Justice Higher Education at the University of Alaska: A Curriculum Study

Abstract

The University of Alaska has been offering courses in police and correctional subjects since the mid-1960s. The University's entrance into this justice field was to take advantaqe of program opportunities rather than to develop comprehensive academic programs, and consequently the curriculum has developed incrementally — a course at a time. The Criminal Justice Center [later the Justice Center] was established in 1975 to oversee and coordinate the University's efforts in the field of justice. One of the top priorities identified by the Center was the reorganization of undergraduate curriculum offered by the University in justice fields. This document contains the materials developed as a basis for the curriculum planning. Original drafts of each of the chapters of this report were reviewed by a Curriculum Advisory Committee comprising all full-time faculty in the University of Alaska's justice programs during the 1976–1977 acacdemic year, representatives of UA faculty from related fields, and experts on justice higher education from outside the state. This group endorsed (1) philosophy and goals for University of Alaska justice programs, (2) a justice curriculum design for the University, and (3) the essentials of the basic standards for University's justice programs. The goals and curriculum prepared as a result of this project were processed through the University's academic system and approved by the University's Committee on Academic Policy in May of 1977, making these goals and curriculum models officially the basic policy of the University in the area of Justice academic programs. Proposed standards awaited statewide University of Alaska approval at the time of the report.