Rewarding and dynamic professions for those with a strong desire to help people and empower them to change their lives.
Program Information
Criminal and community justice, and social work graduates work with individuals, groups, agencies, and programs to improve social conditions in everyday lives. These programs provide a strong emphasis on ethical decision-making, social justice, and issues related to diversity within society. Working with individuals, the focus ranges from addressing personal or family challenges to creating safer communities. The curriculum cultivates critical thinking, communications skills, and research and theory-based knowledge that benefits graduates for employment and graduate school opportunities. Strongly grounded in an interdisciplinary liberal arts tradition, these programs also offer practical opportunities for students to gain field experience and professional certifications. Small class sizes encourage interaction, discussion, and more individualized attention. Career examples include positions in elderly and accessibility services, family and children's services, social services, victim advocacy, as paralegals/legal assistants, and police, correctional and probation officers.
Top 10
Best college for a bachelor's degree in social work by GradReports
40+
Certified agencies for field placement
100%
Placement rate
Criminal and Community Justice (BA)
Viterbo’s criminal and community justice program provides students with exposure to many aspects of the legal system and careers in corrections, the courts, law enforcement, and victim services. Viterbo students will not only gain knowledge of the structure and function of the criminal justice system, but develop awareness of social issues, ethics, and the role of class, race, and gender in their profession. The major focuses on the importance of communities in addressing and finding solutions for delinquent and criminal behavior.
Criminal and Community Justice (Minor)
Minors at Viterbo University generally require between 15–25 credits upon completion. Transfer course and waivers and/or substitutions could modify these credit totals.
Criminal and Community Justice (BS)
Viterbo’s criminal and community justice program provides students with exposure to many aspects of the legal system and careers in corrections, the courts, law enforcement, and victim services. Viterbo students will not only gain knowledge of the structure and function of the criminal justice system, but develop awareness of social issues, ethics, and the role of class, race, and gender in their profession. The major focuses on the importance of communities in addressing and finding solutions for delinquent and criminal behavior.
Sociology (Minor)
The Sociology minor is designed to promote interdisciplinary collaboration for students majoring in another field. Students find sociology to be a highly flexible and applicable minor to pair with their major field of study in order to investigate theoretical ideas and social relations within institutions and organizations that exist in society. The sociology minor will encourage students to better understand the social relationships we participate in everyday, while also driving students to learn more about the intricacies of sociology as it relates to their major.
Social Work (BA)
Viterbo’s social work program is nationally accredited by the Council on Social Work Education and provides students with the hands-on and experiential learning necessary to prepare them for a rewarding and dynamic profession. As part of this program, students will participate in a 30-hour per week, 450-hour internship in a social service setting working with a trained social work field instructor. Small classes and challenging courses are led by caring faculty who have extensive experience as social workers.
Family Studies (Minor)
The Family Studies minor is an interdisciplinary program which focuses on human development within the family context. The two primary focuses of the minor are on nature of family interactions and family issues, and family interactions within broader social institutions. Students take mainly a mixture of social work and psychology courses, helped with options in nursing, philosophy, and criminal justice classes, in order to fulfill the requirements laid out to become a family studies minor. The minor is beneficial to all students and supports work in a variety of fields including health care, social services, counseling, youth services, teaching, ministry, family law, and business.
Social Work (BS)
Viterbo’s social work program is nationally accredited by the Council on Social Work Education and provides students with the hands-on and experiential learning necessary to prepare them for a rewarding and dynamic profession. As part of this program, students will participate in a 30-hour per week, 450-hour internship in a social service setting working with a trained social work field instructor. Small classes and challenging courses are led by caring faculty who have extensive experience as social workers.
Gerontology (Minor)
The Viterbo University gerontology minor serves the purpose of broadening the student’s understanding of the aging process. This multidisciplinary minor examines the biological, psychological, and social aspects of aging. Gerontology includes courses in nursing, sociology, social work, nutrition and dietetics, psychology, religious studies, biology, and philosophy. The population is aging—in this region, the United States, and the rest of the world. The number of people over the age of 65 is expected to increase from 37.9 million in 2007, to 71.5 million in 2030. Worldwide, there is an expected increase of 140 percent by 2030, representing a global challenge. A minor in gerontology from Viterbo University is an effective way to obtain secondary knowledge that will be extremely transferrable onto the job market, in careers ranging from nursing to social work. The total credits of the minor requirements are 15. Transfer course, waivers and/or substitutions, and prerequisite courses could modify these credit totals.
Realized a career in social work meant she could make a big difference in peoples’ lives
Meet Katelyn Krahn, a junior from Green Bay, Wis. majoring in social work. Katelyn enjoys helping people and discovered that a career in social work was a good match for her interests and skills. She graduates in 2024.
Criminal and Community Justice Student on a Path to Success
Criminal and community justice senior Andrew Kyle, one of Viterbo University's military aligned students, is an example of what happens when students become part of the Viterbo network.
Spotlight on…Nicole (Nikki) Miller ’98
Nikki Miller is a proud 22-year veteran of law enforcement. After graduating from Viterbo in 1998, Miller began working at the La Crosse County Juvenile Detention Facility. She later transferred to the La Crosse County Sheriff’...
Graduate Cassie Wunnicke is Ready to Help People
Viterbo graduate Cassie Wunnicke walked across the Fine Arts Center stage at May commencement into a career she always wanted.
Wunnicke was hired as an advocate for victims with the Gundersen Health System Crime Victims Servic...
Volunteer Year a Fine Fit With Viterbo Values
When Jed Barton ’17 came to Viterbo University, he planned to go on to medical school. During his time at Viterbo, though, he realized medical school was not the path he was meant to pursue, but he wasn’t quite sure how to disc...
Social Work Student is Ready to Make a Difference
Logan Bjerkos, a senior social work major at Viterbo University, admits she was worried about the cost of attending college when she was considering where to study.
“I was terrified going into college, thinking about how I was...
Congratulations to Social Work AHEC Case Competitors
Congratulations to Samantha Boland (junior), far right, and Makenzie Vesbach (senior), far left social work majors who are Wisconsin Area Health Educator Center (AHEC) scholars that participated in a state-wide Interprofessiona...
Emily Aerts ’13
The skills I gained with my degree in social work at Viterbo have allowed me to succeed in a wide range of positions—from small group intervention with elementary students in a charter school to developing and implementing programs from the ground up with a new nonprofit. The close relationships I was able to develop with the faculty allowed them to get to know me and to challenge me to be the best I could be. They provided me with all the tools I needed to succeed. My experiences have taught me that the quality of education you get at Viterbo is unique and not one you are likely to find anywhere else.”
Mandy Bisek ’03
The education received in the classroom at Viterbo accompanied by professors that truly believed in me as a student were invaluable. To accompany that education and confidence with a strong and fitting internship experience set the stage for my present career in juvenile justice.”
Jolene Lansin
Junior social work student
I have wanted to help people since I was 10 years old, and getting a degree in social work will allow me to help individuals in several different ways. I like social work because it provides a number of career paths and will allow me to work within the mental health or medical field. The social work program has helped me gain relationships with classmates and professors and has helped me become more open-minded and accepting of others. I cannot wait to make a difference in someone’s life!”
Faculty
Jennie
Anderson-Meger
Professor, Criminal and Community Justice, Social Work
School of Human Behavior
Tyler
Flockhart
Assistant Professor, Criminal and Community Justice, Sociology
School of Human Behavior
Janet
Holter
Associate Professor, Criminal and Community Justice, Social Work
Program Director, Social Work
School of Human Behavior
