Criminal Justice and Forensic Investigation Moves to Ramona Wood
01/04/2024
by Buffy Lockette
The JSU Department of Criminal Justice and Forensic Investigation is starting the new year in a new home. The department moved the week before winter break to the Ramona Wood Building, located on Trustee Circle next to Angle Hall
The department has been located throughout its existence in Brewer Hall, constructed in 1972 for the newly formed Northeast Alabama Law Enforcement Academy and the former JSU School of Law Enforcement. When the university purchased Building 3181 at Fort McClellan in 2005 after the Army base closed, Criminal Justice and Forensic Investigation remained in Brewer while the academy moved to JSU McClellan.
With the College of Education and Professional Studies moving in Fall 2023 from Ramona Wood to the former site of Kitty Stone Elementary School – now known as the CEPS Complex – the administration offered the vacant building to the growing Department of Criminal Justice and Forensic Investigation
“Since the addition of the Bachelor of Science in Forensic Investigation in 2017, the department has grown in faculty, students and course offerings,” said Dr. Dean Buttram, professor and head of the department. “Additionally, a couple of new degree programs are in the works, which should continue the growth trend. Therefore, we needed more space. President Killingsworth graciously allowed us to acquire the recently vacated Ramona Wood Building – not only giving us the desperately needed room to grow, but also placing us in the center of the campus in the heart of campus life. We can't wait to see what the future holds for us!”
The dean’s office for the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences remains in Brewer Hall, as well as the Department of Social Work and the Department of Sociology and Political Science. Campus will be invited to tour Criminal Justice and Forensic Investigation during an open house planned for later this spring.