MS in Criminal Justice Administration

MS-CJAD Program Admission Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university
• Minimum GPA of 3.0 in last 60 credit hours
• Resume showing relevant professional experience
• Essay (see section below for details)
• Three letters of recommendation from employers and/or professors

Conditional Admission Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university
• GPA of 2.75-2.99 in last 60 credit hours
• Resume showing professional work history
• Essay (see section below for details)
• Other evidence:
• Three letters of recommendation
• Three years or more of employment experience or other qualifications in the criminal justice field, including government, private, nongovernmental, and nonprofit organizations
• Conditional enrollment will include a demonstrated academic achievement of a 3.0 GPA or better during the first 12 credit hours.

Essay

This should be a three-page, APA-formatted essay that explains who you are and how you would bring about positive social change to society with an MS-CJAD from UT Permian Basin. Describe yourself, your motivations for pursuing the degree, and your expectations of the program. Discuss relevant past experiences, such as your education, jobs, community activities, leadership roles, awards, and honors. Explain how these experiences have shaped you and prepared you for our MS-CJAD program.

Official Transcripts

Official copies of transcripts must come directly from the school in a sealed envelope and should be mailed to:

UT Permian Basin
Graduate Studies Office
4901 E. University Blvd.
Odessa, TX 79762

Official transcripts in electronic format can be sent to gradstudies@utpb.edu. 

Supporting Documents

All supporting documents related to a graduate program, such as letters of recommendation, essays, statements of interest, resumes, professional work experience, and awards should be sent to the Graduate Studies Office:

UT Permian Basin
Graduate Studies
4901 E. University Blvd.
Odessa, TX 79762-0001

Electronic versions of supporting documents may be emailed to gradstudies@utpb.edu. 

Application Fee

The application fee is $40.
Veterans and Active Duty Military: Your application fee is waived for this program. Get details now.

Exit Exam

A comprehensive exit exam must be taken in the last term of this program. 

Faculty Bios

Tina Jaeckle, PhD

Adjunct Faculty
College of Arts and Sciences
jaeckle_t@utpb.edu

Dr. Jaeckle is a licensed clinical social worker in Florida and has nearly three decades of mental health and crisis intervention experience. She serves as the mental health/training coordinator for several critical incident stress management and hostage/negotiation teams and consults with numerous law enforcement agencies nationwide. Dr. Jaeckle received a BS in criminology from Florida Southern College. She also completed a Master of Science in criminal justice with a speciality track in the behavioral sciences and a PhD in the humanities and social sciences with an emphasis in conflict analysis and resolution (speciality in crisis management) from Nova Southeastern University.

David DiBari, PhD

Adjunct Faculty
College of Arts and Sciences
dibari_d@utpb.edu

Dr. DiBari joined UT Permian Basin in 2019 and has been teaching criminal justice since the early 2000s. He has also served as a police academy instructor for new cadets and is an experienced doctoral dissertation chair and university research reviewer. He specializes in forensic interviewing, sexual assault investigation, and crisis intervention techniques and response. He designed crisis intervention training for police officers in southern Colorado, a nationally recognized program that was featured in Police Chief magazine. Dr. DiBari has held multiple positions in law enforcement, most notably police department director. He has published in textbooks and peer-reviewed journals on the topic of sexual assaults.

Dusty Gallivan

Adjunct Faculty
College of Arts and Sciences
gallivan_d@utpb.edu

After serving in the U.S. Air Force for four years, Mr. Gallivan earned a degree in finance from UT Permian Basin before attending Baylor Law School, where he earned his MBA. He has been an attorney for more than 20 years. Mr. Gallivan started off his career working with the Ector County district attorney, where he prosecuted habitual criminals. Following that, he was in private practice for about 12 years before going back to the Ector County District Attorney’s Office. He is currently the district attorney for Ector County. In January 2016, Mr. Gallivan began his adjunct teaching career at UT Permian Basin, teaching eight different courses, including a graduate-level course.

We’re pleased to offer program admission on a rolling basis.

Rolling admission refers to our process of accepting and evaluating applications as we receive them and moving any applications that miss the deadline to the next semester. However, if you want to enroll in courses for a specific semester, you will need to make note of the application deadlines found below. If you don’t complete your application and submit the required materials by the deadline, your application will be rolled over to the next semester.