Course Description:

History of the development of corrections in Europe and America; survey of current prison conditions and operations, including pre-release, probation and parole.

Course Objectives:

To gain a better understanding of:

1.  The early history of prisons in America and Europe 

2.  Corrections belief systems/ideologies

3.  Criminal sentencing

4.  The judicial review process for criminal cases

5.  County jails and detention centers

6.  Probation and intermediate sentences

7.  Imprisonment

8.  The state, federal and private prison systems

9.  The management of a prison

10.  Male, female and juvenile offenders

11.  Special offenders (elderly, violent, geriatric and sex offenders)

12.  Prisoner rights

13.  The death penalty

14.  Parole and community corrections

15.  The future of corrections

Module 1 - Historical Perspective, 

Weeks 1 & 2, Chapters 1, 2, & 3

Professor Question 1, Student Posted Question 1, Student Posted Question Answers 1, & Exam 1

            

Module 2 - The Court Process

Week 3, Chapters 4 & 5

Professor Question 2, Student Posted Question 2, Student Posted Question Answers 2, & Exam 2

 

Module 3 - Alternative to Imprisonment

Weeks 4 & 5, Chapters 6, 7, & 8

Professor Question 3, Student Posted Question 3, Student Posted Question Answers 3, & Exam 3

 

Module 4 - Correctional Systems (1)

Week 6, Chapters 9 & 10

Professor Question 4, Student Posted Question 4, Student Posted Question Answers 4, & Exam 4

 

Module 5 - Correctional Systems (2)

Week 7, Chapters 11 & 12

Professor Question 5, Student Posted Question 5, Student Posted Question Answers 5, & Exam 

 

Module 6 - Correctional Functions

Weeks 8 & 9, Chapters 13 & 14

Professor Question 6, Student Posted Question 6, Student Posted Question Answers 6, & Exam 6

 

Module 7 - Institutional Clients (1)

Week 10, Chapter 15 & 16

Professor Question 7, Student Posted Question 7, Student Posted Question Answers 7, & Exam 7

 

Module 8 - Institutional Clients (2)

Week 11, Chapter 17 & 18

Professor Question 8, Student Posted Question 8, Student Posted Question Answers 8, & Exam 8

 

Module 9 - Rights of Correctional Clients

Week 12, Chapter 19 & 20

Professor Question 9, Student Posted Question 9, Student Posted Question Answers 9, & Exam 9

 

Module 10 - Reintegration Systems & A Link to the Future

Week 13 & 14, Chapter 21, 22, & 23

Professor Question 10, Student Posted Question 10, Student Posted Question Answers 10, & Exam 10

A knowledge of WebCT is necessary for successful completion of the course.

Access to Word for Windows and Power Point.

Please visit the Virtual Bookstore to obtain current textbook information for this course:

 http://rodp.bkstr.com

All of your assignments will be completed in Word for Windows and all of your presentation will be viewed in Power Point, thus you are required to have access to Microsoft's Word for Windows and Power Point.

The minimum requirements can be found at http://www.tn.regentsdegrees.org/students/hardware_software.htm. Specific hardware requirements for this course include...

The minimum requirements can be found at http://www.tn.regentsdegrees.org/students/hardware_software.htm. Specific hardware requirements for this course include...(A list of software the student is required to purchase or download for the course, Real Player, Media Player, Acrobat Reader, Microsoft Office, etc).

Please see the separate page inside the course to find instructor contact information as well as a statement of virtual office hours and other communication information.

Each student will complete ten (10) exams.  There will be an exam offered starting at noon on Friday of each week scheduled (please refer to the class schedule below).  The Exams will cover all material reviewed prior to the exam, but not before the previous exam.  Students will have 20 minutes to complete each exam.  Exams must be completed by 5:00pm the Sunday of the week it is assigned.  Each Exam will consist of 20 questions.  Each question is worth one point.  The Exams count as a total of 200 points towards the final grade.   It is each student’s responsibility to log on and complete Exams during these time frames.  Each student will have ONLY ONE opportunity to complete each Exam and submit it to the professor; however, students will be allowed to access Exams to see their mistakes after all students are finished with the Exam.  It is important that students log on to take Exams at a computer that will not shut down or have problems.  If problems occur and the student cannot submit their Exam, they will need to notify the instructor ASAP and second chances will be given at their discretion.  

Students are expected to complete all assignments.  If a student fails to log on and respond to discussions on a weekly basis in the discussion room, it will be reflected in their grade.  Students are also required to complete all ten (10) exams in the time allotted by the professor.  It is the responsibility of each student to complete these assignments on time.  When and where you complete the assignments is not important, but the due dates are carved in stone.  If a due date passes and an assignment is not complete, the student will receive a zero (0) on that assignment or exam.  Late assignments are not accepted; furthermore, there is no extra credit in this course.  

