Fayetteville State University
College of Arts & Sciences
Criminal Justice Department
CRJC 450-D1: Seminar in Criminal Justice
Spring 2016
I. Locator Information:
Instructor: Dr. Emily Lenning
Course # and Name: CRJC 450-D1: Seminar in Criminal Justice
Semester Credit Hours: Spring 2016 – 3 Credit Hours
Day and Time Class Meets: Online
Total Contact Hours for Class: Online
Email address: elenning@uncfsu.edu
Office Location: 333 Lauretta Taylor
Office hours: Wednesday 12:30-4:30 p.m.
Friday 10-2
or by appointment
Office Phone: 672-2274
FSU Policy on Electronic Mail: Fayetteville State University provides to each student,
free of charge, an electronic mail account (username@uncfsu.edu) that is easily accessible via the
Internet. The university has established FSU email as the primary mode of correspondence
between university officials and enrolled students. Inquiries and requests from students
pertaining to academic records, grades, bills, financial aid, and other matters of a confidential
nature must be submitted via FSU email. Inquiries or requests from personal email accounts are
not assured a response. The university maintains open-use computer laboratories throughout the
campus that can be used to access electronic mail.
Rules and regulations governing the use of FSU email may be found at
http://www.uncfsu.edu/PDFs/EmailPolicyFinal.pdf
II. Course Description: This course is designed to provide criminal justice majors with a
capstone experience emphasizing integration of knowledge acquired in previous courses on the
institutions, policies and practices of criminal justice. Students engage in the development and
production of a senior level research paper grounded in relevant criminal justice literature.
III. Disabled Student Services: In accordance with Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act
and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ACA) of 1990, if you have a disability or think you
have a disability to please contact the Center for Personal Development in the Spaulding
Building, Room 155 (1st Floor); 910-672-1203.
IV. Title IX – Sexual Misconduct
Fayetteville State University (University) is committed to fostering a safe campus environment
where sexual misconduct — including sexual harassment, domestic and dating violence, sexual
assault, and stalking - is unacceptable and is not tolerated. The University encourages students
who may have experienced sexual misconduct to speak with someone at the University so that
the University can provide the support that is needed and respond appropriately. The Sexual
Misconduct policy can be found at the following link:
http://www.uncfsu.edu/Documents/Policy/students/SexualMisconduct.pdf
Consulting with a Health Care Professional - A student who wishes to confidentially speak
about an incident of sexual misconduct should contact either of the following individuals who
are required to maintain confidentiality:
Ms. Dionne Hall
Licensed Professional Counselor
Spaulding Building, Room 167
(910) 672-2167
dhall9@uncfsu.edu
Ms. Linda Melvin
Director, Student Health Services
Spaulding Building, Room 121
(910) 672-1454
lmelvi10@uncfsu.edu
Reporting an Incident of Sexual Misconduct - The University encourages students to report
incidents of sexual misconduct. A student who wishes to report sexual misconduct or has
questions about University policies and procedures regarding sexual misconduct should contact
the following individual:
Title IX Coordinator
Barber Building, Room 242
(910) 672-1141
Unlike the Licensed Professional Counselor or the Director of Student Health Services, the
Deputy Title IX Coordinator is legally obligated to investigate reports of sexual misconduct, and
therefore cannot guarantee confidentiality, but a request for confidentiality will be considered
and respected to the extent possible.
Students are also encouraged to report incidents of sexual misconduct to the University’s Police
and Public Safety Department at (910) 672-1911.
V. Textbooks:
Cole, George F. and Gertz, Marc C. (Eds) (2013). The Criminal Justice System: Politics and
Policies, 10th Edition. Wadsworth Cengage Learning: Belmont CA.
Reddington, Frances P. and Bonham Jr, Gene. (Eds.) (2012). Flawed Criminal Justice Policies:
At the Intersection of the Media, Public Fear and Legislative Response. Carolina Academic
Press: Durham NC.
Additional Required Readings: Will be posted on Blackboard as they are assigned. *Note: all
assigned readings for this course are required.
VI. Student Learning Outcomes:
Upon completion of this course, students will:


Analyze the relationship between criminal justice institutions/practices and the
social, political, and economic contexts in which they operate
Describe various justice paradigms and evaluate possible implementation
strategies

VII.
