Undergraduate Certificate - Forensics

The undergraduate certificate in Forensics is designed to improve your knowledge of criminal behavior, analysis, profiling, evidence collection and processing, criminal liability, and criminal law. Skilled professionals are needed to serve as criminal profilers, forensic scientists, and crime scene investigators in government and law enforcement agencies. This online certificate is intended for undergraduate students who want to expand their knowledge of forensics without a commitment to a degree program.

Certificate Objectives

Upon successful completion of this certificate, the student will be able to:

• Determine the usefulness of trace elements for the forensic comparison of various types of physical evidence and relate the advantages of evidence collection from the forensic scientist's point of view.
• Explain how the science and art of profiling crime scenes, and subsequently offenders, from physical and psychological evidence is key to the investigation of crimes for which there is no known perpetrator.
• Analyze contemporary practices associated with investigating the manner and cause of sudden, unexpected, and violent death.
• Assess environmental influences and motivating factors that result in criminal behavior.
• Describe how approaches to profiling can be applied to assist in solving crimes.
• Discuss principles of criminal liability and the acts, mental state, and attendant circumstances that are central ingredients in crimes against society, persons, or property.
• Describe why a basic knowledge of chemistry and human anatomy is critical in the world of forensics.