In September, the College of Criminal Justice will institute a doctoral program, vaulting Northeastern into an elite group of just twenty-two institutions across the nation to offer such a program.

Approved last fall after two years of planning, the program will build on the university’s strength as a practice-oriented, urban institution by linking criminology and public policy, according to Criminal Justice dean Jack Greene.

“All who go through the program will need good theoretical understanding of the causes and nature of crime, and how to measure it, as well as what that means for public policy,” says Greene.

“That will link us in a very important way to one of Northeastern’s missions, which is the link between the theoretical world of the university and the day-to-day world of policies and government,” the dean says.

Students will be able to focus on the nature of crime and its measurement; institutional areas such as corrections or juvenile justice; or social control, including security and policing.

The program will be a big draw for top-flight faculty members interested in research, Greene says, adding, “The places that do the most research are the places that have doctoral programs.” The college has already used the program to recruit six strong new faculty members, he says.

Greene expects seven or eight students will enroll in the new program next fall. When they graduate, he says, “these will be the people who will join the professoriate and help to move criminology forward.”

• E Line Story Index