Corrections & Justice Services Program
Winona State’s Corrections and Justice Services major prepares you to work in the field of corrections or justice services. These two fields provide many great opportunities for employment.
The field of corrections relates to the supervision and rehabilitation of offenders.
Correctional professionals work in institutional settings likes jails or prisons, and they also work in community corrections positions like probation and parole.
The Corrections and Justice Services major will give you the knowledge to help offenders and keep the community safe.
There are many different positions that fall under justice services.
These positions usually involve the administration of programs and projects to help victims and offenders heal.
Justice services professionals will also participate in direct casework and management of at-risk populations.
If you want to help people in the justice system, then the Corrections and Justice Services major will offer you those skills.
The Corrections and Justice Services major is 60 credits and you will learn the following skills and knowledge
What’s the difference between a jail and prison? What do you mean by institutional corrections?
You will learn basic foundational knowledge about how the correctional system in the United States works. This will give you the ability to the do the work of corrections while helping you learn where you will best fit into the criminal justice system as a dedicated professional.
We also provide detailed instruction of how justice services operate. We will help you explore careers and discover a job you are passionate about.
How does the juvenile justice system operate? How can you help juvenile offenders?
The corrections major will give you knowledge of the juvenile justice system in courts and corrections.
You will also learn the sociological and psychological theories of juvenile delinquency and how to respond to juveniles in the field.
How do you write a report? How do you conduct an offender assessment?
We take pride in our ability to teach you the skills that employers want. You will learn verbal communication tactics and how to write documents for the field. You will also learn how to conduct offender assessments and tactics to manage offenders in the facility and the community.
We provide instruction in Forensic Interviewing and give an overview of the systems that help and protect victims.
How do you spend a budget? Which offenders should go into which program? Where should you place at-risk youth?
In public professions, you must be able to make decisions in terms of policy and resources. We will give you the knowledge to analyze policy and examine resources, and you will be able to use those skills to make good decisions in the field.
We also give you the basics of personnel management so you can climb the ranks in your profession.
The Criminal Justice program believes that students learn best through hands-on experience. Throughout our curriculum, we focus on building students’ skills in communication, decision-making and critical thinking.
These interactive exercises and assignments will help you be well-prepared for the workforce.
Learning in the Classroom
We offer training in the methods and practice of interviewing people who have been victims of a crime.
Our course Forensic Interviewing of Children features scenario-based training with mock interviews centered around the most recent forensic interviewing protocols.
Not only will you examine verbal de-escalation practices like Verbal Judo, but also participate in mock verbal de-escalation scenarios.
Verbal de-escalation is an important skill for all criminal justice professionals, and helps you practice communication methods.
Writing is one of the most important skills for working in the Criminal Justice field. Our program ensures that students learn the technical writing skills that are necessary for success.
Our program offers training in case summaries, pre-sentence investigations reports, arrest and incident reports, and many other types of writing common to the profession.
The future of criminal justice will be driven by data, which is why we offer our students foundational data analysis skills.
You will learn how to analyze data, conduct research, and use statistical software when making data-driven or evidence-based decisions.
Our corrections majors learn how to conduct and analyze common assessments like the LSI-R or LCSMI-R.
Students then utilize those assessments to make informed decisions and craft management plans in different scenarios.
The first step in landing a policing job is to have a successful job interview.
Our Police Science students complete mock interviews during their senior year to help them succeed in their interviews as they enter the field.
The interview panel features former and current police officers to better prepare the student for future interviews.
Learning Outside of the Classroom
We require every student to complete a semester-long internship in:
- Corrections
- Justice services
- Policing
The internship allows students to gain supervised, hands-on experience. Internships also allow students to form professional connections that may lead directly to job offers upon graduation.
Our instructors bring students on many exciting field trips.
Criminal justice students have visited the Medical Examiner’s Office at the Mayo Clinic, jails, prisons, courts and more.
Our instructors are always looking for exciting new visits for our students.
In the fall semester, the Criminal Justice program hosts an internship and career fair at the WSU.
Over 30 organizations and employers attend the fair, and students can meet with these criminal justice professionals to talk about internships and careers.
507.457.5222
Minne Hall 212
507.457.5400