Assignment	Points Per Assignment	Total Point Value	Grading Scale
10 Exams	20 points a piece	200 points	A – 500 – 450
10 Professor Created Discussions	10 points a piece	100 points	B – 449 – 400
10 Student Created Discussions	10 points a piece	100 points	C – 399 – 350
Weekly Responses to Student Created Discussions	10 Points a piece	100 points	D – 349 – 300
		500 Points Total	F – 299 – 0

1) Course Requirements

Each student is expected to log into the class a minimum of three times a week, for one hour a day, for a total of three hours a week. Students are expected to complete all reading assignments, web pages assignments, Professor Discussion Questions and Student Question Responses by Sunday at 5:00pm of each week but, Student Posted Questions must be posted by Wednesday at 5:00pm each week assigned. Exams must be completed by Sunday at 5:00pm of each week assigned. Each week students are expected to access the assignment section, class discussion section and complete any assignments for that week.

2) Exams

Each student will complete ten (10) exams.  There will be an exam offered starting at noon on Friday of each week scheduled (please refer to the class schedule below).  The Exams will cover all material reviewed prior to the exam, but not before the previous exam.  Students will have 20 minutes to complete each exam.  Exams must be completed by 5:00pm the Sunday of the week it is assigned.  Each Exam will consist of 20 questions.  Each question is worth one point.  The Exams count as a total of 200 points towards the final grade.   It is each student’s responsibility to log on and complete Exams during these time frames.  Each student will have ONLY ONE opportunity to complete each Exam and submit it to the professor; however, students will be allowed to access Exams to see their mistakes after all students are finished with the Exam.  It is important that students log on to take Exams at a computer that will not shut down or have problems.  If problems occur and the student cannot submit their Exam, they will need to notify the instructor ASAP and second chances will be given at their discretion.  

3) Class Assignments

1) On the Assignment link students will find their assignments for each week. There will be ten (10) Professor Questions during the semester worth 10 points a piece. Students will be expected to respond to the Professor Questions by submitting a downloaded answer completed in Word for Windows. All answers are due by 5:00pm on the Sunday of the week the question was assigned.

2) Students will also be expected to create ten (10) discussion questions by Wednesday at 5:00pm during the weeks assigned. The Student Posted Discussion Question must follow the topics of the chapter(s) they are reading for that week. In other words, do not ask death penalty questions when the chapter is about policing. To create a Student Posted Question, students must hit the ‘compose’ button. If a student creates a question through a reply to another question, it will not count. Also, students are responsible for reading each student posted question to ensure they are not posting a duplicate question. If a duplicate question is posted, it will be deleted and the student will not receive credit for that week’s question. This assignment is worth 10 points.

3) Finally, after the deadline has passed for the Student Posted Questions, the professor will compile each of the posted questions into a Word for Windows document. The document will then be uploaded in the Assignment Board for that week and the students will need to download the document/assignment and answer the question. All of the Student Posted Questions must be answered within the document posted on the Assignment Board for the student to receive credit for the assignment. The student must complete the assignment in Word for Windows and then upload their completed assignment into the Assignment Board by the due date. This assignment is worth 10 points.

Each student is expected to log on to the class a minimum of three times a week for a total of three hours. Students are expected to complete all reading assignments, web pages assignments, professor discussions and student posted replies by Friday at 5:00pm of each week. Student posted questions must be posted by Wednesday at 5:00pm each week assigned. Exams must be completed by Sunday at 5:00 of each week assigned. Each week students are excepted to access the week’s assignment section, class discussion section and complete their exam if assigned. 

Students will be tracked by the professor to determine the number of times and the amount of time they access the course.

The time spent in the classroom (or in this case, online) is critical to the learning process. Proper classroom decorum enhances learning in many ways. Open discussion of the material is encouraged; however, students must respect diversity, be tolerant of the views of others and be sensitive to a variety of viewpoints. Accordingly, behaviors that disrupt or interfere with an atmosphere consistent with learning will not be accepted. Specifically, language that is sexist or racist will not be tolerated. Students are expected to respect one another when responding to comments made in the discussion rooms and through email. 

• Columbia Guide to Online Style by Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor
• Citation Styles Online http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/cite6.html

Library

The Tennessee Virtual Library is available to all students enrolled in the Regents Degree Program. Links to library materials (such as electronic journals, databases, interlibrary loans, digital reserves, dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps, and librarian support) and Internet resources needed by learners to complete online assignments and as background reading must be included in all courses. 

Students With Disabilities

Qualified students with disabilities will be provided reasonable and necessary academic accommodations if determined eligible by the appropriate disability services staff at their home institution. Prior to granting disability accommodations in this course, the instructor must receive written verification of a student's eligibility for specific accommodations from the disability services staff at the home institution. It is the student's responsibility to initiate contact with their home institution's disability services staff and to follow the established procedures for having the accommodation notice sent to the instructor.

Syllabus Changes

The instructor reserves the left to make changes as necessary to this syllabus. If changes are necessitated during the term of the course, the instructor will immediately notify students of such changes both by individual email communication and posting both notification and nature of change(s) on the course bulletin board.

Technical Support

If you are having problems logging into your course,
timing out of your course, using your course web site tools, or other technical problems, please contact the Eduprise Help Desk by calling

1-866-550-7637 (toll free)

or go to their website at:

http://askrodp.custhelp.com