• Economic Development/Workforce Demand
  

  Statewide employment projections for 2013-2021 by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (http://www.floridajobs.org/labor-market-information/data-center/statistical-programs/employment-projections) project 9.9% growth in protective service occupations; 7.4% growth for probation officers and correctional treatment specialists; 14.9% growth for forensic science technicians; and 15.3% growth for postsecondary criminal justice teachers. The United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics (http://www.bls.gov/home.htm) projects the following growth projections nationwide for 2012-2022: correctional officers, 5%; police officers, 5%; private investigators, 11%; forensic science technicians, 6%. These projections bode well for criminal justice majors, especially given the growing demand for applicants with bachelor’s and master’s degrees. For example, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office recently initiated a new program that aims to hire students nearing graduation or recently graduated to employ them while they complete the law enforcement academy and pay for their academy training.

• Florida Board of Governors Areas of Strategic Emphasis      
  

• Accreditation Requirements
  

  The Department of Criminal Justice currently consists of seven (7) tenure track faculty (including the chair), one (1) full-time instructor, and one (1) part-time instructor. One tenured faculty member is assigned full-time to FWB and one full-time instructor is assigned one-quarter time to FWB. Two of four tenured faculty members will depart UWF after this year. One new tenure-track assistant professor will join the University for the 2014-2015 academic year. Currently, there are a total of 19 course sections taught by faculty members on Pensacola and Online campuses each semester. The Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice program has seven core classes and each course is taught every semester, with multiple sections of several of the courses often offered. Four to five graduate courses are offered each semester. Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) program certification standards require that all core courses be taught by full-time regular faculty. In addition, only full-time faculty teach graduate courses (SACS requires a terminal degree in the discipline for instructors at the graduate level. There are no known individuals in the local community who possess a Ph.D. in the discipline who can teach as adjuncts). As a result, each semester between 12 and 15 courses must be taught by full-time faculty, which leaves as few as four elective courses being taught by full-time faculty. Additional faculty in the department would help to improve the quality of instruction by allowing more elective courses to be taught by full-time faculty while meeting ACJS standards. In addition, criminal justice class sizes are very large. Additional faculty would allow us to maintain and improve the high-quality, high-impact educational experiences afforded by the small class sizes valued by UWF students.

• Community/Visibility
  

  Criminal Justice faculty are highly engaged in the university, community, and their profession, which results in positive exposure for UWF (visibility). Among the current CJ faculty are the UWF Faculty Senate President, Faculty Senate Secretary, COPS Council Chair-elect, Graduate Council Chair, and a SACSCOC Writing Team Member, plus participation on numerous other committees. Clearly, CJ faculty give of themselves for the advancement of the University. CJ faculty have received numerous recognitions for their high-quality, including a UWF Distinguished University Professorship, two UWF Distinguished Teaching Awards, and a UWF Distinguished Research & Creative Activities Award. CJ faculty are currently engaged with numerous community agencies, including the Northern District of Florida Federal Court, Favor House, Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, Escambia County Jail, Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office and others. They are also highly active researchers, with articles appearing in top criminal justice/criminology journals and several books published. Additional faculty would improve the University’s visibility given the department’s culture of active community engagement and quality scholarship, which contributes to the visibility and reputation of the UWF brand.

For the Spring 2014 semester, 18 out of 21 undergraduate classes offered on the Pensacola campus or online had enrollments of at least 95% of the class limit (one course had a limit of 55, two had a limit of 45, and one had a limit of 30; all other limits were set at 40). Nearly all of our online courses have enrollments far above recommended levels. Enrollment at the FWB campus, while lower than on the main and online campuses, was strong, with at least 23 students enrolled in three of the four classes offered in FWB. However, with one tenured faculty member assigned full-time to FWB and one instructor assigned one-quarter time to FWB, classes on the main and online campuses are a pressure point. The department’s upper division average class size is at least 9.1 students higher than the average in all other departments in the college, according to the data available in the faculty line request form. The department has hired five new adjuncts in the past two years. The number of practitioners in the field who hold a master’s degree is very low, and most of them are only qualified and/or interested in teaching our basic (core) classes; however, our disciplines certification standards call for full-time faculty to teach in the core. The department faculty are very active in research, highly engaged in service both within and outside of the institution, and are recognized as excellent teachers (two faculty members have been awarded SGA Distinguished Teaching Awards). Nevertheless, the stress of such a high number of student credit hours per FTE jeopardizes both faculty productivity and morale.

At the conclusion of the 2013-2014 academic year, the department will have five tenure-track faculty members, one of which is assigned full-time to the FWB campus and one of which serves as department chair. One new tenure-earning faculty member will join the department for the 2-14-2015 academic year as a replacement for one of the two tenured faculty members departing the university. In addition to excellence in teaching, the department has maintained very active research productivity and community engagement. The department faculty also engage students in numerous research projects. The department houses approximately 400 majors. The addition of a tenure-earning faculty member will enable the department to continue its commitment to these high-impact learning experiences for students and will serve to continue improving the visibility of the department and university through its research and work with community agencies.

A new faculty member will teach the core curriculum for the undergraduate and graduate programs and will also contribute to the elective offerings. The new faculty member will teach three classes per semester while maintaining an active research and service agenda. A new faculty line will allow the department to offer additional course sections for both the core and elective course offerings and will help to reduce the high SCH/FTE ratio and class sizes.

We are currently seeking new qualified adjuncts, but adjuncts are not able to teach core and graduate level courses due to the requirements for full-time instructors with terminal degrees for core classes and graduate classes. There is a scarcity of qualified adjuncts in the local area. The workload is currently being covered by increasing class sizes.

N/A. 21053D: Crim Just/Forensic was deleted.

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* Does not include non-degree specializations (indicated with a † above)