Four students from the Master's degree program in Criminal Justice at Appalachian State presented research at the Southern Criminal Justice Association annual meeting held recently in Virginia Beach, VA. Second year graduate students Charity VerSteeg, Joe Payne, and Chanel Hewitt and first year graduate student Allie MacKinnon attended the conference. The presentation, Evaluation of STARR (Staff Training Aimed at Reducing Re-arrest): An Examination of Cognitive-Based Training for Federal Probation Officers, was based upon an ongoing research project with the United States probation service. All four students participated in the original study under the supervision of ASU Criminal Justice professors Jeff Holcomb, Cathy Marcum, Tammatha Clodfelter, and Tara Richards (now at the University of Baltimore). Allie was an undergraduate research assistant during the initial study and has since enrolled in the Criminal Justice graduate program. The students' travel was funded by travel grants from the Office of Student Research.
The students were responsible for designing the PowerPoint presentation and delivering the presentation to an audience of academics, justice professionals, and other students. Professors Clodfelter, Marcum, and Richards attended the conference with the students. Joe Payne said, "I really enjoyed working on the project with my classmates and the criminal justice professors. Seeing how research is discussed at a conference like this was a rewarding experience". "They did a fantastic job of organizing and presenting the critical information from the study", noted Dr. Marcum. "It was a complicated study, so it was a challenge to effectively summarize the project and findings in the time allotted". Dr. Clodfelter added that the positive response from the audience was a reflection of the quality of the presentation and the students' hard work on the project. The Southern Criminal Justice Association is a regional organization affiliated with the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. Officially established in 1972, SCJA is a professional association serving criminal justice educators, researchers, practitioners, and students committed to the ongoing development of criminal justice science and practice. Conference attendees come from all over the country to present research and discuss important issues in the field of criminal justice.
Image:
Front row (left to right): Graduate students Joe Payne, Allie MacKinnon, Chanel Hewitt, and Charity VerSteeg
Back row: Drs. Cathy Marcum and Tammatha Clodfelter.
SCJA participants
