Criminal Justice
Prepare for a career serving communities, solving complex problems, and helping shape a fair and effective justice system.
Schreiner University’s Criminal Justice program combines the study of law enforcement, courts, corrections, crime, and public safety with the critical thinking, communication, ethical reasoning, and leadership skills needed for careers across the criminal justice field.
Students learn from faculty with professional experience in law enforcement, federal agencies, criminal investigations, law, probation, public service, and related fields while exploring how criminal justice intersects with society, ethics, history, psychology, and the humanities.
Why Study Criminal Justice at Schreiner?
Criminal justice is about more than understanding laws and procedures. It requires professionals who can think critically, communicate effectively, make sound decisions, understand people, and respond thoughtfully to complex situations.
Schreiner’s Criminal Justice program gives students a broad understanding of the justice system while encouraging them to examine the larger social, ethical, and human issues connected to crime and public safety.
Students can explore areas such as:
- Criminology
- Criminal investigations
- Correctional systems
- Forensic science
- Crisis intervention
- Juvenile justice
- Cybercrime
- Law enforcement
- Ethics and decision-making
- Research in criminal justice
- Courts and legal systems
- Community and public safety
The program is designed to prepare students not simply for their first job, but for long-term careers and leadership within the criminal justice field.
What You’ll Learn
Criminal Justice students develop an understanding of how the criminal justice system operates and how its different components work together.
Coursework can help students build knowledge and skills in:
- Criminal justice systems and institutions
- Criminology and theories of crime
- Criminal investigation
- Correctional systems and practices
- Forensic science
- Crisis intervention
- Juvenile justice
- Cybercrime
- Research methods
- Ethical decision-making
- Communication and critical thinking
- Leadership and problem-solving
Students also examine criminal justice through the humanities, exploring how history, philosophy, culture, ethics, and society influence the way justice is understood and practiced.
Learn From Experience
One of Schreiner’s strongest advantages is the professional experience faculty bring into the classroom.
Criminal Justice students have opportunities to learn from instructors with backgrounds that include:
- Local and federal law enforcement
- Criminal investigations
- United States Secret Service operations
- Police leadership and supervision
- Criminal defense and prosecution
- Juvenile and adult probation
- Crisis intervention
- Public safety
- Military service
- Counseling and trauma-informed care
That experience helps connect classroom concepts with the situations, decisions, and responsibilities criminal justice professionals encounter in the field.
What Can You Do With a Criminal Justice Degree?
A Criminal Justice degree can prepare students for careers across law enforcement, courts, corrections, federal agencies, investigations, public safety, advocacy, and related fields.
Potential career areas include:
- Police Officer
- Sheriff’s deputy
- Criminal investigator
- Probation officer
- Corrections officer
- Federal law enforcement
- Homeland security
- U.S. Marshals Service
- Secret Service
- FBI
- DEA
- Forensic evidence and investigation
- Private investigation
- Security and protective services
- Juvenile justice
- Victim advocacy
- Child protective services
- Emergency and public safety
- Court and legal services
A Criminal Justice degree can also provide a strong undergraduate foundation for students considering graduate study or law school.
Learning Beyond the Classroom
Criminal justice is a field where experience matters.
Schreiner students can extend their education beyond traditional coursework through internships, experiential learning, professional networking, research, and travel-study opportunities.
One distinctive opportunity has been Schreiner’s partnership with Lewis University for travel study at the University of Tennessee Forensic Anthropology Center, commonly known as the “Body Farm.” Students have gained hands-on exposure to forensic anthropology, osteology, skeletal analysis, trauma, and crime-scene recovery while working alongside students and faculty from other institutions.
Experiences like these help students connect academic study with the practical realities of criminal justice and forensic investigation.
A Different Approach to Criminal Justice
Schreiner’s program examines criminal justice not only as a system of agencies and laws, but as a field centered on people, communities, ethics, and decision-making.
Students are challenged to consider questions such as:
- Why does crime occur?
- How should communities respond to crime?
- What responsibilities do criminal justice professionals have?
- How do ethics influence decisions?
- How should professionals respond to people experiencing crisis?
- How can justice institutions build trust within communities?
- How are law, society, history, and culture connected?
This broader perspective helps prepare graduates to approach their careers with judgment, professionalism, empathy, and a strong understanding of the communities they serve.
Is Criminal Justice Right for You?
