Criminal Justice
Associate of Science (AS)
Online Degree Program

Introduction to Business introduces the business world and the contemporary environment in which it operates. How business operations are managed and organized will be explored and the basic ideas of marketing processes and consumer behavior will be discussed. Additionally, students will become aware of the changing face of business, with its current technological and management information system advances.

Course Objectives:

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Describe the types of ethical and social responsibility issues that affect the contemporary business environment.
• Explain how businesses, operations, and people are organized and managed.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the principles of marketing, including marketing processes, consumer behavior, customer relationships.
• Explain the financial issues facing business today, including money, banking, securities and investments.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the utilization of information technology within a business environment.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to the introduction to business course content.

Principles of Marketing examines the various functions of modern marketing including the market, product and price systems, distribution structure, and promotional activities. The course covers services, nonprofit and for-profit organization marketing including the planning, implementation, evaluation, and control of the marketing effort. Ethics in marketing and socially responsible global marketing are also explored.

Course Objectives:

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Define and describe the multiple factors related to the field of marketing.
• Analyze the various types of market opportunities.
• Examine concepts related to product, pricing, and distribution decisions.
• Demonstrate an understanding of promotion and communication strategies.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to marketing.

Principles of Management serves as an introduction to the discipline of management. It is designed to integrate the accepted theories in the area with real world applications to provide students with the basic knowledge and skills needed for managing others. This course begins with a discussion of the current issues in management and then proceeds to cover the traditional functions of management: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. By the end of this course, students should have an understanding of the needs of modern public and private organizations, including emerging national and international trends.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Examine the role of managers in organizations, and identify the value of studying management.
• Describe managerial challenges and issues relating to ethics, diversity, and social responsibility.
• Demonstrate an understanding of management functions including planning and managing strategy.
• Examine organizational structure and human resources in relation to managing, organizing, and leading individuals and teams within the organization.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to management.

Project Management will introduce students to critical components of project environments. Through numerous examples, students will be able to understand how project management concepts and techniques can be skillfully applied to real-world scenarios. Topics include project management life cycle and process, developing a project proposal, techniques for planning, scheduling, resource assignment, budgeting, and controlling project performance, project risks, project manager responsibilities and skills, project team development and effectiveness, project communication and documentation, and project management organizational structures.

Course Objectives:

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Define and explain the foundations of project management.
• Demonstrate knowledge of project management processes including selecting, planning, performing, scheduling, and controlling projects.
• Understand key factors contributing to project success including the role of project managers, teamwork, and communication.
• Demonstrate an understanding of project resource utilization and management, budgeting, and risk management.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to project management.

Human Resource Management explores the fundamentals of human resource management and its significance to a company’s success. Examined, in detail, are HR functions such as recruitment, retention, appraisal, compensation, labor relations, development, and current trends in the field. Practical skills-oriented concepts and techniques are highlighted throughout the course, as is the emphasis on building and maintaining an engaged and productive workforce.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Identify and define human resource management, and describe major trends and best practices related to the field.
• Demonstrate an understanding of staffing and training issues related to human resource management.
• Develop an understanding of compensation plans and total rewards.
• Recognize the importance of employee and labor relations, social responsibility, ethics, and risk management as they relate to the field.
• Identify the issues of managing human resources on a global scale.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to human resource management.

Small Business Management presents an overview of entrepreneurship, including launching a new venture, managing an ongoing venture, financial planning, taxation, and other topics specific to entrepreneurs. Students will learn the necessary elements to successfully start, run, and manage a small business and be able to apply those concepts and ideas within their business careers, even if they do not choose the entrepreneurial route.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate an understanding of the basics and challenges of small business management including its role in the U.S. economy.
• Recognize the importance of strategic planning and early decisions in small business management.
• Describe key principles of financial and legal management.
• Explain aspects of marketing in small business in relation to products and services.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to small business management.

Operations Management introduces the theory and practice of operations management and explores the systems approach to tie information together. The course explores issues in operations strategy, development, and implementation. Students will be able to apply various management tools, such as inventory management and supply-chain management, to effectively contribute to managing business operations.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Identify and define operations management and assess why it is important to businesses.
• Develop an understanding of product design and process management.
• Demonstrate an understanding of best practices related to process performance improvement, utilizing business forecasting, capacity planning, inventory management, and supply chain design.
• Analyze important issues relating to operations management including location, project management and trends influencing the field.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to operations management.

