Criminal Justice Academics in Brownsville
Historically, the offering of criminal justice coursework in the city of Brownsville can be traced back to two separate and distinct institutions that would eventually merge to form the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College.
Criminal justice studies began in Brownsville in 1971 when Texas Southmost College (TSC) created a program that focused on offering professional practitioners courses in law enforcement technology. Students interested in law enforcement careers could achieve an Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) Degree. The curriculum was vocationally focused with courses in traffic law, patrol administration, and report writing. In 1985 the program at TSC was divided into three categories of study: core courses, courses that comprised a law enforcement tract, and courses that comprised a corrections tract. These tracts were developed to meet the needs of students interested in achieving a baccalaureate degree.
In 1987 the criminal justice curriculum at TSC was changed. Most of the applied technical courses were removed from the curriculum in favor of courses that focused on juvenile procedures and the family code, police and community relations, and additional composition courses. By 1988 the program name was changed from "law enforcement technology" to "law enforcement." In 1991 the program of study underwent yet another change. The change re-designated the three tracts of study to include a criminal justice generalist tract, a law enforcement tract, and a corrections tract.
Criminal justice courses were also offered by the Pan American University at Brownsville (PAUB). The PAUB had been located in the city of Brownsville since 1973 but did not begin offering criminal justice courses until 1979 when the school established a criminal justice program. The program of study at PAUB was the first to offer upper-level criminal justice courses.
Even though the PAUB had been co-located with TSC in Brownsville since 1973 the university and the community college were separate and distinct institutions. The lack of integration between the criminal justice programs at each school presented several challenges to students. There was a lack of agreement and consistency with respect to the transfer of course credit from the community college to the university. These problems were resolved in 1992 with the advent of the UTB/TSC partnership. The state of Texas effectively dissolved the PAUB and established the University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB). Legislation also permitted the UTB to enter into a partnership with the TSC. This established partnership facilitated a more smooth transition of community college criminal justice students into upper division coursework offered by the university.
The Department of Criminal Justice under the authority of the UTB/TSC partnership currently offers AAS degrees and baccalaureate degrees in criminal justice (BSCJ). The baccalaureate degree allows students to specialize in either police administration or correctional administration. These degrees are designed to prepare graduates for leadership and managerial positions in criminal justice agencies. The department also offers an on-line degree program in partnership with criminal justice programs at several other universities in the University of Texas system. Faculty in the criminal justice department also teach graduate courses that can be applied toward the Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies degree and the Master of Public Policy and Management degree offered by the university.
The department currently is comprised of eight full-time faculty members, six of which hold a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice or Sociology. Two of the department faculty members are ABD. Current faculty members hold terminal degrees from Florida State University, Kansas State University, Sam Houston University, Texas A & M, the University of California-Riverside, and the University of Cincinnati.