High school counselors, students and family were greeted with goody bags of information and the chance to sign up for door prizes as at the career fest and open house hosted by Missouri Southern’s criminal justice department, Sept. 27.

Richard Spencer, assistant professor of criminal justice, introduced department faculty and talked about new degree programs and career opportunities for incoming students.

Spencer told the students working with people, job variety, working out of the office, helping people and serving the community are all advantages of earning a degree in criminal justice. He also talked about the care and concern staff members have for the students.

“We have a vested interest in seeing you succeed,” Spencer said. “You are the reason why we’re here.”

Derek Skaggs, director of enrollment services, gave the audience information on admission to the University, and Dennis Herr, associate professor of computer information science, talked about computer forensics.

When the introductory speeches were over, the audience was broken into four groups led by Sheila Gaolbraith, administrative assistant for criminal justice administration; Trina Scott, professor of criminal justice administration; J.J. Spurlin, assistant professor of criminal justice; and Spencer, to tour the building. The groups were shown classrooms, the photography lab, the crime scene investigation unit, the firearms training simulator (FATS) room and the University’s state-of-the-art crime scene investigation room.

The career fest included representatives from area police departments and other places of employment for students graduating with a criminal justice degree. The representatives answered questions about their organization, showed videos, and handed out applications for employment.

A pizza lunch was provided for those in attendance and the prize drawings were held during lunch.

Full campus tours starting at the Anderson Justice Center were also given after lunch.

Organizers were pleased at the turnout for the event, with attendance estimated at 300 or more. Organizers said that number was the highest attendance the event has seen in its 10-year history. The department works year-round on the event, sending out information across the four-state area, starting in the late spring so high school students and faculty are able to mark it on their calendars.

“We feel that we have an outstanding program,” said department head Wayne Thomason. “If we can get them on campus and they can see it, we can get them to attend.”