The United States Health Care System course presents an overview of the history, present, and future of the U.S. Healthcare system. The course describes the role of the government and public health in the delivery and oversight of health care. This course explores the legal, ethical, technological, and financial issues which impact the field of healthcare. The course will examine best practices for long-term care, inpatient, outpatient services, and mental health services. Finally, students will become aware of the various careers offered in the healthcare industry.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Define health, health literacy, the history, overview, and operation of the U.S. Healthcare system.
• Examine the government’s and public health’s role in health care.
• Demonstrate an understanding of long-term care, inpatient and outpatient services, and mental health care within the health industry.
• Examine careers, payers, and financing within the healthcare industry.
• Discuss the legal, ethical, and technological issues which impact the field of healthcare.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to the United States healthcare system.

Essentials of Managed Health Care focuses on health insurance as it impacts the management of healthcare organizations. This course provides a systematic overview of the history of managed healthcare and health insurance in the United States, types of health plans and available payers, the provider network, utilization management, quality management, accreditation, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid managed care, and laws and regulations in health insurance and managed care.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Discuss the major forces shaping health insurance and managed care today.
• Examine the basic elements of health benefits coverage and provider payment options.
• Describe the basic components of utilization management for medical services.
• Explain the Medicare and Medicaid benefit structures.
• Identify key state and federal laws and regulations governing managed care.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to the essentials of managed care.

Cultural Diversity in Health and Illness promotes an awareness of the dimensions and complexities involved in interactions between health professionals and patients from diverse socio-cultural backgrounds. It examines different cultural perspectives regarding health, illness and health care that exists within American society by demonstrating traditional health beliefs and practices among selected populations. Emphasis is placed on the importance of having culturally competent health care professionals to better serve an increasingly diverse population.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Define and describe the importance of cultural and linguistic competence in healthcare.
• Examine the various health domains including health, healing, and familial traditions.
• Analyze trends in healthcare and describe current issues and barriers to healthcare.
• Discuss health care problems in various demographic groups.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to cultural diversity in health and illness.

Medical Law and Ethics explores the study of medical ethics, or applied ethics, for healthcare professionals who often face dilemmas that are not experienced by the general population. The fast-paced growth of medical technology has made the study of ethics even more relevant. The study of bioethics, or biomedical ethics, refers to moral dilemmas due to advances in medicine and medical research. Since medical law and ethics are often interrelated, students need to have a clear understanding of both in order to protect themselves, their employer, and the patient. The study of ethics includes many questions for which there is no one answer.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Define medical law, ethics, and bioethics and examine why it is important to study them.
• Examine the legal environment of healthcare including the legal and court systems and essential laws for healthcare professionals.
• Describe issues related to the healthcare environment regarding liability, confidentiality, and the physician-patient relationship.
• Demonstrate an understanding of medical ethics and describe future trends in healthcare.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to medical law and ethics.

Consumer Behavior explores not only the act of buying, but it also investigates how having—or not having—a product, service, idea, or experience affects our lives, how we view ourselves, and how we view others. This course examines consumer behavior as an ongoing process and includes discussions about current marketing trends—how consumers and technology have affected marketing, and how new marketing has affected consumers and their social environment.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Describe the foundations and process of consumer behavior, and discuss the main perspectives on research in consumer behavior.
• Examine the internal influences on consumer behavior.
• Analyze the factors that lead to consumers choosing and using products.
• Evaluate consumers in their social and cultural settings.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to consumer behavior.

Advertising and Promotions will allow students to see a collective picture of integrated marketing communications. Focus is placed on business-to-business marketing concepts, international marketing discussions, brand management, and various advertising and promotional tactics. This is an integrated approach with a solid advertising core.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Describe and examine the foundations and role of advertising, promotion, and marketing.
• Analyze the communications process and examine the role of consumers, ad agencies, and other marketing communication organizations.
• Evaluate objectives and budgeting for integrated marketing communications programs and describe the process of development.
• Demonstrate an understanding of monitoring, evaluation, and control in measuring program effectiveness.
• Examine regulations, global applications, social, ethical and economic issues related to advertising and promotions.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to advertising and promotions.

