Ball State University graduate student Dan Ashment said he hasthree career options following graduation. He could either work incivil aviation homeland security, in port authority or in theintelligence field, he said.
But with the increase in the demand for criminal justiceprofessionals, no matter which career he chooses, he said he'spretty sure he'll find a job.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the demand forcriminal justice professionals will rise more than 29 percent by2010.
"Basically what I've seen, baby boomers have started retiring,so positions will be opening up soon," Ashment, who is workingtoward his master's in public administration with a criminaljustice concentration, said.
The future availability of positions is one of the reasons hechose to study criminal justice at Ball State, he said.
Ball State's Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, thelargest one in the state, has already seen an increase in criminaljustice majors within the last two years, James Hendricks,department chairperson, said.
According to the Alumni Center, 32 criminal justice majorsgraduated from the department last December, while 69 graduated inMay and 43 in July. According to the Academy of Criminal JusticeSciences, criminal justice is the fastest growing major in thestate, with nearly 350,000 undergraduates and graduates majoring init nationally.
"It's a growing field," Hendricks said. "Homeland security iscertainly part of that demand."
Jerome McKean, associate professor of criminal justice andcriminology, said the increasing need for qualified people to workin the criminal justice system is providing more job opportunitiesfor students. Ball State's department prepares students well forthe field, he said.
"We have a good reputation among both other universities andcriminal justice agencies," McKean said. The criminal justicedepartment also allies with the university's political sciencedepartment in offering the public administration masters with acriminal justice concentration, which has attracted many studentsin the past three years, McKean said.
Ashment said he looked at nearly 40 colleges across the nationbefore stumbling across Ball State -- the only university he foundwhere he could combine public administration and criminal justicein one program, he said.
"It was exactly what I was looking for," Ashment said.
With the higher demand for criminal justice professionals,Robert Fey, associate director of public safety, said theUniversity Police Department has seen an increase within the past10 to 15 years in the number of job candidates throughout the statewho have come to the department with a criminal justice degree.
The Muncie Police Department has also seen a rise in officerswith criminal justice degrees in the last three years, DeputyPolice Chief James Peters said.
Peters said the police department now even offers a payincentive to draw candidates who have degrees and is also willingto pay tuition for officers who decide to pursue theirs.
One of the greatest things about having a degree in criminaljustice is the variety of career opportunities and newertechnologies available, Fey said. For example, police departmentsare constantly improving radar, surveillance, detection equipmentand computer-driven programs with crime analysis and casemanagement.
"That's one of the delightful things about the professionsavailable to folks in criminal justice," Fey said. "It's no longerlimited to being a beat officer, detective or a crime fighter inthe purest sense. Technology has opened up lots of different areasof specialization."
And with so many positions opening up, Ashment said he islooking forward to finding out what he really wants to do when he'sfinished at Ball State.
"I've always been interested in public service," Ashment said."I think in the public area I can do a lot to help people in a lotof ways."
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