CRIJ 101 - INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Course Syllabus
Fall Semester 2014
Professor: Chris Meyerhoeffer
Office: Aspen Building 128A
Office Phone: 732-6873
E-Mail Address: cmeyerhoeffer@csi.edu
Office Hours:
Monday, Wednesday, & Friday from 9:00 a.m. until 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. until
12:00 p.m. (noon)
Tuesday & Thursday 9:30 a.m. 11:00 a.m.
Class Schedule: 9:00a.m. – 9:50 a.m. M, W, F; Shields Building – Room 117
Prerequisite: None
Required Textbook: Frank Schmalleger, Criminal Justice Today, (12th Edition) Prentice Hall
(2012)
The College of Southern Idaho Mission Statement
The College of Southern Idaho, a comprehensive community college, provides quality
educational, social, cultural, economic, and workforce development opportunities that meet the
diverse needs of the communities it serves. CSI prepares students to lead enriched, productive
and responsible lives in a global society.
Social Science Department Mission Statement
The mission of the Social Science Department is to provide educational, social, and cultural
opportunities which encourage enriched, productive and responsible lives primarily by
instructing students to understand, interpret, and apply Social Science discipline coursework.
Social Science Department Goals: This course addresses the following Social Science
Department goals, which are to:
1. help students understand important facts, concepts and theories of Social Science subjects.
2. help students acquire techniques and methods used to gain new knowledge in the disciplines.
3. help students learn to distinguish between fact and opinion.
4. teach students to use evaluation, analysis and synthesis to interpret and solve problems.
5. teach students to use different perspectives from the social sciences to make better-informed
decisions
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6. help students acquire an informed understanding of various cultures.
7. prepare students to transfer to a university.
Criminal Justice Program Mission Statement
The mission of the CSI Criminal Justice Program is primarily to prepare graduates to transfer as
Junior-level students to 4-year universities and to prepare two year graduates for entry level
positions in the criminal justice field.
Criminal Justice Program Objectives: Students will…
1. gain mastery of a breadth of knowledge of the discipline of criminal justice, criminal
procedure, and criminal evidence law (breadth of knowledge).
2. gain mastery of a depth of knowledge of the discipline of criminal justice, criminal
procedure, and criminal evidence law (depth of knowledge).
3. be well practiced as a critical consumer of information (critical thought).
4. be well practiced in professional written communication (professional writing).
5. be well- prepared as a potential contributor to scientific discovery in criminal justice
(scientific capability).
6. be well-prepared for upper-division coursework in criminal justice (career-focused education
plan).
7. be well-prepared for entry level position in criminal justice (career-focused plan).
Criminal Justice 201 Catalog Description
Philosophy, history, objectives and functions of the criminal justice system as a social institution.
The also addresses the relationship of the criminal justice system to society and offers a general
overview of the administration of justice.
Course Outcomes* Social Science Goals (SS) and Program Objectives (CRIJ):
Students will…
SS
CRIJ
1. Demonstrate familiarity with the major components
of the criminal justices system, theoretical perspectives
of crime causation, empirical findings, and historical
trends in criminal justice
1, 4, 6, 7
1, 2, 4, 6
2. Understand basic research methods in criminal
justice, including research design, data analysis, and
interpretation of crime data
2, 3, 4, 7
2, 3, 4, 5
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3. Respect and use critical and creative thinking,
skeptical inquiry, and the scientific approach to solve
problems related to criminal behavior and mental
processes
All but 1
and 2
2, 3, 6
4. Understand and apply psychological and sociological
principles to personal, social, and legal issues
All but 1
and 2
2, 3, 6
5. Be able to weigh evidence, act ethically, and reflect
other values that are the underpinnings of the law and
criminal justice as a discipline
All but 1
and 2
2, 3, 5, 6
Outcomes Assessment:
Assessment performs a number of functions within the teaching and learning process: It gives
feedback to the student on their learning experience; it measures the performance of the student;
and contributes to the evaluation of effectiveness of the subject content and delivery.
Assessment of student learning can be conducted using a variety of available instruments and
methods. A combination of assessment approaches can be the most effective way to measure
student learning.
Assessment practices embedded in courses will generate information about what and how
students are learning. A wide range of formal and informal interaction and performance
assessment methods will be used in this course to determine whether students attained prescribed
educational goals and objectives:
MultipleChoice
Exams
Chapter
Quizzes
Essay Question
on Exams
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On-line Course
Evaluations
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Writing Assignment
Policies and Procedures
Attendance Policy: Students are expected to attend class. I will take attendance each day we are
scheduled to meet. If a student misses three classes during the first two weeks of class, I may
drop the student from the class. After the first week of class I will not drop a student from
the course. It is the responsibility of each student who does not intend to complete the
course or to drop the course through the records office. Students who quit attending and do
not drop the course will be given a failing grade. Attendance is worth 50 points.
Drop Policy: It is the student’s responsibility to drop the course. A student may drop a
course or all courses prior to the end of late registration (first Friday of the term) without it being
recorded on the student’s official transcript. A student initiated drop after the late registration
period is considered a withdrawal, and results in the grade of W. Students may drop courses
online until the end of the late registration period. In order to withdraw from one or more
courses, a completed registration form is required. Instructions of the form indicate when a
signature of instructor and/or Financial Aid advisor is required. The completed form may be
submitted to Admissions & Records or any off-campus center. Students may withdraw from
courses until 75% of the course meetings have elapsed. No course may be withdrawn from after
75% of the course has elapsed.
