Department of Criminology

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If you still need assistance, please contact the Graduate Coordinator, Dr Jordan Pickering.

Please contact the Graduate Coordinator, Dr. Jordan Pickering.

A cummulative GPA of 3.0 is preferred for consideration for admission into the graduate program in Criminology. A GPA of 3.0 in the last 60 units of study will also be considered.

Upon completion of all core courses (CRIM 200, CRIM 201, CRIM 203, CRIM 204, and CRIM 254 or 275), students are eligible to select a culminating experience. The student may select from a comprehensive examination (CRIM 295), a project (CRIM 298) or a Thesis (CRIM 299). 

Students may not move from one culminating experience to another. Once the choice is made, that choice remains to be completed in order to obtain a Masters of Science in Criminology.

The comprehensive exam is a written exam completed over a two-day period. Students who choose this culminating experience will provide essay responses to a series of writing prompts, all of which correspond with each of the required courses for the degree. This is a closed note, closed book exam and it is proctored in one of the university’s computer labs over a weekend each semester.

Students' responses are then scored by multiple faculty members through a double-blind grading process. Students must pass all five sections of the exam in order to complete this culminating experience option. The comprehensive examination may only be taken twice. Therefore, students must take the time to prepare for the exam. It is suggested that students spend at least six months preparing for the comprehensive exam.

A project is designed to include the rigor of a thesis, but also grants a measure of flexibility on research methodologies, design, and structural organization for research items often found in Criminology and Forensic Behavioral Sciences subjects of inquiry. Examples of topics that may be appropriate for a graduate project include but are not limited to: program evaluations (where publishing constraints are placed on the student by the agency/agencies involved), curriculum development, and training program modules/videos to support criminal justice agencies and community organizations. A project often has direct and clear practical implications to improve services in the field.

Students who select the project as their culminating experience will need to find a faculty member in the Department of Criminology to serve as their project supervisor. In addition, they will also need to find two additional faculty members to serve as project committee members. Students will work with their project committee to ensure that the proposed project idea is in line with what constitutes a project (as opposed to a graduate thesis) and should not proceed with the project until approval is received by all three faculty members of their committee. Similar to the other culminating experience options, the final product produced in fulfillment of the project requirements needs to be the result of independent work completed by the student.

There should be a structured written format to the project that may mirror that of the thesis (e.g., introduction, literature review, presentation of findings and/or deliverables, discussion, etc.) and this will be decided and agreed upon by the student and the project committee members. The timeline for completing the project will be developed by graduate students in close collaboration and consultation with their project committee members. Lastly, students who select the project will be required to complete an oral defense of their project.

The thesis is a comprehensive, structured document resulting from original student research. The thesis relates to an existing body of theoretical or empirical knowledge in the field and investigates specific, well-defined questions or issues, and tests hypotheses. In their thesis, students will clearly identify the problem, state the major assumptions, explain the significance of their empirical study, set forth the sources for and methods of gathering information, analyze the data, and offer conclusions or recommendations for academics and practitioners in criminology, criminal justice, or related fields. 

The finished product must display originality, critical and independent thinking, appropriate organization and format, clarity of purpose, and accurate and thorough documentation. Critical and independent thinking should characterize every project. Mere description, cataloging, compilation, and other superficial procedures are not adequate. Normally, an oral defense of the thesis will be required. 

The graduate thesis is a published academic document that will be bound and shelved in the Fresno State Library and made available electronically through University Microfilms International. As such, it must be reviewed at the university level (the thesis office in the Division of Research and Graduate Studies) before clearance.