Meeting Minutes, February 22, 2001

Criminal Justice Academic Advisory Committee

Coastal Georgia Center, Savannah, Georgia

Cathie Hudson, BOR Central Office

Leo Downing, North Georgia College & State University

Dennis Cook, Dalton State College

Dan Guerrant, Middle Georgia College

Don Cheek, Darton College

Eugene Bouley, Georgia College & State University

Dan Lockwood, Savannah State University

Kerry Stewart, Gainesville College

Darryl Toler, Coastal Georgia Community College

Anthony Fitzgerald, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College

Marie Pease Lewis, Macon State College

Chris Ludowise, Georgia Southern University

Hil Harper, Valdosta State University

Terry Norris, Columbus State University

Robbie Friedmann, Georgia State University

Sandra Stone, State University of West Georgia

The meeting was called to order by the Chair, Leo Downing, at 1:30 PM.

1. Old business

The issue of a common Area B course in criminal justice was raised. A survey taken via the CJAG listserv last year indicated a lack of support for the idea. The discussion that followed indicated that a large number of faculty attending the meeting felt the issue was viable and should be pursued. A committee was formed to develop a 1 or 2 hour USG common course that would be applicable to Area B in the field of criminal justice. The committee members are:

Hil Harper, Valdosta State University hharper@valdosta.edu

Anthony Fitzgerald, Abraham Baldwin aftiz@abac.peachnet.edu

Darryl Toler, Coastal Georgia Community College dtoler@bc9000.bc.peachnet.edu

Kerry Stewart, Gainesville College kstewart@gc.peachnet.edu

Faculty interested in offering suggestions or support should contact one of the committee members.

2. BOR Global Grant

Descriptions and applications for the USG "International Global Grants" were distributed. The grants are funded through the BOR with a deadline of April 2, 2001. The grants are intended "to build or strengthen collaborative partnerships that address significant international issues and challenges." Funding ranges between $5,000 and $25,000 per proposal are expected. Funds will be available July 2002 and expended in FY 2002. During the discussion that followed, questions were raised regarding teaching loads and funding centers. It was determined that reduced teaching loads would have to be funded through the grant and that, though the grant will be a collaborative effort, one institution will be identified as the center for administrative purposes. It was also suggested that individuals who develop ideas could seek a partner through the CJAG listserv. Faculty interested in obtaining an application should contact Leo Downing: ldowning@ngcsu.edu.

Robbie Friedmann reported to the committee that the proposal for a PhD in Criminal Justice program at Georgia State University is moving forward with a tentative starting date of Fall 2002. The committee expressed its' appreciation and unanimous support for the establishment of the program.

The issue of including a criminal justice course as an option in the USG Core was again brought before the committee. A historical review of prior attempts to do so followed in which the issues of academic identity and academic control were focused on. In these prior failed attempts, political or "turf" concerns seemed to take precedent over academic applicability. The BOR representative, Cathie Hudson, informed the committee that the process for course approval in the core had been modified and now consisted of one committee, the Council on General Education. The mission of this Council was to insure that the Area E Core remained as much as possible "major free" and focused on general courses. A discussion followed regarding courses currently approved for inclusion in Area E. The committee consensus was that a general criminal justice course was comparable and should be included as an option.

The committee then determined that this attempt would be spearheaded by the three independent criminal justice programs in the state; Georgia State University, Columbus State University and Albany State University. It was proposed that these three institutions seek approval at the institutional level for inclusion in their Area E and then seek BOR approval system wide.

A proposal was made in support of including a general criminal justice course in Area E and was approved unanimously by the committee.

A proposal was made to keep the Criminal Justice Academic Advisory aligned with the Criminal Justice Association of Georgia's academic meeting and was approved unanimously. The CJAG meeting for 2002 is scheduled for 1/31/02-2/2/02 at the Mulberry Inn in Savannah, Georgia. The tentative date for the Advisory Committee meeting is either January 30 or 31. Details will be distributed via the CJAG web site (http://apache.northgeorgia.edu/cjag/cjag.htm) and listserv when they are finalized.

6. Criminal Justice Academic Meetings

CJAG 2001: Members of the committee were invited to attend the meeting being held the next day at the Westin Resort at Hilton Head, SC.

CJAG 2002: The CJAG meeting will be at the Mulberry Inn in Savannah, 1/31/02-2/2/02. A call for papers will be made via the CJAG listserv and mailings.

ASC 2001: The American Society of Criminology will hold their annual meeting in Atlanta this coming November (11/7-11/11) at the Marriott Marquis. The deadline for abstracts is March 1, 2001. Faculty wishing to present will find the call for papers form on the ASC web site: http://www.asc41.com/

Robbie Friedman is a member of the local arrangements committee for the ASC meeting and is requesting that everyone send him ideas relating to "touristy" things to do in your part of Georgia. The committee will distribute the information to ASC members. You can contact Dr. Friedmann at, friedmann@gsu.edu.

Dan Lockwood of Savannah State University is interested in putting together an academic panel on "Crime in Georgia" for the ASC meeting. Anyone interested in participating should contact him ASAP. You can contact Dr. Lockwood at, lockwood@tigerpaw.savstate.edu.

SCJA 2001: The Southern Criminal Justice Association will be meeting in Baton Rouge, LA from 9/26-9/29. Those wishing to participate can find the call for papers announcement on their web site: http://www.scja.net/

7. CJAG website: http://apache.northgeorgia.edu/cjag/cjag.htm

Leo Downing, webmaster for the site, discussed some problems and improvements in the current web site and encouraged everyone to make use of the extensive information available through the site. The site is designed for both students and faculty. He also requested that everyone send him their most recent criminal justice faculty list with their email addresses and specific criminal justice courses taught in order to update the department profiles.

The CJAG listserv will continue to be used to disseminate information regarding CJ issues in Georgia. Committee members were urged to encourage other CJ faculty to sign up for the list and to forward any new email addresses to Leo Downing for inclusion on the listserv (ldowning@ngcsu.edu).

The BOR representative to the committee, Cathie Hudson, reported on three topics.

A. Program Review: Institutions will review all programs over the next seven years and report the results of program review to the Systems Office. All programs will be examined but programs that hit an enrollment "trigger" will be moved up in the process. These trigger numbers are based on the average annual graduation number over a three year period. The number is 15 for undergraduate degree programs and 10 for graduate degree programs. She then distributed a list of graduation figures for criminal justice programs in Georgia FY2000. A number of programs were not included on the list. This was due to a coding error at each institution. If there is a discrepancy between the list provided and your institutional program please contact Cathie Hudson at the BOR: chudson@mail.regents.peachnet.edu.

The list will be distributed via the CJAG listserv as soon as it can be copied. Please examine it closely.

B. Accountability legislation

Legislation is currently being considered to institute accountability standards among the USG institutions. At this time these standards have not been established.

In a joint effort Fort Valley State University and Macon State College have received approval to offer a BS in Criminal Justice in the Macon area.

Leo Downing was the sole nominee and was elected Chair of the Advisory Committee for the 2002-2003 term.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:00 PM. Robbie Friedmann of Georgia State University assumes the Chair of the committee for the 2001-2002 year.

Leo Downing