Honors Program

The Administration of Justice Honors Program gives qualified ADJ students a special opportunity for an exceptional educational experience. Only students who have demonstrated a high level of academic achievement are eligible. ADJ Honors students enroll in two small honors seminars (one per semester, normally during the senior year), working closely with an ADJ faculty member on cutting edge justice issues. Often working in teams, students learn by engaging in research that can be presented to interested professional and academic groups outside the classroom. The research benefits not only the students, but also the justice system and the communities where the research is conducted.

What is Involved

Each year a different full-time ADJ faculty member coordinates the Honors Program and sets the topics and assignments. Seminar activities may include readings, individual and group projects, discussion of seminar papers, special field trips, and surveys or observations of the justice system in operation. All Honors seminars expose students to advanced questions in justice studies and encourage them to approach these issues with a scholarly method. All honors seminars require a great deal of initiative from students, who learn from each other by presenting and discussing their work in progress. The professor and other students provide suggestions and a supportive environment for learning by doing. By the end of the second course the professor may have arranged for the students to present their work to interested justice officials, researchers, or citizen groups. Thus, students gain experience in presenting research, as well as doing it. The organization of the course may take a variety of forms. For example, the Honors professor may spend the first semester introducing the students to a particular topic and helping them develop their own research projects to conduct during the second semester. Alternatively, the professor may develop a specific research project beforehand in which all students will engage, such as doing a research project that provides valuable information that a justice agency can use. The course requirements will vary with the instructor, but all courses will require extensive participation in seminar discussions, presentations, and written work. Students are graded on the quality of their work, but because only highly qualified students are admitted, it is expected that they will do well. Ordinarily the honors courses are offered in a fall-spring sequence, one per semester, but sometimes both honors courses will be offered the same semester. For example, in the fall of 2001 fifteen honors students participated in a clinical seminar investigating court cases in which a defendant was wrongly charged with or convicted of a capital crime. Students conducted their own research on these cases, reviewing case transcripts and evidence, and interviewing participants and witnesses. In addition, students met in seminar each week to read, analyze, and discuss questions of fairness and equality in the justice system.

What Students Gain

The ADJ Honors Program helps students develop advanced knowledge of justice issues, in addition to enhancing students' analytical, research, and communication skills. Students who desire rapid advancement in a justice profession or who seek careers in law or other graduate studies will find the ADJ Honors experience invaluable. Successful ADJ Honors students have gained experience in research, writing, and public speaking that normally comes only through graduate study or years on the job. Students who successfully complete the two ADJ honors seminars with a grade point average of 3.5 or above will receive the honors designation in Administration of Justice when they graduate.

How to Apply

The ADJ Honors Program is open to George Mason students majoring in Administration of Justice who show the ability and drive to benefit from intensive study in the honors seminars. There are not formal course or GPA requirements, although the most promising candidates will be students who have taken challenging courses at GMU and who have earned at least a 3.2 average. Each spring the ADJ Program will invite students to apply for the following year's Honors Program, introducing the seminars and their contents, as well as detailing the process for applying. Admission into the ADJ Honors Program will be determined by the ADJ faculty. University rules require that the number of students admitted into the Honors Program not exceed twenty percent of the number of students who graduated with a bachelor of science in Administration of Justice the previous year.

More Information

Please contact the Administration of Justice Program at 703-993-8315 or by e-mail at alonetti@gmu.edu