Students engage in the development and production of a senior level research
paper grounded in relevant criminal justice literature
Course Requirements and Evaluation Criteria
a. Grading Scale:
Discussion Boards
9 at 20 points each = 180
Assignments
3 at 50 points each = 150
Final Paper
100
Criminal Justice CLA
50
University CLA
0*
Total
480
432-480 = A
384-431 = B
336-383 = C *Note: All CRJC majors must earn a C or better in all CRJC courses*
288-335 = D
287 or below = F
*You must take the University Graduating Senior Assessment (also called CLAplus
assessment). No points will be offered for this, as it is a university requirement, but it is
mandatory for this course. If you choose not to take this assessment, you will receive an F
in the course. The University will be sending out specific dates for signing up for the
activity.
b. Attendance Requirements
Obviously, since this is an online class your attendance will be virtual and, for the
most part, at your leisure. However, you are expected to be fully engaged
throughout the semester, which means checking Black Board every day,
completing all assignments by their due dates, and participating in all online
discussions that we have.
c. Graded Assignments
Grades will be based on discussion boards, the Criminal Justice CLA,
assignments, and a final paper, which you will write over the course of the
semester and is comprised of the assignments.
Assignments and Final Paper: You will complete three assignments this
semester. Each is worth 50 points and is a section of your final paper, which is
worth 100 points. A detailed description of each assignment, the final paper and
the grading criteria can be found under “Assignments” in Black Board. You are
expected to follow all instructions and to put maximum effort into your work.
NOTE: Academic dishonesty of any sort will result in a grade of zero for the
assignment or paper in question. See below for a detailed description of what
constitutes academic dishonesty.
Discussion Boards:
Discussion questions relevant to each week’s readings will be a key element of
this course. All students must respond to the initial discussion question posted by
the instructor (initial posts should be approximately 1-2 pages long) and must
reply to at least two (2) posts by fellow students (response posts should be
approx. a paragraph long). Therefore, each student must contribute at least
three posts to each discussion question.

Please note that the discussion boards are set so that YOU CANNOT SEE posts from
your classmates until you put up your own initial post. So, if you don't see any posts,
this is why. This means that you will need to put your own original thought into your
work and that you will need to have your initial post completely done and polished before
you put it up (as you will not be able to go back and edit it).

POSTING THREE TIMES IS THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENT. Even if the one
or two posts you do provide are excellent, if you do not provide three posts that meet
course requirements during the week for a discussion topic, you will receive a severe
reduction in points for that discussion board.

MEETING THE MINIMUM POSTING REQUIREMENTS DOES NOT
GUARANTEE PASSING GRADES OR HIGH MARKS FOR THAT WEEK’S
DISCUSSION QUESTION.

The discussion questions open at 12:01 am on the dates listed in the schedule and they
close at 11:59 pm on the dates listed in the schedule.
Because this course is a seminar rather than a lecture based course, my role is to
facilitate the discussions of the subject matter. If you do not see posts from me it
does not mean that I am not there in the discussion board. More importantly, if
you do see a posting from me, you should pay close attention to it (even if it is not
addressed to you) and you should respond accordingly. Your role is to engage
fully with the reading material and other course materials provided and to learn
together as you discuss these materials with each other.
Time requirements
You are required to participate in Discussion Board forums in Blackboard every
week on various topics throughout the semester. You must participate in each
of the discussions during the appropriate week. Late discussion board posts
will not be accepted; indeed, you will not be able to go back and post in
closed discussion boards.
You will not get credit for any contributions made to discussions after the
specified time/date. You can see all discussion board topics in advance by going
to each module - discussion boards themselves will open at 12:01 a.m. Sunday of
the corresponding week. Students will have until the following Saturday (11:59
p.m.) to engage in the discussion of the week’s topics. Students are encouraged to
make their initial post within the first 72 hours of the discussion forum to
maximize the likelihood of high marks for the week’s postings. This means you
must plan your schedule to allow you to post your initial post by Tuesday night. I
would recommend that you subscribe to the forums in order to receive email
alerts about postings – this will help you to interact with and respond to
classmates in a timely manner.
Grade for discussion board participation
I will monitor your discussions and your grade in this area will be based on both
the quantity and quality of your contributions. In other words, I will keep track of
how often you post contributions to class discussion and I will pay attention to
whether your contributions demonstrate responsiveness to the reading
assignments, other course materials, to postings from myself, and to each other.
Everyone is expected to take part in all discussions.
Discussion Posting Grading
These grading criteria will serve as a guide to how postings will be graded.
