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UCFV celebrates firsts with new MA in criminal justice

The University College of the Fraser Valley is celebrating a number of firsts with its new Master of Arts (Criminal Justice) degree. Not only is it the first master’s-level degree to be offered by UCFV, it’s also the first MA in criminal justice to be offered in Canada, and the first master’s degree to be launched by a university college in British Columbia.

University colleges were given a mandate by the provincial government to begin to offer applied master’s degrees in early 2002, and UCFV has been developing its MA (Criminal Justice) since then.

“UCFV is very pleased to receive approval from the Ministry of Advanced Education for our first master’s degree program” says Dr. Wayne Welsh, UCFV’s Academic Vice President. “It’s an innovative program that received high praise from both an external review team and from the provincial Degree Quality Assurance Board -- a panel of public and private sector experts -- that reviews degrees in British Columbia to ensure compliance with the Degree Authorization Act.”

UCFV will now begin work on a couple of other master’s programs. The first group of 24 students in the new MA will enter classes for the two-year program this September. Eventually, the program will enroll 48 students.

The new master’s degree builds on UCFV’s strong reputation as a centre for studies and research in criminal justice and criminology. UCFV already offers a well regarded BA in Criminal Justice and a two-year diploma, as well as a Bachelor of General Studies in Policing in partnership with the RCMP. Many of the people interested in pursuing the new degree are UCFV alumni.

“What’s special about our degree is that we’re merging theory, research, and practice, so it’s ideally suited to people who want to advance their careers in the criminal justice system, as well as those who want an academic career with a special focus on criminal justice,” says Dr. Darryl Plecas, UCFV’s Criminology and Criminal Justice department head.

There are other institutions in Canada that offer master’s level studies in criminology, but only UCFV’s degree will have a special focus on the criminal justice system, rather than crime in general.

“Although criminology is always an important component of what we do at UCFV, we also work within the context of trying to improve the level of knowledge of those working in, and the overall quality of, the criminal justice system,” says Plecas.

Students will also benefit from working in close proximity to UCFV’s criminal justice research lab, affiliated with the Institute for Canadian Urban Research Studies, and the Institute for Safe Schools of British Columbia, also located at UCFV. Applied research is an important part of bachelor’s degree-level studies for crim students at UCFV, and will be even more so for the master’s-level students.

The MA (Crim Justice) students will attend classes at UCFV for three weekend days per month in five semesters over the two years. They will complete either nine courses plus a major project, or seven courses plus an internship and major project.

Plecas says it’s important to offer advanced-level criminal justice education because the system is under pressure to do more with less.

“People working in the system need to be more capable and resourceful than ever before. The process of conducting criminal investigations and then moving them through the system is more complicated and expensive than ever, and procedural safeguards to ensure people within the system are treated fairly really puts pressure on people working in criminal justice,” he said. “We have mega-cases such as Air India and the Robert Pickton case, and organized crime groups that are able to work globally. Criminal justice has never been so complex.”

Current students and alumni have been waiting with anticipation for the announcement of this degree, as have people working in the system.

As for the criminal justice/criminology faculty at UCFV, “We’re all ecstatic,” said Plecas. “It’s great that we’ve got a vote of confidence from an independent review panel and are seen as the place where we can make this happen. Our goal is to provide the best criminal justice education in the world. The new MA is simply one more venue through which we will deliver on that goal.”

UCFV will begin taking applications for the program at the end of January and continue until March 15.

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