Honesty Policy: I follow the honesty policy in the CSI Student Handbook. If a student cheats on
an exam or plagiarizes on a writing assignment, I will give the student a zero on that exam, quiz
or writing assignment. If a student violates the honesty policy more than once, I may fail the
student.
Late Policy: I expect students to take exams and quizzes on the day scheduled. I will notify
students in advance of giving a quiz or exam. No make up quizzes will be given if a student is
absent on the day a quiz is given. If a student cannot be present on the day an exam is scheduled,
please notify me in advance. Make up exams may be given if the student notifies me in advance.
However, I may give the student a different exam which does not correlate directly to the study
guide for that exam. I will not allow make up tests if the absence is not excused prior to the
exam and the student will receive zero points for that exam. Excused absences are absences
that are excused by me prior to time the relevant exam is scheduled. Writing assignments are
due as indicated in this syllabus unless other arrangements have been made.
Required Assignments: I expect students to read the assigned material prior to each class. This
helps facilitate student learning, and makes meaningful discussion about the lecture material
possible. In addition, quizzes will be based upon the assigned reading material for a particular
class.
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Grading Practices:
1. I will give four exams each worth 100 points during the semester. Your best three exam
scores will be used to calculate your final grade (total 300 points). Each exam will have
between 50 and 60 multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions worth 2 points each
(total between 80 and 100 points). Each exam will also have one or two essay questions
worth between 10-15 points each (total 10 to 20 points). The exams will be designed to
assess the course outcomes.
2. I will also give 10 quizzes worth 25 points each during the semester. Each quiz will
have 10 true/false questions. The 10 quizzes with the highest grade will be counted in
determining a student’s final grade (total of 200 points). This means a student can
either miss or discard four quiz scores during the course of the semester. Each quiz will
be given following the lecture and discuss for that chapter unless students are not coming
to class prepared.
3. Attendance during scheduled classes is worth 50 points. I will deduct 2.5 points from
that total for each class missed. If a student misses 20 classes that student will receive 0
attendance points.
Grading Scale:
A = 495 to 550 Points (90-100%)
B = 440 to 494 Points (80-89%)
C = 385 to 439 Points (70-79%)
D = 330 to 384 Points (60-69%)
F = Less than 330 Points (0-59%)
I do not give extra credit work to augment a student’s final grade. If a student attends class and
completes the required assignments, extra credit should not be needed. Most students who do
not excel in this course miss multiple lectures and graded assignments. A student who attends
class and completes all quizzes will be allowed to drop his 4 lowest quiz scores (I only grade 10
of 14 quizzes). For this reason I do not give make-up quizzes for any reason. In addition, a
student who attends class and takes all 4 scheduled exams will be allowed to drop his lowest
exam score. For this reason I only allow make-up exams if a students has a pre-approved valid
reason for missing the scheduled exam.
Self Assessment: To encourage self assessment, each student will be asked to predict on exams
and quizzes the letter grade they expect on that exam or quiz. If the prediction is accurate, the
student will receive two or three bonus points.
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TENTATIVE CLASS SCHEDULE
The following class schedule is only an estimate of the material that will be covered each
week. The actual material covered during a particular week may vary if circumstances
dictate.
Week
Beginning
Topic
Chapters
August 25
Introduction & syllabus, What is Criminal Justice
1
September 1
Monday Labor Day; What is Criminal Justice; The Crime
Picture
September 8
The Search for Causes
3
September 15
Criminal Law
4
September 22
(Exam 1; Chaps 1-4 & Review); Policing: History and
Structure
5
September 29
Policing: History and Structure; History and Structure
October 6
Policing Legal Aspects
7
October 13
Monday Holiday; Policing Issues and Challenges
8
October 20
(Exam 2; Chapters 5-8 & Review)
October 27
The Courts: Structure and Participants
9
November 3
Pre-trial Activities and the Criminal Trial
10
November 10
Monday Holiday; Sentencing
11
November 17
(Exam 3; Chaps 9-11)
November 24
Probation, Parole and Community Corrections;
Thanksgiving
12
December 1
Probation, Parole, and Community Corrections
12
December 8
Prisons & Jails; Prison Life
December 15
(Exam 4; Chaps 12-14) Tuesday; 10:00 am – Noon
1&2
5&6
5, 6, 7, 8
9, 10, 11
13 & 14
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12, 13, 14
CSI E-mail:
Since email is the primary source of written communication with
students, all registered CSI students get a college email account. Student
e-mail addresses have the following format:
<address>@eaglemail.csi.edu where <address> is a name selected by
the student as a part of activating his/her account. Students activate their
accounts and check their CSI e-mail online at http://eaglemail.csi.edu.
Instructors and various offices send messages to these student
accounts. Students must check their CSI e-mail accounts regularly to
avoid missing important messages and deadlines. At the beginning of
each semester free training sessions are offered to students who need
help in using their accounts.
On-line course evaluation statement:
To help instructors continually improve courses, students are strongly
encouraged to go online to http://evaluation.csi.edu and complete
anonymous evaluations which open two weeks before the end of the
course and close the last day of class. When students enter the site,
they find evaluations for their enrolled courses. Thank you for this
valuable input!
Disabilities:
Any student with a documented disability may be eligible for reasonable
accommodations. To determine eligibility and secure services, students
should contact Student Disability Services at their first opportunity after
registration for a class(es). Student Disability Services is located on the
second floor of the Taylor Building on the Twin Falls Campus.
208.732.6268 or e-mail Marita DeBoard, mdeboard@csi.edu.
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