Students should subscribe to forums, and everyone should pay attention to
postings from me and respond appropriately:
Excellent Postings (18 - 20 Points)
a. Posting is insightful, thorough, and interesting
b. Posting content is original (i.e., in the student’s own words).
c. Uses quotes sparingly and as a point of departure for further explanation on the topic
being discussed.
d. A serious effort is made to frame the discussion posting in such a way as to encourage
others to reply.
e. Initial posting occurs within the first 72 hours (by Tuesday at midnight) of the
discussion board. Postings occur over several days and times; all posting do not
occur on one day.
f. Posting generates questions and opens up new avenues for discussion.
g. Posting demonstrates a thorough understanding of the reading assignment and is
substantiated by several examples from the textbook, other assigned readings, and/or
companion website.
h. Posting is highly polished; no grammar or spelling errors.
i. Initial posting is approximately 1-2 pages in length and responses are appx. a
paragraph long.
j. Student responds in detail to comments and questions from the instructor and peers.
Good Postings (14 – 17 Points)
a. Posting is interesting but lacks insight and depth.
b. Posting content is not substantially different from source material (i.e., little
originality or use of the student’s own words).
c. Uses quotes moderately with some effort to expand upon the meaning of the quoted
information.
d. Some discernable effort is made to frame the discussion posting in such a way as to
encourage others to reply.
e. Initial post is made after the first 72 hours of the DB.
f. Postings occur within a short time frame (days and time).
g. Posting is too short to thoroughly address the DB question.
h. Questions and comments from instructor/peers are not responded to in a timely
fashion and/or in-depth enough
i. Posting demonstrates an understanding of the reading assignment but is not
substantiated by examples from the textbook and/or companion website.
j. Posting is adequate; maximum of two grammar or spelling errors.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.
Poor Posting (0 – 13 Points) ***Note, it is possible to receive zero points even
when you post something***
Failing to provide three postings
Posting is uninteresting and/or too brief for the assignment.
Posting content closely matches source material (i.e., unoriginal material that is not in
the student’s own words).
Posting content uses quotes heavily with little to no effort to expand on the meaning
of quoted material.
No discernable effort is made to frame the discussion posting in such a way as to
encourage others to reply.
Postings all occur on the same day and within a few hours of each other. All posting
occur within the last 48 hours of the discussion board.
Posting demonstrates very little understanding of the reading material/assignment.
Posting does not address the question; posting focuses on personal opinions or
experiences.
Posting is unoriginal; it copies too much from the assigned readings or other material,
or is simply a rewording of previously posted ideas.
Posting is inadequate; more than two spelling or grammar errors per post.
Postings are disrespectful to others. This includes responses to disrespectful postings.
No effort is made to respond to questions and comments from peers/instructor.
Plagiarism & Quoting:
Cases of plagiarism will be handled as academic misconduct, so it is imperative
that you are fully aware of what plagiarism is – if you have any questions, please
contact Dr. Lenning – telling me that “you didn’t know it was plagiarism” will not
be considered an excuse, and you will face the consequences outlined in the FSU
Student Code of Conduct.Please be sure to read the FSU Student Code of
Conduct, which you can find under “Course Documents.”
Keep in mind that copying the words of another and not putting quotations to
designate that the words were written by someone else is plagiarism, even if
you put a cite at the end of the sentence or paragraph. One way to avoid
plagiarism is to look at how your writing differs from your sources. A good rule
of thumb: whenever you write four or more words to a sentence that are identical
to the way things are worded in your source material, ask yourself: is this
paraphrasing or is it plagiarism? Please do not play thesaurus games to change up
a sentence; awkward wording is a tell-tale sign of plagiarism.
Citing:
Citing entails noting in your postings (both in-text and in a bibliography at the
end) that the idea you are presenting is not your own and citing notes that others
have done work that lends support to what you are saying or trying to say. I
strongly suggest that you pay attention to how much you write with no
supporting citations. If you write something that entails detailed information,
such as case law, dates, reporting statistics (actual numbers) or estimates (i.e.,
saying the majority, most, all, almost all, some, none, no one, etc.), you should
have a citation to back up what you have written. Furthermore, if you are writing
and you go for three or more sentences without citing someone or something, ask
yourself “How do I know all of this?” “Should I have a citation somewhere in
here?” Furthermore, you should only cite things you have actually read,
otherwise, you are citing someone else’s review of what someone else said or
wrote. If you are unfamiliar with proper citation, use the resources provided to
you under “Academic Support” on Blackboard.
