Development and Implementation of a Capstone Experience in Criminal Justice

Abstract

During the academic year 2015–2016, our department implemented a capstone experience for all criminal justice majors. The contemporary scholarly literature on developing a capstone in a criminology/criminal justice program is limited. Therefore, we focused on developing a capstone experience that would be a high impact practice opportunity, take advantage of the existing Internship option, and be consistent with our program-level learning outcomes. A Senior Seminar course was also developed as an alternative to the Internship and students were provided the option of either. A common assignment was also developed with the goal of assessing program-level outcomes in communication. Preliminary assessment results are discussed along with the challenges and lessons learned in this process.