New Undergraduate Curriculum - Fall 2007

Exciting revisions to requirements for the undergraduate ADJ major went into effect with the 2007-08 catalog year. These changes only affect students who advance their catalog year to 2007-08 and new students admitted for the 2007-08 catalog year.

The new requirements provide ADJ students greater flexibility in the choice of classes and also provide the option of obtaining a concentration in either criminal justice or law and society.

Below is a summary of the revised ADJ major requirements and information on which students would benefit from advancing their catalog year to the new requirements.

FALL 2007 REQUIREMENTS

In addition to satisfying the university and college general education requirements, students must complete the following 67 credits with a minimum GPA of 2.00.

16 credits of core courses: ADJ 100, 300, 303, 306, and 424

36 credits of approved electives chosen from the following, including
at least 24 credits of ADJ courses: ADJ 301, 302, 304, 305, 307, 308,
400, 401, 402, 403, 404, 405, 406, 407, 408, 409, 422, 423, 425, 460, 461, 462, 471, 475, 490, 491, 492, 499; GOVT 101, 103, 320, 420, 421, 452; PHIL 151, 311, 326; PSYC 100, 211, 231, 314, 325, 326; SOCI 101, 301, 308, 310, 315, 352, 401, 475; SOCW 400, 410, 423, 430; CONF 300, 302, 320, 330, 393

15 credits of skills for the justice professional chosen from the
following: ADJ 479/480; foreign language courses that develop or
require foreign language skills and are taught in the language; GEOG
311; GOVT 305, 309, 351, 355, 356, 357, 359, 367, 366, 376, 400, 416, 459, 464; PSYC 260: SOCI 405, 410; STAT 362, 455, 463, 464; SOCW 200, 301, 323, 324, 351, 352, 425, 430; any CS course; any IT course

ADJ majors have the option of obtaining a concentration by completing 15 of their 36 elective credits within one of the following areas:

Concentration in Criminal Justice: 15 credits chosen from ADJ 302,
304, 305, 307, 400, 401, 402, 403, 404, 408, 409, 425, 471.

Concentration in Law and Society: 15 credits chosen from ADJ 301, 308, 405, 406, 407, 408, 422, 423, 460

Credits earned in ADJ 490, 491, 492, and 499, when relevant, may be applied to a concentration with prior written approval of the director of the BS in Administration of Justice.

The concentrations are a particularly exciting aspect of these new requirements; if you complete a concentration, it will appear on our degree transcript. Note, however, that you can only declare one concentration even if you complete all of the necessary courses for both. This is a university-wide restriction on concentrations. It is not enough to take the necessary courses to receive a concentration: you must declare your intent to complete a concentration with the Registrar's Office.

These new requirements provide students with greater flexibility in selecting classes and address common problems that have emerged under the current requirement structure. In particular, note that within the skills category you no longer must complete all 15-credits in a single skill area but simple must complete 15-credits from the list of approved classes. This may include any combination of courses, including internship credits. For example, a student may take 6-credits of a language and complete the remain 9-credits as part of an internship (i.e., ADJ 479/480).

It is important to note, however, that this system also restricts the number of credits earned in non-ADJ classes to 12-credits within the elective category and 15-credits within the skills category. Also note that the following courses that are applicable to the major under the current system will not be applicable under the new system:

PSYC 260 Basic Research Methods in Psychology
PSYC 313 Child Psychology
PSYC 322 Behavior Modification
PSYC 327 Psychology in the Community
PSYC 328 Psychology in the Community Lab (1 credit)
PSYC 362 Psychology of Women
PSYC 372 Physiological Psychology
PSYC 561 Behavioral Biology of Substance Abuse
SOCI 309 Marriage, Families and Intimate Life
SOCI 332 Sociology of Urban Communities
SOCI 373 The Community
SOCI 441 The Sociology of Aging
SOCI 575 Women and the Law (keeping 475)
SOCW 435 Social Work with the Aged
PHIL 100 Introduction to Philosophy

Students for whom this new requirement structure is not recommended include the following:
(1) Students under the old 2+2 system;
(2) Students admitted to GMU prior to 2002;
(3) Students who have taken courses on the above list of classes that
will no longer be applicable to the major;
(4) Students who have taken more that 12 non-ADJ credits across
categories 1, 2, and 3; and
(5) Students who plan to graduate in December of 2007.

If you do not fall into one of the above categories, you are encouraged to consider changing to the new requirements. To do so, you should first discuss the implications for your degree plan with one of our academic advisors (call 703.993.8314 or email Alisha Manandhar at amanandh@gmu.edu) and then file for an advancement of your academic catalog year.

Please contact Dr. David Wilson or one of our academic advisors if you have questions about these changes. Also, remember that these changes only affect you if you want them to.

Transitions often have unexpected complications. Please be patient with us as we move to this new system. We believe that this new requirement structure will better serve your needs and those of future ADJ majors.