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Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice

The Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice prepares graduates for some of today's most fascinating and rewarding careers in professions that serve the community and the society-at-large in law enforcement, the courts and corrections, and victim advocacy. Students gain a comprehensive understanding of the nature of crime and of the criminal justice system through an interdisciplinary course of study and hands-on learning opportunities, such as participating in internships, observing actual criminal trials in state and federal courthouses and traveling abroad to see first-hand how other criminal justice systems operate.

UT student takes a photo with Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister as part of her internship.

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UT student takes a photo with Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister as part of her internship.

Experiential Learning

The Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice has had a long tradition of encouraging experiential learning. Each faculty member attempts to include an experiential learning component in every class taught. Examples include field trips to jails and prisons including Florida's death row, crime laboratories, mental health facilities and police departments.

Students at the Parliament of Catalonia

During a recent travel course, students examined the criminal justice system in Barcelona, Rome and Athens. Here they are shown in the Parliament of Catalonia.

Students also have opportunities for comparative criminal justice studies by traveling abroad. Faculty have escorted students to countries such as England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Italy, Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and Scotland. Travel abroad courses allow students to compare the enforcement of laws and the functioning of criminal justice systems that is not just found in textbooks, but in the countries themselves.

Undergraduate Program

Gain a comprehensive understanding of the nature of crime and of the criminal justice system with these programs.

Graduate Program

Master of Science in Criminology and Criminal Justice

The Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice offers a Master of Science degree in which students gain the theoretical groundwork along with the research and statistical skills needed to design and evaluate effective public safety policy and practice. 

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Graduate Program

Learn about the M.S. in Criminology and Criminal Justice.

Headshot photo of Jasmine Velez, senior criminology and criminal justice major at UT.

Jasmine Velez has worked two internships full of interactive experiences with the U.S. Marshals Service and with the Office of Inspector General in the U.S. Health and Human Services Department.

Criminology and criminal justice internships provide an exceptional opportunity for students to take what they have learned in the classroom and apply this knowledge to a segment of the criminal justice field. Additionally, criminology and criminal justice students can sample a criminal justice career before graduation through internships in all areas - law enforcement, the courts, corrections, juvenile facilities, investigations, safety and security, drug treatment, family violence, governmental or private law offices, and various other criminal justice-related agencies on all levels of government.

Some of the many organizations our students have interned with include:

  • U.S. and State Attorney’s Offices
  • Public Defender’s Office
  • U.S. Pre-trial Services
  • Nurse Examiner’s Program
  • Family Justice Center
  • Juvenile Assessment Center
  • ACTS Youth Residential
  • Department of Juvenile Justice
  • Guardian ad Litem
  • Drug Enforcement Administration
  • Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Division

Students interested in completing an internship should contact Assistant Professor Gabriel Paez at gpaez@ut.edu.

 

Two men stand in front of an American flag for a photo. Alumni Profile is typed in at the bottom with a red background.

Skyler Howeth '15 (right) is now a special agent for the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service serving at the U.S. Embassy in Cotonou, Benin. He "oversees the protection of the people, property and information assigned to the embassy and helps to implement security-related U.S. foreign policy."

Criminology and criminal justice graduates have been accepted to the best graduate and law schools in the country. Other students who choose to enter the work force have found employment in a variety of criminal justice agencies, such as United States Customs Service, Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, Tampa Police Department, Bay Area Youth Services and numerous criminal justice agencies throughout the nation.

Other Success Stories:

Graduates of the criminology and criminal justice department have held the following positions:

  • Mayor, Tampa
  • Police chief, Tampa
  • Attorney, Winston and Strawn, Chicago
  • Senior psychologist, Florida State Prison
  • Senior fraud recovery officer, Tampa Bay Federal Credit Union
  • Bilingual securities international processing representative, Citigroup
  • Intelligence analyst, FBI
  • Fraud analyst, U.S. Postal Inspection Service
  • Senior probation counselor, Salvation Army Correctional Services

The Criminology Club, which meets twice monthly during the academic year, welcomes both majors and non-majors. Guest speakers who are working criminal justice practitioners in the Tampa Bay area provide presentations on their experiences in the field. Field trips to local criminal justice agencies allow students to see first-hand the operation of the agencies of criminal justice. Students interested in joining the Criminology Club should contact the club's adviser, Dr. Rhissa Robinson, at rrobinson@ut.edu.

The Alpha Phi Sigma National Criminal Justice Honor Society is open to criminology and criminal justice majors or minors who have excelled in the classroom. Alpha Phi Sigma recognizes the academic excellence of undergraduate and graduate criminal justice students and is the only criminal justice honor society that is a certified member of the Association of College Honor Societies and affiliated with the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. Students accepted into the society must have completed at least three full-time semesters with a minimum of four criminology and criminal justice courses, attained a minimum GPA of 3.2 on a 4.0 scale in their cumulative and criminal justice classes, and rank in the top 35 percent of their class. Students interested in applying for the Alpha Phi Sigma National Criminal Justice Honor Society should contact the adviser, Cedric Michel, at cmichel@ut.edu.

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