Public Service

Public Service Majors

Public service is action taken to preserve the public good. Goals in the public service field involve the smooth and safe management of organizations, and addressing individual needs in a range of communities.  Public service helps to maintain the social order, with a commitment to serving others through carefully administered systems, identifying and protecting against potential threats to individual or national safety, and connecting individuals with resources designed to enhance their quality of life. Though any number of majors may provide a foundation for the field of public service, the John Jay majors below focus on public service-related issues and concerns, such as protecting individuals and communities from physical harm or loss of property, managing crises, identifying illegal professional behavior and developing strategies to prevent it, helping people navigate life challenges, or running an agency smoothly and effectively.

Emergency Services Administration

The Emergency Services Administration (ESA) major provides a foundation in fire and emergency services, with related courses in management and administration. The major prepares students for careers in leadership in fire services, emergency management and administrative aspects of emergency medical services. Students select from one of the three specializations, supported by a common core that integrates fundamental principles of emergency services. A capstone course brings students from all three specializations together for an integrative research project.

In the ESA major you will learn about:

  • Systems and techniques that deal with crisis situations involving fire and non-fire-related emergencies.
  • Management systems and administrative methods.
  • Public management theory and practice.
  • Budget planning.
  • Personnel considerations.
  • All the other factors that must be considered in emergency management.

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Fraud Examination and Financial Forensics

The Fraud Examination and Financial Forensics (FEFF) major provides an interdisciplinary program of study that integrates knowledge of accounting principles and techniques with intellectual tools supplied from social science and other disciplines. The aim is to present a more comprehensive view of fraud that extends beyond the limited framework of any single disciplinary framework. Students will have ample opportunity to choose from among a variety of existing fraud-related courses while being required to learn the essential foundational competencies deemed necessary for entry into the anti-fraud professions.

In the FEFF major you will:

  • Evaluate symptoms of fraud and conduct fraud risk assessments based on an evaluation of internal control structures.
  • Effectively use technologies to locate, access, analyze, interpret and report on data using facts and appropriate statistical techniques.
  • Develop an investigative methodology based on the fraud theory and using both inductive and deductive reasoning.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of professional rules of conduct and ethical principles.
  • Communicate findings of a forensic investigation clearly and accurately, both orally and in writing. This includes learning the opportunities and challenges posed by inter-professional and interdisciplinary communication and how to bridge professional frames of reference to facilitate interpersonal collaboration and communication among lawyers, accountants, law enforcement officers, and investigators. Students will also demonstrate some knowledge of each discipline’s lexicon to aid communication among the various disciplines. Students will participate in an interdisciplinary team to develop a unique and creative pro-active fraud prevention program that incorporates and integrates their knowledge of law, criminology, the criminal justice system, and accounting.

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Human Services and Community Justice

The Human Services and Community Justice (HSCJ) major examines issues of social, racial, and economic injustice, and the challenges encountered by diverse and undeserved populations in society.  Through its multi-disciplinary course work and experiential learning opportunities, students become self-reflective, competent and compassionate counselors, human services professionals, advocates, community leaders, and change makers.  The major emphasizes cultivating strong interpersonal skills, ethical and cultural competencies, problem-solving analysis, and professional helping proficiencies essential for human services practice. Students will develop a rich appreciation for diverse human systems and interventions, community-based approaches to justice, as well as advocacy, policy, and administration. Students graduating with a BS in Human Services and Community Justice enter a wide variety of careers in private and nonprofit public human services and community-based organizations, and are ideally prepared for graduate school in social work, psychology, counseling, and related fields.

In the HSCJ major you will:

  • Demonstrate a working knowledge of key concepts in Human Services field and critically interpret, analyze and assess material using different methods of inquiry.
  • Demonstrate the historical development of human services and major trends from its origins to the present.
  • Critically analyze community-based approaches to justice and apply this critical thinking to advocacy, policy and social change on behalf of populations at risk.
  • Critically analyze conditions that promote or inhibit human functioning, collect data, develop and implement effective interventions, and evaluate results.
  • Organize and communicate information clearly and effectively to a variety of audiences through oral presentation, interpersonal communication, written documents, and reports.
  • Display awareness of personal values, attitudes, beliefs, biases, emotions and past experiences including ability to reflect on how these affect one’s thinking, behavior and relationships in all aspects of professional interactions.
  • Demonstrate the ability to apply knowledge and skills in the recognition and understanding of differences including those related to race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, ability, age, religion/spirituality and other expressions of culture and identity.
  • Complete a research project that includes formulating and justifying a research question, collecting and analyzing data, and articulating conclusions.
  • Demonstrate ability to integrate knowledge, skills, values, and ethics in Field Education experience as outlined by the Council for Standards in Human Service Education.

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Police Studies

The Police Studies major provides a comprehensive understanding of the police in the American criminal justice system.  It is a dynamic curriculum that responds to issues of diversity as well as innovations and changes in the social and technological arenas that inform police professionals.  The Police Studies major focuses on the police as an institution with concentrations on management and administration, crime analysis and investigations.  The major provides a solid academic foundation for those students who wish to pursue graduate study. The program also allows students to enter the workplace with the theoretical and applied knowledge to accomplish four simply stated but vitally essential mandates of fair and effective policing:

  • Prevent and reduce crime and disorder in communities
  • Reduce the fear of crime in communities
  • Improve the quality of life in communities;
  • Accomplish these goals in a fair and just fashion
     

In the Police Studies major you will:

  • Use and critically evaluate a variety of practical and theoretical approaches relevant to policing.
  • ​Use and critically evaluate a variety of practical/hands-on/research approaches relevant to policing.
  • Analyze and assess the quality of operations and methods in policing.
  • Integrate policing theory, research and policy in written reports and presentations.
  • Explain and discuss the importance of diversity, ethical considerations and statutory requirements that police and law enforcement professionals encounter as community care takers and providers of public safety that impacts the level of crime and quality of life within the communities they serve.

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Public Administration

The Public Administration major helps you understand the complex business of running public agencies and non-profit organizations as you look at how to develop and implement policy. 

In the Public Administration major you will:

  • Examine the kinds of issues that policy makers have to deal with and how they go about addressing them.
  • Understand the importance of financial and personnel considerations.
  • Study the important role of  information systems in the administration of  public programs.
  • Look at how an institution has vital relationships with other institutions.
  • Choose an area of concentration such as Human Resources Administration, Financial Management, Public Policy and Planning (to name just a few).
  • Choose to pursue an internship or supervised work experience during your senior year.

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Security Management

The Security Management major concentrates on the analysis of security vulnerabilities and the administration of programs designed to reduce losses in public institutions and private corporations. The program prepares students for careers as managers, consultants and entrepreneurs. Consider this major if you are very interested in focusing on preventing or reducing injury or theft in a public, private, or institutional setting.

In the Security Management major you will learn about:

  • Critique and evaluate the origins and current structure of security management within corporations, not-for-profit institutions, and the government.
  • Discern and differentiate concepts of situational crime prevention, rational choice theory, and criminological tenets to understand crime and to evolve countermeasures for the control of loss and disorder.
  • Weigh and assess common areas of occupational proficiency for security executives: data protection, emergency planning and response, homeland defense, and legal liability.
  • Discover and apply tools to be effective in achieving those goals, particularly in areas where current practices are deficient, such as information protection, security technology, legal justice, and safety services.
  • Develop, support, and enhance writing and verbal communication skills through relevant classroom assignments.

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