The Department is home to two academic programs:
Criminal Justice and Legal Assistant Studies.
Criminal Justice
With more than 250 majors, criminal justice is one of the largest programs on campus. The degree requires 51 credit hours including foundation courses outside of the program, core courses, and electives. Students have an assigned advisor to assist them. The Program is housed in the College of Arts and Sciences.
The criminal justice field is interdisciplinary, drawing knowledge from many areas. The degree prepares students for entry level positions in a wide variety of criminal justice and social service agencies and for graduate study in many fields. For example students may pursue careers with the federal government including: Federal Bureau of Prisons case manager; Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms inspector; customs inspector; deputy U.S. marshal; Drug Enforcement Agency officer; Fish and Wildlife Service agent; Immigration and Naturalization officer; Internal Revenue investigator; Postal Service Inspector; and Secret Service agent. Careers in state and municipal law enforcement include deputy sheriff, state police, and municipal police officer. Careers in the court system include the following: bailiff; court administrator; pretrial services; research analyst; victim services specialist. Criminal Justice graduates interested in corrections might be employed in the following positions: corrections counselor; corrections officer; parole officer; pre-release officer; half-way house manager; probation officer; crisis counselor; and runaway/juvenile services counselor. There also are a variety of jobs in private security including investigators and protective services specialist. Thus, a criminal justice major has a wide variety of careers available in a field where there are many job opportunities.
Legal Assistant Studies
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's Bachelor of Science with a major in Legal Assistant Studies is designed for students who wish to enter the legal field and work toward a high quality bachelor's degree. Legal assistants aid attorneys in the delivery of legal services. Through formal education, training and experience, legal assistants have knowledge and expertise regarding the legal system and substantive and procedural law which qualify them to work under the supervision of an attorney. Duties may include: conduct client interviews and maintain general contact with the clients; locate and interview witnesses; conduct investigations and statistical and documentary research; conduct legal research; draft legal documents, correspondence and pleadings; summarize depositions, interrogatories and testimony; attend executions of wills, real estate closings, depositions, court or administrative hearings and trials with the attorneys. The program also welcomes students who hold a two-year degree or who have had some legal and.or college courses. Students in the program must complete the University General Education requirements or transfer the equivalent and 51 hours of Legal Assistant Studies course work and electives to total a minimum of 120 hours. The program has a 27 hour core of required courses and 24 hours from the speciality areas of which 12 hours are selected from the Legal Assistant Studies program, and 12 hours are selected from specified courses in other programs on campus with no more than six of these 12 hours at the 300 or 400 level from any one discipline.
