justice. Students will develop a resume and cover letter and be required to complete a mock employment interview.

Course Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

  • Discuss and describe careers within federal, state, local or private sector criminal justice agencies.
  • Demonstrate the ability to locate and evaluate sources for finding employment opportunities in the criminal justice field.
  • Assist students in more accurately evaluating themselves relative to their career choice.
  • Demonstrate the ability to prepare and use the appropriate correspondence related to the job search.
  • Ascertain necessary information to complete and submit application forms.
  • Locate and review vacancy announcements for select occupations in criminal justice.
  • Acquaint students with criminal justice practitioners and routine job responsibilities.
  • Examine credit histories/reports and complete a debt-to-income analysis.
  • Develop an understanding of the complete hiring process for criminal justice occupations.
  • Demonstrate the ability to prepare for a mock interviews, wear appropriate attire, and employ appropriate communication skills in answering or asking questions.
  • Communicate an understanding of various pre-employment assessments (polygraph, voice stress analysis, psychological interview, civil service exams, and physical agility test).
  • Complete a pre-employment background investigation packet, and demonstrate the ability to effectively address issues or discrepancies.
  • Objectively assess and evaluate the students need for additional knowledge, skills and abilities for their career of interest.
  • Prepare and complete a resume and cover letter.
  • Complete a Mock Panel Law Enforcement Interview
Prerequisites & Co-requisites:

None

Course Topics:
Specific Course Requirements:

You will need a standard webcam with microphone for this course. You can use your computer's built-in webcam and an external microphone or an external webcam with built-in microphone.

Textbooks, Supplementary Materials, Hardware and Software Requirements

Required Textbooks:

Please visit the Virtual Bookstore to obtain textbook information for this course. Move your cursor over the "Books" link in the navigation bar and select "Textbooks & Course Materials." Select your Program, Term, Department, and Course; then select "Submit."

Supplementary Materials:
Hardware and Software Requirements:

Minimum hardware requirements can be found here.

Minimum software requirements can be found here.

Common applications you might need:

Web Resources:

Purdue OWL Online Writing Lab (for APA, MLA, or Chicago style)

The Writing Center Online Writer's Handbook

Student Resources:
  • Technical support information can be found on the TN eCampus Help Desk page.
  • Smarthinking virtual tutoring is available FREE of charge. to access Smarthinking, visit the course homepage and select Smarthinking under Course Resources. You also view sample sessions to see what Smarthinking offers and how it works.
  • Information on other student issues or concerns can be located on the TN eCampus Student Resources page.

Instructor Information

Please see "Instructor Information" in the Getting Started Module for instructor contact information, virtual office hours, and other communication information. You can expect to receive a response from the instructor within 24-48 hours unless notified of extenuating circumstances.

Participation, Assessments, & Grading

Grading Procedures:

Letter grades for this course will be assigned based on the following scale.

Assigned Grade

Point RangeAssigned Grade
90 - 100 pointsA
80 - 89 pointsB
70 - 79 pointsC
60 - 79 pointsD
under 60 pointsF

Graded Items

DescriptionIndividual Percentage

Overall Percentage

Assignments: Nine (9)3.88 percent each35%
Exercises: Four (4)5 percent each20%
Discussions: Seven (7)4.28 percent each30%
Dress Interview Evaluation5 percent5%
Mock Law Enforcement Employment Interview10 percent10%
  100%

Students are expected to complete the Dress Evaluation by video or submitting photos. The will complete the Mock Law Enforcement Employment Interview with Skype or Google Video Chat.

Grading Scale:
Assignments and Projects:
Class Participation:

Students are expected to log in each week and complete discussion forms, assignments, quizzes and read and/or view instructional course content and materials.

Late Policy:

All late assignments, exercises and discussions will receive a 15 point grade reduction after 24 hours from due date. All late work must be received within two weeks after due date or a grade of zero (0) may be given.

Course Ground Rules

The following two statements (1., 2.) were derived from the TBR System-wide Student Rules document, released January 2012:

RULES OF THE TENNESSEE BOARD OF REGENTS STATE UNIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM OF TENNESSEE SYSTEMWIDE STUDENT RULES CHAPTER 0240-02-03 STUDENT CONDUCT AND DISCIPLINARY SANCTIONS

Read the document in its entirety here.

