Which degree for teaching in junior college?

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by friendorfoe, Jul 15, 2005.

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  1. friendorfoe

    friendorfoe Active Member

    Hey guys,

    I have found 2 schools that offer an MBA with a concentration in Criminal Justice. Both schools are RA.

    My question is, I don't really want to teach business, but I want an MBA for personal reasons, however I DO want to teach in Criminal Justice, so would an MBA with an emphasis in Criminal Justice fulfill both those requirements or would it be better to get an MS in Criminal Justice from an RA school and an MBA from an NA school?
     
  2. Anthony Pina

    Anthony Pina Active Member

    The state in which you live may determine the degree requirements. However, most community/junior colleges require a masters degree in the area in which you wish to teach, if you are teaching an "academic" subject (criminal justice would be considered an academic subject). Those who wish to teach vocational subjects can do so with a bachelors (and in some cases an associate) degree and a certain number of years of experience.

    An MBA with an emphasis in criminal justice would likely be fine. Please note, however, that community college teaching postions can be quite competitive. A few years ago, when I worked as a full-time faculty at a community college in California, we had over 90 applicants for a single criminal justice faculty position.
     
  3. DesElms

    DesElms New Member

    I have a feeling it's going to be the latter, but let's see what some of the experts have to say about it. Now you've got me interested in the answer!

    EDIT: Ah... I see one of said experts was posting at the same time I was and beat me to the "Submit Reply" button.
     
  4. friendorfoe

    friendorfoe Active Member

    If I could combine the MBA and Criminal Justice stuff, my life would suddenly become a little easier.

    As for teaching at a community college, there are also vocational schools now that offer an AS in criminal justice as well as independant institutions like the International Law Enforcement Administration.

    I would need to gain more career stature and experience than what I have, but generally if you qualify degree wise to be an instructor at the community college level, then you qualify for these others.

    I live in Texas, so my choices now are an MBA with emphasis in criminal justice and an MS in Criminal Justice.

    Which would you recommend? Either way I want an MBA.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 15, 2005
  5. -kevin-

    -kevin- Resident Redneck

    I believe some others will add on to my post. In most advertisements for teaching positions you will see a requirement to have 18 graduate hours in the subject. My MBA concentration had 4 classes (12 hours) so I had to add some classes to meet the minimum. Not only do the classes need to be in the subject but take a close look at the course identifier. Many MBA programs will still have the concentration listed as either MBAxxxxor MGTxxxx or some such. For criminal justice you would need to find an MBA concentration that reflected a more traditional CJ identifier or be prepared to furnish syllabus (you might have to anyway) to support your position. This problem was one of the reasons I selected UNA. Despite being an MBA they identify the concentration with the appropriate identifier. Many classes are cross listed so as to ensure a fit with your concentration.

    Good luck on your search.

    Kevin
     
  6. friendorfoe

    friendorfoe Active Member

    Okay,

    1.) make sure that either I keep a copy of the class syllabus and

    2.) try to get a CJ designation for the actual class and I may have to

    3.) seek some type of Graduate certificate in CJ to fulfill the hours...

    Last question, would having an MBA with an emphasis in Criminal Justice be frowned upon in the private sector businesses? and can this be remediated with additional graduate certificates?
     
  7. abnrgr275

    abnrgr275 Member

    friendorfoe,

    Saint Leo University offers an online MBA with a concentration in CJ that consists of 36 semester hours total. The concentration courses (12 semester hours) are all listed with a CJ designation and if you take two additional graduate CJ courses you can acquire the 18 semester hours required to teach CJ at the community college level. The nice thing about this option is that you can earn a certificate in criminal justice management as well as the MBA by taking the 2 extra CJ courses.

    You could always pursue additional education after finishing your MBA and earn a graduate certificate in project management, organizational leadership, organizational development, etc. at another school if you wanted to broaden your opportunities in the private sector.

    Saint Leo University is a private school located north of Tampa, FL and is RA. I attended a 2-week CJ leadership course at the main campus earlier this summer and met with the CJ program director. He is a top-notch guy and I would highly recommend their program to anyone interested in pursuing a CJ degree.

    abnrgr275
     
  8. -kevin-

    -kevin- Resident Redneck

    abnrgr275,

    nicely done.
     
  9. friendorfoe

    friendorfoe Active Member

    St. Leo has been at the top of my list for a while. I am also starting to look to other institutions that offer an MBA with Criminal Justice emphasis.

    Also I have recently been turned on to an MPA, but I have quite a few questions regarding this.
     

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