Academic Catalog 2024-2025

Executive Master of Administration of Justice (Thesis Option), eMAJ

Program Description

The purpose of the Executive Master of Administration of Justice (eMAJ) Program is to provide an online asynchronous program to professionals with at least five (5) years of experience in a justice agency. It provides access to individuals whose options for graduate studies are limited by geographical distance from Texas Southern University or by the timing of eMAJ course offerings. The educational objectives of the eMAJ Program are:

  1. Provide students with a foundation of knowledge that includes the history and theory of administration of justice.
  2. Provide students with knowledge of research methods and data analysis in administration of justice.
  3. To develop students’ awareness of race, class, and gender related issues in administration of justice.
  4. Sensitize students to ethical issues in administration of justice.
  5. Provide students with specialized knowledge about justice agency administration.
  6. Prepare students for management positions in justice and law enforcement agencies.

Admission Criteria

Students with an interest in pursuing a Master of Science degree in Administration of Justice must meet the admission requirements of the TSU Graduate School. An application for admission to the Graduate School is submitted at Apply Yourself Online must be completed and is processed through the TSU Graduate School. Completed applications are referred to the School of Public Affairs for an acceptance decision by the Graduate Admissions Committee in the eMAJ program. Decisions of the eMAJ Graduate Admissions Committee are referred to the Dean of the Graduate School and entered into the Apply Yourself system. Students must also submit the following to the Graduate School:

  1. An Application.
  2. A typed 250-300 word statement of their interest in administration of justice, their goals and objectives.
  3. A recent resume.
  4. Three letters of recommendation.
  5. Two copies of official transcripts from undergraduate and graduate institutions attended.
  6. Evidence of proficiency in the use of the English language.

Undergraduate preparation in either administration of justice, criminal justice, criminology, public affairs, or the social sciences is preferred but not required.

The Executive Master of Administration of Justice has the following requirements:

  1. All students must complete thirty-six (36) semester credit hours. Students can choose a thesis or non-thesis option.
  2. Students must complete Eighteen (18) semester hours of core courses.
  3. Students that choose the thesis option will complete four (4) electives, six (6) semester hours of thesis credits, and a thesis.
  4. Students that choose the non-thesis option must complete eighteen (18) semester hours of elective courses that includes AJ 617 Independent Study and AJ 701 Capstone Seminar.

Summary

Core Curriculum18
Specialization12
Thesis Option6
Total Hours36

Core Curriculum

AJ 500Sem in Admin of Justice3
AJ 501Seminar in ADM of JUS Theory3
AJ 502Seminar in Research Methods3
AJ 503Seminar in Quantitative Meth I3
AJ 504Sem RaceClassGenderCrime in AJ3
AJ 505Seminar on Ethics in AJ3
Total Hours18

Specialization

Select four of the following:12
Police Administration
Crime Lab Administration
Issues In Corrections Administ
Issues in Judicial Adm
Issues in Juvenile Justice Adm
ADM Law for Justice Agencies
Eval Research for Jus Agencies
Issues in Terrorism and AJ
Seminar on Special Topic In AJ
Environmental Crime & AJ
Independent Study
Total Hours12

Thesis Option

AJ 788Thesis I3
AJ 789Thesis II3
Total Hours6

Degree Requirements

The eMAJ is a 36 credit degree program with both a thesis and non-thesis option. All students are required to complete six core courses and four elective courses (see Appendix A for course descriptions). Required core courses for the thesis and non-thesis options, and elective courses are presented below. The current TSU Graduate Student Catalog/Bulletin is available online via the University web-site.

Students are required to complete all degree courses with a grade of “B” or better. A grade of “B-“ or lower is defined as deficient and must be remediated by repeating the course no more than one time to attain the required level of competency. A student who earns more than two deficient grades will be dismissed from the program. This requirement of “B” or better course grades supersedes the Graduate School standard that may accept lower grades under certain circumstances. Any student who earns a grade of D or F will be automatically dismissed from the program

Grades

In order to be declared in good academic standing, a student must:

  1. maintain at least a 3.00 (B) grade point average (GPA) in all courses taken in the eMAJ graduate program, and
  2. maintain an overall GPA of 3.00 for all graduate courses taken at TSU. Grades of B- and below are not acceptable.

This requirement supersedes the TSU Graduate School requirement.

Students who fail to maintain a 3.0 GPA will be placed on Academic Probation. The student on probation who achieves a grade point average of 3.0 or better during the next semester or summer session of enrollment but fails to achieve an overall grade point average of 3.00 (B) will remain on probation. If a student on probation fails to raise his/her overall grade point average to 3.00 (B) or better, exclusive of incomplete grades for two consecutive semesters or summer sessions of enrollment in courses other than a thesis/dissertation writing course, he/ she will be placed on Academic Suspension through the next semester (in this case, excluding summer terms). A student who fails to achieve a 3.00 overall GPA in the next semester of enrollment following academic suspension will be disqualified as a degree-seeking student and will be dismissed from the eMAJ program. This requirement supersedes the TSU Graduate School requirement.