by Elizabeth Stone and Rachel Williams
In celebration of National Criminal Justice Month, Dr. David Jenks, University of West Georgia professor and chair of criminology, will travel to West Georgia Technical College campuses to share information about the schools’ transfer articulation agreement. The agreement allows WGTC students with an associate’s degree in criminal justice to automatically transfer their credits to UWG and begin working on their bachelor’s degree in the award-winning criminology department. The information sessions will be held during March.
“It’s a fabulous partnership between us and West Georgia Technical College,” Dr. Jenks says. “We’re developing much stronger ties in the area. These sessions will provide WGTC students who want to go on to get a four-year degree with more information about their options, as well as putting a face with UWG so they know where to reach out if they have questions. We already get a number of students coming in from WGTC each year, and we want to increase those numbers. We really want to keep these talented people in the area.”
In 2009, the United States Congress established March as National Criminal Justice Month to “promote societal awareness regarding the causes and consequences of crime, as well as strategies for preventing and responding to crime,” according to the U.S. Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences website. The site goes further to say that awareness is the first step in ensuring that the criminal justice system is as effective as possible. UWG’s Department of Criminology and WGTC’s Criminal Justice Department are dedicated to producing a quality, educated work force, and the transfer articulation agreement will effectively equip those willing and seeking to pursue a career in criminal justice.
Additionally, the transfer articulation agreement aligns with the Complete College Georgia Initiative’s goal of improving retention, progression and graduation among Georgia college students. By working with WGTC to graduate academically well-prepared students, UWG will not only increase awareness and preparedness regarding criminal justice, but will also help actualize the University System of Georgia’s vision for a better-educated state.
UWG’s criminology program is widely conceived to not only include the study of crime and society’s reaction to crime but also the areas of crime and justice that traditionally make up the disciplines of criminology and legal studies. The program provides diverse courses, offered in classroom settings and online. In fact, the UWG online bachelor’s degree in criminology is listed as one of the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.
For more information on UWG’s Department of Criminology, please visit criminology.westga.edu.