Criminal Justice may be a good fit if you:
- Want to serve your community
- Are interested in law enforcement or investigations
- Enjoy solving problems and analyzing information
- Are interested in law, courts, or public policy
- Want to work in federal, state, or local agencies
- Are interested in forensic investigation
- Want to understand why crime occurs
- Are interested in corrections or rehabilitation
- Want a career involving leadership and public service
- Are considering law school or graduate study
Students do not have to know exactly where they want to work when they begin the program.
The goal is to provide a broad foundation that can lead to many different careers within criminal justice and public service.
Let’s Talk 💬
Contact
I am the Director of the Criminal Justice degree program at Schreiner University with a Doctoral Degree in Adult Continuing Education with a focus in Human Resource Development from Northern Illinois University.
I recently retired from Lewis University, Romeoville Illinois as a tenured professor after teaching traditional undergraduate, graduate, and online courses in the Justice, Law, and Public Safety Department. I am a twenty-five-year veteran of law enforcement retiring as a Commander with the Elk Grove Village Police Department, Illinois. As a career law enforcement professional, I was involved in street patrol, criminal, and youth investigations with a specialization of child sexual abuse and domestic violence. I have presented internationally and nationally on law enforcement topics. I am published in both law enforcement and educational journals.
In my spare time, I love to travel with my husband Rafael, who is a retired police officer from Des Plaines Police Department. I love to work out by cycling, lifting weights, and running.
After graduating from Texas A&M University in 2000, I became a licensed Texas Peace Officer and soon started working the streets of Bryan, TX. After four years of patrol, I was promoted to the Criminal Investigation Division and filled the open position in the Crimes Against Persons section. Throughout my career, I held many training courses educating the public and sworn officers about child abuse prevention and investigation.
After retiring in 2018, I obtained a masters in professional counseling. My calling to help others continues with providing therapy for adults and children who have experienced trauma, grief, anxiety, or change of life issues. I also enjoy teaching as an adjunct professor with the Schreiner University Criminal Justice Program.
Dr. Jason Boswell serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Schreiner University, where he teaches a multitude of courses in criminal justice to include ethics, social diversity, and crisis intervention.
A veteran of the United States Air Force and a former Senior Special Agent and Task Force Supervisor with the United States Secret Service, Dr. Boswell brings more than two decades of distinguished federal law enforcement and protective operations experience to his academic work. During his tenure with the Secret Service, he led complex criminal investigations involving financial crimes and counterfeiting, supervised multi-agency task forces, and coordinated protective missions for national and foreign leaders. As a firearms instructor and mentor, he developed new-agent training programs and contributed to the modernization of agency policies and procedures.
Dr. Boswell’s research focuses on trust in law enforcement, ethical decision-making, leadership in policing, and the application of ecological systems theory to law enforcement and community relations. His teaching philosophy emphasizes experiential learning, integrating professional experience, theory, and ethical reasoning to prepare students for careers in criminal justice and public service.
In addition to his academic role, Dr. Boswell serves as an Adjunct Instructor with Sonoran Desert Institute where he teaches a variety of courses related to the Firearms Technology degree.
I am an adjunct professor at Schreiner University in Kerrville, Texas. I hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Wildlife Science from Virginia Tech, and a Juris Doctor Degree from Texas A&M School of Law. I helped develop the Criminal Law curriculum at Schreiner University and love to help students understand the intricacies of the Texas and American criminal justice systems.
When I’m not teaching, I work as a Felony Defender at the Hill Country Regional Public Defender Office. The HCRPDO covers five counties in the Texas Hill Country, and I have been with that office since June of 2021. I have handled hundreds of felony and misdemeanor cases for the office in the last few years – everything from murder charges to simple theft charges. Prior to my career at the HCRPDO, I handled family law and probate law matters in Fort Worth, Texas.
I love spending my spare time at my family’s ranch in Boerne, Texas, and you can find me hunting, fishing, or golfing. Lucky for me, my fiancé, Madison, loves to be outdoors too.
I am a Kerrville native that graduated from Schreiner University with a Bachelor’s in English and a Master’s in Education. I currently work for Kerr County Juvenile Probation. Prior to that, I worked for Kerr County Adult Probation and served in The United States Army.
Heather Stebbins has served as the Kerr County Attorney since March 2014 and has been a licensed Texas attorney for twenty years. Stebbins is a Kerrville native who attended St. Edward’s University and Baylor Law School.
She was briefly associated in a private practice in Kerrville before joining the Kerrville City Attorney’s Office as the municipal prosecutor and later was appointed Assistant City Attorney, where she served until she became the Kerr County Attorney.
Stebbins has practiced juvenile law since 2005.
