Benefits of Arcadia's M.S.F.S.

FEPAC Accreditation - Instructor Experience - Internal Internship - Curriculum - Research Opportunities - Research Projects

FEPAC Accreditation:

Forensic Science Education Program Accreditation Commission

The Master of Science degree program was awarded full accreditation by FEPAC through the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS). FEPAC’s mission is to maintain and to enhance the quality of forensic science education through a formal evaluation and recognition of college-level academic programs. The primary function of the Commission is to develop and maintain standards and to administer an accreditation program that recognizes and distinguishes high quality undergraduate and graduate forensic science programs. Visit FEPAC

The Master's Program at Arcadia University is only one of eleven FEPAC accredited master's programs in the country. Due to this accreditation, the graduates of our program are provided with a competitive advantage in employment opportunities. Students applying to jobs from an accredited program most often take preference over students from a non-accredited program.

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Instructor Experience

All of the instructors of the Forensic Science courses are experienced forensic scientists, currently practicing in their respective disciplines. This allows for unique opportunities for students both in the laboratory and courtroom.

Faculty

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Internal Internship

Students are guaranteed a 15-week internal internship opportunity at the Forensics Mentors Institute where they are exposed to actual casework and samples. They are placed within an atmosphere which provides them with real world experiences in the fields of Forensic Biology, Forensic Toxicology, and Forensic Chemistry.

Curriculum:

5 weeks of Forensic Toxicology, 5 weeks of Forensic Biology, 5 weeks of Forensic Chemistry

Students will be exposed to case histories, sample analysis, and courtroom testimony in each of the 3 disciplines. The internal internship is designed to take place in the spring semester of the second year so that our students are prepared on a practical level to enter into the field of forensic science.

As part of the internal internship experience, the students are taken on field trips in order to provide them with a more in depth look at the careers options in and surrounding forensic science. Field trips include:

• Philadelphia Medical Examiner: Students are given a lecture by the Chief Toxicologist in Philadelphia County as well as a tour of the laboratory facility.
• Philadelphia District Court: Students are given the opportunity to sit on different trials and proceedings in order to gain insight into how forensic science actually fits into the courtroom. Past students have sat in on DUI proceedings, sentencing hearings, as well as murder trials. They have heard testimony from suspects, victims, as well as experts in the field.
• Autopsy: Students are taken to view an autopsy first hand during the toxicology portion of the internal internship. During the autopsy, students are questions regarding their opinions on sample collection and their ideas about the cause and manner of death. During the autopsy, they are often allowed to touch and handle the decedent's organs.
• Instructors on the Stand: On occasion, students have been able to travel with instructors who are going to be testifying in court on their casework. The students may go and sit in the courtroom to watch how their instructor handles being in the "lime light."
• Vidocq Society Meetings:  Students are invited to attend monthly meetings of an unusual crime solving organization in Philadelphia. At these meetings a group of forensic professionals and private citizens put their heads together in order to investigate and refocus unsolved deaths from around the country.

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Research Opportunities

A number of selected graduate students are given the opportunity to conduct original forensic science research utilizing state-of-the-art instrumentation. They can receive a graduate assistantship and/or credits for the work they perform. Often the students are encouraged to submit their findings for publication and to present them at professional forensic science organization meetings.

Research projects have included:

• A Method for the Quantitation of Drugs in Dried Blood Stains
• Determining  the Stability of Salvinorin-A in Urine using Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry
• Postmortem Redistribution of Marijuana and its Metabolites
• Determining the Mechanism for the Formation of Methylation Artifacts in Serum Extracts using Gas Chromatography

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