For the second time, Lone Star College-CyFair’s Criminal Justice (CJ) Department will be honored with the National Criminal Justice Month Education Award at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) Annual Meeting in March.
“I am proud of my students because they have the same passion as I do for the Criminal Justice field,” said Jennifer Bourgeois, CJ professor and club advisor.
“I am proud of my students because they have the same passion as I do for the Criminal Justice field,” said Jennifer Bourgeois, CJ professor and club advisor.
The ACJS award is in recognition of LSC-CyFair’s Inaugural Criminal Justice “...And Justice for All” Leadership Conference hosted last year.
“To win again is an immense accomplishment, and it would not have been possible without our Criminal Justice students, club members, and our amazing guest speakers who made our leadership conference such a success,” said Bourgeois.
While the primary goal of the conference was to bring awareness about the Criminal Justice associate degree program, this “Across the Curriculum” conference also provided students with essential leadership skills, which they could use in their chosen careers or other academic destinations, Bourgeois said.
The conference featured professional speakers from the CJ ?eld, including a criminal defense attorney, criminal justice research data analysist, and human resources specialist and life coach who shared profession tips on job acquisition and internship opportunities.
There were sessions on resume workshopping and interviewing skills, practice in presenting and synthesizing refereed research publication, and opportunities for students to engage in conversations highlighting the threads and connections between the criminal justice major and our core curriculum.
“Students talked frankly about race, socio-economic status, educational opportunities, and the impact of such factors on navigating effective tangible changes to our Criminal Justice System,” she said. “The conference was interdisciplinary in order to stress the importance of collaboration while working toward social justice.”
The conference was funded through an LSC mini-grant awarded to Bourgeois and her coworkers, Professor Dr. Norjuan Q. Austin, and librarian Melanie Wachsmann, who led discussions with librarian Dionna West at the conference.
For information about LSC-CyFair’s CJ program, contact Bourgeois at 281.290.3594 or Jennifer.W.Bourgeois@LoneStar.edu.