In UCF's Department of Criminal Justice, students and faculty are part of a nationally recognized online program. These are their stories.
UCF's online criminal justice program is among the best in the country, as it was ranked No. 13 in the nation by Create a Career, a leader in providing career information.
Create a Career made an in-depth analysis of online criminal justice college programs around the nation before arriving at its current ranking.
"We looked at the ratio of tenured to adjunct faculty, the criminal justice rankings provided by the Journal of Criminal Justice Education and U.S. News & World Report, at the overall quality of the college including its rankings, if the criminal justice programs offer a Ph.D. degree program, for notable organizations, including government organizations providing funding and reviewed the course descriptions of the curricula," said Brian Rudin, Create a Career managing editor.
It also looked into the faculty of the college when ranking the programs.
"We reviewed the education backgrounds and accomplishments of the faculty members, including articles published in notable criminal justice publications, editor positions at notable criminal justice related publications and awards received," Rudin said.
One of the factors taken into account was the fact that the UCF program has distinguished professors, such as Roberto Hugh Potter, interim chair and research director for the Department of Criminal Justice. According to the Create a Career website, Potter received the Peter P. Lejins Research Award from the American Correctional Association.
Potter said he knows that the distinction is due to what the program has to offer students.
"I think it reflects the opportunities our degree program offers people in the applied and academic worlds. While we maintain a high level of academic rigor, our graduates are recognized by potential employers as individuals who have the ability to analyze problems at a variety of levels and develop solutions to the problems," Potter said.
Cory Watkins, criminal justice undergraduate program coordinator, said he is not surprised by the ranking and knows that UCF students are prepared for the workforce.
"Our program is very well respected and our students are highly regarded for their skills and knowledge by criminal justice professionals. I can attest as the undergraduate director and internship coordinator that potential employers are very pleased with the graduates and interns we produce in our program," Watkins said. "Our students are getting hired right out of the undergraduate program and in many instances as a result of a successful internship experience."
According to the Create a Career website, the UCF criminal justice program faculty has had its research articles published in journals such as Criminal Justice and Behavior; Criminal Law; Philosophy and Public Health Practice; Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice; International Journal of Criminology and Sociology; and Criminal Justice Policy Review.
Potter is actively working on new research projects, something Create a Career also took into account.
"Drs. [Jacinta] Gau, [William] Moreto and I are doing a National Institute of Justice-funded study of the impact of the prescription drug monitoring program on 'pill mills' and deaths from overdoses here in Florida, partnering with the Attorney General's Office," Potter said.
Other faculty members are also consistently working on new research projects, contributing to UCF's high ranking.
"Our faculty regularly contribute to local and national research. [They] are engaged in a range of locally funded research in juvenile justice, a variety of policing issues and behavioral health in criminal justice settings. We also participate in a range of professional meetings," Potter said.
As for the online aspect of the degree, many people agree that it is different from acquiring a degree in a typical classroom setting. One major difference is the fact that in an online environment it is harder for faculty to get to know the students, which is especially important when helping students get internships or jobs.
"We don't get an opportunity to develop a closer relationship with our online students. We have placed many of our students in great internships, and they tend to be the students with whom we've had interactions and about whom we can write well-informed [recommendation] letters. The instructional process isn't necessarily that different, but the relationships online are much more difficult to cultivate," Potter said.
UCF's criminal justice online program continues to be acknowledged by many, including BestColleges.com, which ranked it No. 3.
The UCF criminal justice online program continues to stay competitive and attract students from all around the world.
"I think we have to offer quality instruction from leaders in the CJ field in a convenient format and at a competitive cost," Potter said. "Bottom line, we have to have faculty who can translate their research into classroom-useful information and assist our students to make the connections to the worlds of employment and further academic study."
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