PHOTO: Sister Mary Pacelli Staskiel, OSF, started the Institute for Law and
Justice at Alvernia in 1974.
When Sister Mary Pacelli Staskiel, OSF, started the innovative Institute for Law and Justice in October 1974 at Alvernia, she aimed to meet the needs of local police officers who wanted to earn their bachelor’s degrees.
Since then, the university has continued to lead in the field, training those who fight crime and ensure justice is served.
“The program has evolved and now encompasses many career pathways,” said Rosemary C. McFee, the recently retired instructor and chair of the department, now known as Criminal Justice Administration, which marked 50 years during the 2024-25 academic year. “We’re not just educating students for careers in law enforcement. There are pages of careers a student can go into.”
The program reflects a growing, more expansive field:
- The Center for Simulated Investigation is a house that simulates crime scenes.
- Instructors bring real-world experience as police chiefs, attorneys and FBI agents.
- Classes tackle modern-day challenges, including gangs, immigration and cybercrimes.
- Experiential learning opportunities abound, taking in not only police work but careers in probation and corrections, forensics, research, criminal and defense law, youth services and more.
“Crime is a fact of life,” McFee said. “We need people who can critically think and adapt to emerging issues, understand systems and work with diverse populations."
In the 2024-25 academic year alone, Alvernia had nearly 100 internships available to criminal justice students, said Malgorzata “Meg” Zuber, associate professor of criminal justice and newly appointed chair of the department. They included experiences at a private foster care placement agency, a fire department, the Berks County District Attorney Forensics Lab and a nonprofit opposed to the death penalty.
“We’re continuously expanding experiential learning options,” she said, “ensuring students are actively engaged in the field.”
‘It challenges students’
Madison Albright ’24 explored several careers before setting her sights on law school. Originally, the 22-year-old Douglassville native considered forensic science, even minoring in biology. But Albright wasn’t thrilled with spending all day in a lab and switched to police work. After working two summers at a department, she realized it wasn’t the profession for her.
As a senior, the criminal justice major used her internship to explore yet another career: defense attorney. She shadowed former public defender Abby Rigdon, an Alvernia adjunct instructor and law clerk for Berks County Court of Common Pleas Judge Thomas G. Parisi.
“If it wasn’t for this internship, I wouldn’t have a job right after graduation and know where I want to go in life,” said Albright, who works in Parisi’s office as a judicial coordinator while she prepares to apply to law school.
Criminal justice majors also benefit from adjunct instructors who work in the field. McFee, for example, worked in the Allentown court system during her time as an adjunct with Alvernia before she became a full-time faculty member. Rigdon, a former public defender and criminal defense attorney, has taught criminal law and other courses for 13 years.
Her defense-oriented perspective, she said, provides students with a contrast to what, say, an assistant district attorney might focus on during law lectures.
“It’s interesting to have both sides of a law being taught,” Rigdon said. “That push and pull ... challenges students.”
For Perkasie Borough Police Chief Robert Schurr ’04, instructors who work in the field are crucial.
“I’m able to bring 35 years of law enforcement experiences, stories, things I’ve seen, into the classroom,” he said. “It’s not just me teaching from a textbook.”
Schurr added that his own Alvernia education, and diverse classes, have made him a better officer and administrator.
“Philosophy classes,” he said, “assisted me in putting myself in somebody else’s shoes and seeing things from their perspective.”
Over the years, criminal justice has expanded opportunities. The 3-year-old Center for Simulated Investigations includes Noelle, a mannequin that allows criminal justice majors to work through scenarios. It’s also popular with nursing, psychology, social work, forensics science and even theater students.
Students also take field trips to the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., and the Pennsylvania State Police Academy in Hershey for a backdoor tour, she added. Increasingly, students conduct research, including three who recently presented at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences conference in Denver on juvenile gangs, community policing and mental health courts.
Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows — a program that allows students to collaborate with faculty scholars — have investigated the impact of Glock switches on gun violence and created tools to detect AI-generated child sexual abuse materials.
“We really try to develop interest in true academic research,” Zuber said, “and graduate studies.”
A new master’s program in criminal justice administration is in the works, she added. The department also plans to promote more interdisciplinary collaborations, such as computer science around cybersecurity or social work around mental health services.
“The department is always looking for new pathways and opportunities to serve students’ interests and the employment needs of the region,” she said. “Criminal justice majors receive versatile academic preparation and training. The skills they gain from our program set them up for success in a range of careers.”
