Each year, six faculty members from across campus receive recognition through the Missouri State University Foundation Awards for Excellence. Two of the awards this year went to Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice faculty members: Dr. Aida Hass was honored with a Foundation Award for Excellence in Teaching. During her career at MSU, Aida has designed 21 unique courses covering a diverse range of topics , such as criminal psychology, ethics, media and crime, juvenile delinquency, victimology, and prison life. She also has served as a capstone project, thesis, and practicum mentor to ..read more

Representatives from Sigma Mu Sigma, MSU’s chapter of Alpha Phi Sigma – the national honor society recognizing criminal justice student achievement, received two awards at the 2023 Student Talent and Recognition (STAR) Awards Ceremony. Sigma Mu Sigma won the STAR Award for Outstanding Academic and Educational Program. A presentation from the Springfield Police Department on body worn cameras inspired their nomination. This presentation was held in the fall semester as part of the National Criminal Justice Honor Society’s theme of the year, which was police reform. Congratulations to Ivy Yarck ..read more

Sigma Mu Sigma, the MSU chapter of Alpha Phi Sigma (APS) international criminal justice honor society, had an impressive showing during March at the APS Annual Conference in National Harbor, Maryland. Several of our criminology students won elections to the APS Executive Board, including Josh Woolfington (President), Cassandra Engle (Secretary), and Sierra Sankey (Treasurer). Our Sigma Mu Sigma Chapter had a host of other impressive feats: Josh Woolfington and Cassandra Engle participated on a 3-member quiz bowl team that won 1st place Cassandra Engle won the graduate paper writing competitio ..read more

At the MSU Board of Governors’ Programs and Planning Committee meeting in February, Professors Bill Sandel and Brett Garland gave a presentation on building agency partnerships in criminal justice. Dr. Sandel’s recent partnership with the Missouri Department of Public Safety – Office of Homeland Security and the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center in Texas served as the presentation centerpiece. The Board also heard about several other initiatives, including: Drs. Jennifer LaPrade and Ethan Amidon leading a fairness in sentencing project for the Missouri Supreme C ..read more

The demand for active shooter training has become a need in many law enforcement agencies across America. Thanks to a recent partnership between Missouri State University and Missouri Department of Public Safety, the state of Missouri will now have access to free active shooter training. What will the training include? Dr. Bill Sandel, assistant professor of criminology and criminal justice at Missouri State, explains the partnership and the ALERRT curriculum. Missouri will now have access to free active shooter training Read the full transcript ..read more

The Video and Film Office at Missouri State has just released a short promotional video spotlighting our Criminal Investigation Undergraduate Certificate. Have a look! If you know anyone interested in this certificate, please have them contact Dr. Michael Kyle (MichaelKyle@MissouriState.edu ..read more

The Missouri State University Board of Governor has awarded two of its six Citizen Scholar designations to criminology students. Samara Mizutani Cesar and Blake Rief are the criminology students who received this award. We are very proud of both Samara and Blake for all their contributions to our program, the university, and the broader community. Read more about this on the MSU News Page ..read more

Enrollment in the Master of Science in Criminology and Criminal Justice program has reached its second highest point in its 16 year history! During the past few years, our graduate program has been refined to place a stronger emphasis on our core pillars of leadership, policy analysis, and decision making. This has included the development of two key certificate programs, one on crime prevention and the other on criminal justice leadership. Drs. Michael Kyle and Bill Sandel, respectively, were the developers and currently coordinate these certificates. The Department very much appreciates the ..read more

Recently, Samara Mizutani Cesar, a graduate assistant with the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, was invited by Springfield Sister Cities Association to serve as a bridge between Isesaki, Japan and Springfield. During her trip, Samara was able to do the following: Pay a courtesy visit to the mayor of Isesaki (Springfield’s Japanese Sister City) Wear Japanese traditional clothes made in Isesaki Experience a traditional tea ceremony Participate in a Japanese festival and carry a mikoshi (portable Shinto shrine) Learn from Japanese gardeners about several traditional landscaping te ..read more

The Mock Trial team had its first tournament over the October 7-9 weekend, hosted by University of Arkansas. Twenty MSU students with majors from all over the university competed in four rounds against teams from University of Oregon, Western Kentucky University, Colorado Mesa University, Cornell College, and more. Awards won: Missouri State B Team won SIXTH PLACE in the tournament Victoria Ogbeifun won an Outstanding Attorney award AND Victoria Ogbeifun won an Outstanding Witness award Several competitors were 1-2 points away from an individual award. It was a fantastic start to the season ..read more