Traditionally, criminal justice students with sights set on careers in policing and corrections enrolled in their respective officer academies after graduation. With UCF’s introduction of a new professional track, they’ll now be able to graduate with the state certification in law enforcement or corrections already under their belt.

The criminal justice — professional track bachelor’s program, which launched Fall 2024, will prepare students for professional careers in criminal justice and related agencies. Housed in the College of Community Innovation and Education and designed to provide students with a broad understanding of crime and the justice system, the new track also embeds courses that culminate in a certificate in criminal justice management and leadership.

“In recent years, we haven’t had any direct feed lines from the academic environment directly into an operational position,” says Cory Watkins, associate professor of criminal justice and professional track coordinator in the Department of Criminal Justice. “The professional track aims to equip students for promotion and advancement as they move through their careers in correctional or policing agencies.”

Available both fully online and face-to-face, the professional track follows the same core requirements as the traditional criminal justice bachelor’s program, but it’s tailored toward the acquisition of a criminal justice management and leadership certificate along with the state certification. Students’ electives are more leadership-oriented and public administration-focused, with courses covering topics like budgeting and human resources.

It’s also unique in that it culminates in a mandatory internship — a police or correctional academy. Since these academies don’t always operate on a rolling basis, student sometimes experience a waiting period between graduation and commencement of the 770 or 420 hour academies for state certification, which then takes a few months to complete. The professional track streamlines this process by embedding the academy into the program of study as an internship, allowing students to go right from graduation to employment.

Another benefit of the program is the creation of relationship-building and networking opportunities between students, agencies, communities and the university. Watkins says the need to develop quality law-enforcement and corrections officers has been growing, and this new track can help answer that call.

“Here in Central Florida, the pieces have been there, and we just had to put them together,” Watkins says. “We’ve received tons of support from law enforcement, and it just kept building and building. Why not take advantage of an opportunity where you have a group of academics and practitioners collaborating on community partnerships and finding students jobs?”

The call for law-enforcement officers who have a four-year degree isn’t new. In fact, it’s been part of Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice recommendations since the 1960s. Through meetings with leaders of various local law-enforcement agencies, Watkins and Matthew Matusiak — a former faculty member who helped develop the program — have also been learning of each individual community’s needs.

This will assist faculty in providing more tailored advising services for students, who can be steered toward the professional relationships that might be most beneficial to them and their goals. It also facilitates the creation of a professional pipeline and targeted recruitment pool for law-enforcement agencies, especially one that feeds into serving local communities.

Over time, UCF criminal justice faculty will be able to conduct research and develop a database that tracks the professional outcomes of each cohort. Factors such as job satisfaction, promotions, community satisfaction and more can be used to help determine the program’s measurable impact and adjust as necessary.

“Our hope is to have a greater capacity via program and professional metrics to see and know where our students went and succeeded,” Watkins says. “The ultimate goal for the professional track is to equip students who want to serve their communities as they work toward becoming the next generation of law-enforcement leaders.”

Students who wish to declare the criminal justice professional track should contact Watkins at cory.watkins@ucf.edu.