Department of Government and Justice Studies

Dr. Jeff Holcomb joined the Department of Government and Justice Studies in 2008. He earned a B.S. in Criminology from Auburn University and a M.S. and PhD. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Florida State University. His areas of teaching and research focus on community corrections and criminal justice discretion.  He is a former probation and parole officer.  During graduate school, he assisted with a prison program for men with histories of violence against women.  Dr. Holcomb is a co-author of Criminal Justice: The Essentials (Oxford University Press) and recent article publications have appeared in Criminology and Public Policy, Federal Probation, Journal of Criminal Justice, and Criminal Justice Studies. For the past several years, Dr. Holcomb has taken students to Washington, DC to meet with a variety of intelligence and criminal justice agencies as well as legal and social justice advocacy organizations.  Recently, he and several Criminal Justice professors collaborated with undergraduate and graduate students to evaluate the effectiveness of a training program for federal probation officers. Dr. Holcomb taught previously at Florida State University and Bowling Green State University where he was named a University Distinguished Faculty Advisor. Other notable achievements include back-to-back-to-back titles as Chili Grand Master at the annual GJS Department Chili Cook-Off, seeing Def Leppard in concert when the drummer still had both arms, successfully replacing a toilet in his house, and not taking for granted how fortunate he is to work with great students and colleagues at App State.

Areas of Expertise & Interest:

• Community corrections
• Supervision of offenders in the community
• Ethics and the exercise of criminal justice discretion
• Punishment and the sentencing of offenders

Education:

• Ph.D., Criminal Justice & Criminology, Florida State University 
• M.S., Criminal Justice & Criminology, Florida State University 
• B.S., Criminology, Auburn University

Courses Taught:

• Graduate courses
  • Administration of Justice
  • Research Methods
• Undergraduate courses
  • Justice in DC
  • Probation and Parole
  • Writing in Criminal Justice
  • Criminal Justice Ethics
  • Crime Prevention
  • Introduction to Criminal Justice