Marketing Management presents marketing management as a core business activity involving everyone in the firm, not just the marketing department, and is structured to improve individual, unit, and organizational performance as it continually adapts and adjusts to the marketplace of the 21st century. Topics covered include: the major challenges facing marketing today; virtual, digital, and social marketing management; analytics, metrics, and measurements available through new technologies; customer-centric and service marketing orientations; branding and brand equity; and global, ethical, legal, and sustainable marketing practices.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Define and examine issues currently impacting marketing management (i.e. global, ethical, sustainable, strategy, planning, and competition considerations).
• Discuss best practices for using information to drive marketing decisions.
• Evaluate the essential role of the product experience in marketing.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the key elements of pricing decisions and delivering the value offering.
• Examine the role of promotion and advertising in communicating the value offering.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to marketing management.

Introduction to Psychology introduces the methods and findings of contemporary psychology and investigates how psychological science can be applied to the world around us. Emphasizing the need for scientific and critical thinking, topics include a survey of biology and behavior, sensory processes, human development, learning and motivation. Emotion, personality, psychological disorders, therapy, and social interaction are also examined to provide students with a solid understanding of the facts, principles, and theories which make up the field of psychology.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Discuss the historical foundations of the field of psychology, the function of the brain on behavior, stages of human development, and psychology as a scientific field of study.
• Demonstrate an understanding of processes related sensation and perception, states of consciousness, conditioning and learning, memory, cognition, language, and intelligence.
• Examine motivation and emotion, sexuality and gender development, and personality development.
• Evaluate psychological disorders and psychotherapies.
• Examine key concepts related to the fields of health psychology and applied psychology.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to the field of psychology.

Psychology of Gender examines the biological, cultural, and historical factors that influence the development of gender roles and identities. Stereotypes of masculinity and femininity are examined, and the impact that these ideas have on our lives at the personal, social, and institutional levels are explored.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Define sex, gender and gender identity, and discuss how gender movements have shaped history.
• Examine biological, social, cognitive, emotional, and communicative factors related to gender development.
• Evaluate issues related to gender stereotyping, discrimination, and power.
• Describe the factors related to gender that affect health and wellbeing.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to the psychology of gender.

Developmental Psychology introduces students to the scientific study of patterns of change and stability that occur as we move through the process of human development from conception to death. Various theories of development will be presented and an emphasis on physical, emotional, cognitive, and psychosocial changes throughout the lifespan will be discussed.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Define human development, discuss how it is studied, and examine the major theories and stages of development from infancy to late adulthood.
• Examine the genetic, environmental, and physical factors related to the varying developmental stages.
• Evaluate the factors of sensation, perception, cognition, memory, learning, intelligence, creativity, and language related to the varying developmental stages.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the self, personality, social and moral development, gender roles, sexuality, emotions, attachment, and relationships related to the varying developmental stages.
• Demonstrate an understanding of unique factors related to developmental psychology, psychopathology, death, and bereavement.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to developmental psychology.

Social Psychology offers students an in-depth look at how people come to understand themselves and others in a social context, with considerable emphasis on society’s role in social psychology. Each chapter in this course will introduce students to key individuals within the realm of social psychology whose research has made a significant contribution to the field.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Define the field of social psychology and describe its foundations, key terms, and theories.
• Examine theoretical perspectives related to social psychology and research methodologies.
• Evaluate the individual in society including stratification, self and identity, and socialization over the life course.
• Analyze the various areas of social life.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to social psychology.

Personality Theories presents an in-depth look at a number of classical and current personality theories, providing an explanation and interpretation of personality development from several different theoretical approaches. Classic theory is integrated with the latest research and current topics, preparing students to apply theoretical approaches to better understand the particular individuals and personalities they may encounter in their professional and personal lives.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Define personality and examine perspectives in theories of personality.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the major psychodynamic personality theories.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the major humanistic/existential personality theories.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the major biological/evolutionary, and learning-cognitive personality theories.
• Describe and examine the research methods used in personality research.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to theories of personality.

Abnormal Psychology offers students an integrative approach to the study of psychopathology, drawing on contributions from various disciplines and theoretical stances. Through clinical case studies, the psychosocial and psychophysiological factors of abnormal behavior are examined, along with the exploration of prevention efforts and research-based advancements in the field.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Define abnormal behavior and describe the historical conceptions of abnormal behavior.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the various types of psychological disorders, their causes, and types of treatment.
• Examine the processes of clinical assessment, diagnosis, and research in psychopathology.
• Evaluate the legal and ethical issues that pertain to mental health services.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to abnormal psychology.