A good posting (or paper) uses data and research by others to support the
statements or arguments made in the paper. Most posting (and papers) require
some level of support, preferably from good academic sources such as academic
journals, government documents, and scholarly books, but note: your textbook
and instructor provided materials should be your first and primary source
for this class. Dictionaries and internet sites (e.g., online dictionaries, legal
reference sites, Wikipedia, etc.) should not be used as sources to support your
statements and positions. Where you get your information can be just as
important as how you use your resources. Be mindful that there is a difference
between getting information through the Internet (e.g., downloading a full-text
article from an academic journal or a government report) and getting information
from the Internet (e.g., using information from someone’s site which may not
have been peer-reviewed or subjected to any rigorous scrutiny).
Value of Each Assignment
Discussion Boards = 38%
Criminal Justice CLA= 10%
University CLA = 0%
Assignments = 31%
Final Paper = 21%
Policy on Missed or Late Assignments
Late postings will not be accepted – no exceptions. I will only consider allowing late or
make-up assignments with timely documentation from the Center for Personal
Development (CFPD) that your circumstances require accommodation. This means that
if you are experiencing a personal, medical, or other issue that prevents you from
completing your work in accordance with the course schedule, you must contact the
CFPD immediately. Information about the CFPD can be found here:
http://www.uncfsu.edu/studentaffairs/cfpd. Please note that if a make-up assignment is
granted it may not be offered in the same format as the original assignment.
Academic Dishonesty
Any student found guilty of academic dishonesty will be subject to disciplinary actions as
described in the student handbook, and will likely earn a failing grade for the assignment
in question and/or the course. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the
following: cheating, plagiarism, complicity to academic dishonesty (helping or
attempting to help another student cheat) and misrepresentation to avoid academic work
(e.g. fabricating excuses of an illness, injury, accident, family death, etc. to avoid the
timely submission of academic work).
Please note: If these evaluation criteria must be revised because of extraordinary
circumstances, the instructor will distribute a written amendment to the syllabus.
VIII. Academic Support Resources – If you are struggling with the material and/or
assignments please contact me immediately so that we can connect you with the
appropriate resources. Also, see the “Academic Support” link found on our class
Blackboard site.
Course Outline and Assignment Schedule
**Note: This schedule is subject to change – Please check Blackboard daily for changes and/or
updates.
Date
Topics/Assignments
Module 1
Week One
1/9-1/16
Course Expectations Quiz
Introduction DB
Textbook
Reading
Week Two
1/17-1/23
Topic: Why do we create CJ policies that fail?
DB #1
University Closed Monday, 1/18 in honor of
MLK, Jr. Day
Ch. 1 in
Reddington &
Bonham
Ch. 5 in Cole &
Gertz
Week Three
1/24-1/30
Topic: Drugs
DB #2
Ch. 2 in Reddinton
& Bonham
Week Four
1/31-2/6
Topic: Gun Violence
DB #3
Ch. 29 in Cole &
Gertz
Week Five
2/7-2/13
Assignment #1 Due by Thursday, February 11th
at 5:00 p.m.
Week Six
2/14-2/20
Topic: Police Use of Force
DB #4
Ch. 6 in Cole &
Gertz
Week Seven
2/21-2/27
Topic: Sex Offenses
DB #5
Ch. 8 in
Reddington &
Bonham
Week Eight
2/28-3/5
Assignment #2 Due by Thursday, March 3rd at
5:00 p.m.
Week Nine
3/6-3/12
Module 2
Week Ten
3/13-3/19
NO CLASS DUE TO MIDTERM BREAK!
Week Eleven
3/20-3/26
Topic: School-to-Prison Pipeline
DB #6
University Closed Friday, 3/25due to Spring
Holiday
Criminal Justice CLA
*The CJRC CLA (not the University CLA) will
become available via the “Week 10” link on
Blackboard at 12:01 a.m. on March 13th and must
be submitted by Saturday, March 19th at 11:59
p.m. It is worth 50 points and will not be
accepted late.*
Ch. 9 & 10 in
Reddington &
Bonham
Week Twelve
3/27-4/2
Topic: Mass Incarceration
DB #7
Week Thirteen
4/3-4/9
Assignment #3 Due by Thursday, April 7th at
5:00 p.m.
Week Fourteen
4/10-4/16
Topic: Prisoner Reentry
DB #8
Week Fifteen
4/17-4/23
Topic: Moving forward in a positive direction.
DB #9
Week Sixteen
4/24-4/30
Final Paper Due by Thursday, April 28th at 5:00
p.m.
Optional Extra Credit: TEDTalk DB Due by
Friday, April 29th at 5:00 p.m. (see Week 16 on
Blackboard for details)
IX.
Ch. 5 & 6 in
Reddington &
Bonham
.
Teaching Strategies
This course will consist of readings, discussion board assignments, online activities, films and
exams.
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