1. Standards of Conduct:

  • Students are required to adhere to the same professional, legal and ethical standards of conduct online as on campus. In addition, students should conform to generally accepted standards of "netiquette" while sending e-mail, posting comments to the discussion board, and while participating in other means of communicating online. Specifically, students should refrain from inappropriate and/or offensive language, comments and actions.

2. Review the TN eCampus Academic Integrity/Academic Honesty Policy:

  • In their academic activities, students are expected to maintain high standards of honesty and integrity. Academic dishonesty is prohibited.

Such conduct includes, but is not limited to:

  • an attempt by one or more students to use unauthorized information in the taking of an exam
  • to submit as one's own work, themes, reports, drawings, laboratory notes, computer programs, or other products prepared by another person,
  • or to knowingly assist another student in obtaining or using unauthorized materials.

Plagiarism, cheating, and other forms of academic dishonesty are prohibited.

Students guilty of academic misconduct, either directly or indirectly through participation or assistance, are subject to disciplinary action through the regular procedures of the student’s home institution.  Refer to the student handbook provided by your home institution to review the student conduct policy.

In addition to other possible disciplinary sanctions that may be imposed, the instructor has the authority to assign an "F" or zero for an activity or to assign an "F" for the course.

Other Course Rules:

Students are expected to:

  • Participate in all aspects of the course
  • Communicate with other students
  • Learn how to navigate in Brightspace
  • Keep abreast of course announcements
  • Use the assigned course management (Brightspace) email address rather than a personal email address
  • Address technical problems immediately:
  • Observe course netiquette at all times.

Guidelines for Communications

Email:

  • Always include a subject line.
  • Remember without facial expressions some comments may be taken the wrong way. Be careful in wording your emails. Use of emoticons might be helpful in some cases.
  • Use standard fonts.
  • Do not send large attachments without permission.
  • Special formatting such as centering, audio messages, tables, html, etc. should be avoided unless necessary to complete an assignment or other communication.
  • Respect the privacy of other class members

Discussions:

  • Review the discussion threads thoroughly before entering the discussion. Be a lurker then a discussant.
  • Try to maintain threads by using the "Reply" button rather starting a new topic.
  • Do not make insulting or inflammatory statements to other members of the discussion group. Be respectful of other’s ideas.
  • Be patient and read the comments of other group members thoroughly before entering your remarks.
  • Be cooperative with group leaders in completing assigned tasks.
  • Be positive and constructive in group discussions.
  • Respond in a thoughtful and timely manner.

Library

The Tennessee Virtual Library is available to all students enrolled in TN eCampus programs and courses. Links to library materials (such as electronic journals, databases, interlibrary loans, digital reserves, dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps, and librarian support) and Internet resources needed by learners to complete online assignments and as background reading will be included within the course modules. To access the Virtual Library, go to the course homepage and select the Virtual Library link under Course Resources.

Students with Disabilities

Qualified students with disabilities will be provided reasonable and necessary academic accommodations if determined eligible by the appropriate disability services staff at their home institution. Prior to granting disability accommodations in this course, the instructor must receive written verification of a student's eligibility for specific accommodations from the disability services staff at the home institution. It is the student's responsibility to initiate contact with their home institution's disability services staff and to follow the established procedures for having the accommodation notice sent to the instructor.

Syllabus Changes

The instructor reserves the right to make changes as necessary to this syllabus. If changes are necessitated during the term of the course, the instructor will immediately notify students of such changes both by individual email communication and posting both notification and nature of change(s) on the course bulletin board.

Disclaimer

The information contained in this syllabus is for general information purposes only. While we endeavor to keep this information up-to-date and accurate, there may be some discrepancies between this syllabus and the one found in your online course. The syllabus of record is the one found in your online course. Please make sure you read the syllabus in your course at the beginning of the semester. Questions regarding course content should be directed to your instructor.


Last Revised on July 12, 2021