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Compass Roadmap | Criminal Justice


Begin Your Journey
First Year
Pursue Community
Second Year
Pursue Hospitality
Third Year
Pursue Calling
Fourth Year
Pursue Wisdom
Intellectual
  • Meet department faculty during Wildcat Week
  • Create a CJ-related bibliography in Cornerstone
  • Explore the life of Jesus and the New Testament church in BIBL 101 and 102
  • Explore departmental minors (e.g., public service, legal studies, political science)


  • Support your peers by attending ACU’s URCI Festival
  • Explore the message of the Old Testament in BIBL 211
  • Attend meetings about scholarly and graduate opportunities
  • Gain a variety of perspectives by helping host alumni or guest speakers
  • Apply for the Jack Pope Fellows Program

  • Engage in a faculty-mentored research or creative project
  • Participate in an information literacy workshop
  • Develop your research skills by completing POLS 315: Research Methods
  • Apply for a major scholarship

  • Present at URCI Festival or other conference
  • Complete Capstone course POLC 499: Public Service Internship
Spiritual
  • Experience Candlelight Devo during Wildcat Week
  • Participate in Chapel, including Department Chapel
  • Participate in the life of a local church
  • Complete a Weekend Campaign or Spring Break Service Trip
  • Engage in practices of meal fellowship and testimony

  • Participate in Chapel, including Department Chapel
  • Participate in the life of a local church
  • Learn about service opportunities at the Local Missions Fair
  • Volunteer in the Abilene community
  • Engage in practices of intercessory prayer, pilgrimage and journaling
  • Participate in Chapel, including Department Chapel
  • Participate in the life of a local church
  • Gain hands-on ministry experience on a Global Service Trip
  • Attend Summit to explore your vocational path
  • Engage in practices of silence, spiritual listening and examen
  • Participate in Chapel, including Department Chapel
  • Participate in the life of a local church
  • Receive and extend blessings at the Department BBQ and Senior Blessing
  • Experience Candlelight Sendoff
  • Study ethical behavior in criminal justice in POLC 455: Ethics
  • Engage in practices of friendship, relinquishment and developing a rule of life
Personal
  • Take StrengthsFinder and reflect on your results
  • Become involved in the ACU community by joining a student organization
  • Identify a potential faculty, staff or older student mentor in the department
  • Care for your whole person by developing a Personal Exercise Prescription

  • Take advantage of recreation opportunities on campus (Rec Center, intramurals, etc.)
  • Actively engage in a student organization
  • Develop personal relationships within your department by sharing a meal with peers in a Professor’s home

  • Serve in a leadership role on campus through ACU Leads
  • Lead in a church ministry or local service organization

  • Serve in a leadership role and mentor future student leaders
  • Lead a student club or organization

Cultural
  • Attend events hosted by the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA)
  • Explore opportunities at a Study Abroad interest meeting
  • Attend events hosted by the International Students Association (ISA)
    Study Abroad in Oxford, Leipzig or Montevideo
  • Expand your cultural knowledge by taking a foreign language course
  • Attend events hosted by the Carl Spain Center on Race Studies and Spiritual Action
  • Participate in a World Wide Witness summer internship
    Volunteer or intern with International Rescue Committee
  • Apply to Fulbright, AmeriCorps or International Service Opportunity
  • Lead an OMA, ISA or Carl Spain Center event
Professional
  • Activate your Handshake profile and take the Career Explorer Inventory through ACU’s Career Services
  • Learn new creative possibilities through Creative U
  • Create a resume and discuss your career plan with a professor
  • Update your résumé and participate in a mock interview with Career Services
  • Get a summer job or internship related to your field of interest
  • Identify ACU alumni in your career field of interest

  • Research jobs and graduate schools that interest you
  • Identify faculty members who could write recommendations
  • Create a LinkedIn profile
    Prepare for LSAT and/or GRE
  • Meet with a professor to discuss internship, career path and post-graduate opportunities
  • Finalize your résumé
  • Secure letters of recommendation
  • Apply for law enforcement academies, jobs and/or graduate school
  • Participate in a department-sponsored mock interview
  • Complete first destination survey
  • Take LSAT and/or GREs