The mission of the Justice Department, University of Alaska Fairbanks is threefold. First, and foremost, is to assist students in preparing to successfully function in the social and economic environments of a modern society. Second, to assist students in the transition from the academic world to the professional field for which they have been prepared through their study of the criminal justice systems of local, state, federal and tribal governments. Finally, to provide the State with research to address the pressing justice needs of the State of Alaska.

In keeping with UAF's mission emphasis on Alaska, the North and its diverse peoples, the Justice Department's instruction and research emphasizes the application of justice issues and concepts to Alaska. Courses emphasize the alternatives which the State of Alaska has chosen to follow. To fulfill the Department's mission of preparing students to meet the challenges of a modern society and the Justice professions, the Bachelor of Arts in Justice curriculum is designed to provide students with, at a minimum, an understanding of the following:

i) the role and function of a criminal justice system in society;

ii) the role, function, organization, and societal issues regarding police, courts, and corrections;

iii) the availability of statutory and case law resources on electronic data bases;

iv) the basic structure of criminological theory and its practical application to addressing issues of crime;

v) the typologies of criminal activity in terms of causation and societal response;

vi) major Justice issues such as privatization of corrections and the usage of imprisonment as a response to crime;

vii) the structural differences of the juvenile justice system as compared to the adult system;

viiii) the special problems generated by juvenile crime such as youth gangs;

xi) the role of cultural conflict in the delivery of criminal justice service to rural Alaska;

x) the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and how the Act has effected State/Alaska Native relationships with regard to community safety;

xi) the State's historical attempts to deliver criminal justice services to rural Alaska;

xii) the crime policies used in the State and the nation at large; and

xiii) alternative policies to address crime, and the various strengths and weaknesses.