New KU criminal justice program seeks to immerse students in real-world experience

Prospective KU students for years had been requesting that the University add a criminal justice degree. In fact, it was the No. 1 requested degree in the School of Professional Studies. The students finally got what they wanted.

Program director Susan Whitford hopes that her passion for and experience in the field will take the program to new heights.

“All of our teachers, and this is unique to our program, and unique to KU, every single person that teaches in the Criminal Justice Program was a practitioner first,” Whitford said in a recent interview. “All of our adjuncts work in the field that they teach.”

The plan for the Criminal Justice Department was approved in April 2023 and in January, classes were offered online. Students can pursue a Bachelor’s of Arts or Sciences degree online or on campus and each includes as 12-hour concentration in Law Enforcement Leadership or Law and Society.

The department is focused on active learning and engagement. And Whitford intends to grow the program nationally with her experience and connections within the field. The program is already getting students from out-of-state and Whitford hopes that with her network, she hopes to help the students build meaningful connections. Thus far, more than 70 students have declared criminal justice as their major.

“My goal is to build a nationally recognized and respected program. Since I’ve been in the field for over years, this has allowed me to travel extensively and to build a global network,” Whitford said. “That network will be key to giving the students the most immersive, real-world experiences and opportunities.”

Brant Baca, a transfer student, was interested in the field and was passionate about going to KU. However, when Baca began, the Criminal Justice program hadn’t started so he had to seek other ways to fulfill his academic dreams.

When the Criminal Justice program began, Baca switched and said he has had a lot of opportunities open up for him. With Whitford’s help, he has been able to go to the Wichita Police Department where he shadowed a crime analyst and the Homicide Department.

“I spent the first half of my day with a crime analyst and I loved it. Everything that they were doing and talked about I had just learned in this class [Crime Analytics] with Professor Whitford,” Baca said in a recent interview. “Everything she taught and everything we experienced was real world and that really put it into perspective for me.”

Whitford believes in active learning and engagement and she works to integrate them into every part of the program, including the courses, the professors and the speaker series.

“I want them to experience it. I want them to go out to the speaker series, the networking, the career fair, the criminal justice club. I want this to be an experience an immersion into this world,” Whitford said. “So, when they graduate they know what they want to do and what they don’t want to do.”

Whitford’s goal, alongside growing the program, is to inspire students.

“She’s very persistent,” Baca said. “And when she says to reach out to her for help with anything, she is truly genuine about it.”

August Cooney is a senior at the University of Kansas from Kansas City, Missouri, studying journalism.