College of Education & Human Services

College Student Personnel

Major Matchup Guide for Criminal Justice or Law Enforcement Majors

A major in criminal justice or law enforcement and a master's degree in student affairs align well with a strong foundation for addressing safety, security, and legal issues. Here’s how the two intersect:

  1. Campus Safety and Security: A criminal justice major provides training in law enforcement, crime prevention, and emergency response. This knowledge is crucial for managing campus safety, developing security policies, coordinating with campus police, and handling emergency situations effectively.
  2. Disciplinary Procedures: In criminal justice, you learn aspects of legal processes, investigative techniques, and ethical considerations. These skills are applicable for developing and enforcing student conduct policies, handling disciplinary cases, and ensuring that procedures are fair and consistent.
  3. Crisis Management: A criminal justice major includes training in crisis intervention, risk assessment, and management strategies. Skills in crisis management are vital for responding to student emergencies, supporting students in distress, handling conflicts, and providing support during critical incidents, ensuring student safety and well-being.
  4. Conflict Resolution and Mediation: A criminal justice major offers knowledge in negotiation, mediation, and conflict resolution techniques. These skills are valuable for resolving disputes among students and student grievances, mediating conflicts, and creating a positive and harmonious campus environment.
  5. Understanding Legal and Ethical Issues: In criminal justice, you focus on legal frameworks, ethical issues, and the rights of individuals. This understanding helps in navigating legal and ethical considerations related to student privacy, campus policies, disciplinary issues, discrimination, and compliance with regulations, ensuring that student affairs practices adhere to legal standards.
  6. Community Relations: A criminal justice major emphasizes building relationships between law enforcement and communities. Skills in community relations can be used to foster positive interactions between students and campus security, engage with local law enforcement, and build partnerships that enhance campus safety and community engagement.
  7. Policy Development and Implementation: A criminal justice major provides insights into policy development, implementation, and evaluation in the context of law and public safety. This knowledge is useful for developing campus policies related to student conduct, safety, and welfare, and crisis response, ensuring they are effective and aligned with best practices.
  8. Student Advocacy and Support: In criminal justice, you learn advocacy skills and the importance of supporting individuals affected by crime. These skills are beneficial for advocating for students’ rights, providing support to those affected by issues such as harassment or violence, and ensuring that students have access to appropriate resources.
  9. Training and Development: A criminal justice major includes training on various aspects of law enforcement and legal practices. Knowledge from criminal justice can be applied to train student affairs staff on safety protocols, crisis management, and ethical conduct, improving overall effectiveness in managing student services.
  10. Data Analysis and Reporting: In criminal justice, you analyze crime statistics and report findings. Skills in data analysis and reporting are useful for evaluating campus safety data, tracking incident reports, and using this information to make informed decisions and improve campus policies and programs.
  11. Behavioral Understanding: A background in criminal justice often involves studying behavior and motivations, which can be beneficial when working with students facing behavioral or disciplinary issues. Understanding the root causes of certain behaviors can help you support students more effectively.

The skills and knowledge gained in criminal justice or law enforcement are directly applicable to creating a safe and supportive campus environment, managing disciplinary actions, and developing effective policies and procedures in student services.

Major Matchup Guide Home

Major Matchup

Joey Riosh, LEJA Major
Joey Rios, CSP '26

Undergraduate Major:
LEJA and Forensic Psychology,
Western Illinois University

Both law enforcement and CSP share a common passion for helping people succeed. My experience in law enforcement solidified my commitment to supporting and encouraging people to reach their full potential, especially those struggling to find their footing. My college experience changed my life, and I'm excited to guide college students through their own journey!

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