News

The College of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University is proud to announce that five of its distinguished faculty have been nominated for University Teaching and Advising Awards. Dr. Kevin Beaver, Dr. Carter Hay, Dr. Gary Kleck and Dr. Brian Stults have been nominated for Teaching Awards and Dr. Billy Close has been nominated for a Distinguished Teacher Award.

Austin Groover is a Criminology major and a work study student at the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice. When he is not in class, often times he can be found working at the front desk of the Hecht House, assisting other Criminology students. He also works as a SAFE CONNECTION bus driver on campus, and he has ridden with the FSU Police Department as a passenger with their RIDE ALONG program. Austin hopes to get an internship with the Police Academy, FBI, or U.S. Marshall’s Office in his senior year, and ultimately would like to be employed as an FBI agent or a U.S. Marshall.

The College of Criminology and Criminal Justice held its second Internship Fair last October in the Broad Auditorium at the Claude Pepper Center. There were ten agencies present and over seventy students were in attendance. There was a large showing of different agencies and companies, including representatives from the following groups: the Public Defender’s Office, the State Attorney’s Office, the Tallahassee Police Department, the Florida Supreme Court, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, and the Pat Thomas Law Enforcement Academy.

The College of Criminology and Criminal Justice is pleased to welcome a new faculty member, Dr. Kecia Johnson. Dr. Johnson is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Her research interests and expertise are in the area of crime and deviance, race/ethnicity, and gender and labor markets. In addition to Dr. Johnson’s laudable research, she also has extensive teaching experience, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Welcome, Dr. Johnson!

On Saturday, December 18, 2010 the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice lost a very dear friend, and someone that many alumni knew very well, Mary Harris. Known as “Mary” to faculty, and “Mrs. Harris” to thousands of students, she was a tireless worker, a dedicated professional, and a friend to all.

The College of Criminology & Criminal Justice is excited to announce it will be moving to its new home during the summer of 2013! Historic Eppes Hall, originally known as the Education Building, first opened its doors to Florida State College for Women students in 1918 and was the first building on campus devoted entirely to classroom use. The handsome building’s exterior is adorned with a stonework owl, frogs, and Florida’s state seal, which complement its great tradition on campus and the legend after which the building was named: Francis W.

Prof. Daniel Mears' book, American Criminal Justice Policy, published by Cambridge University Press, is the 2013 winner of the Outstanding Book Award presented  by  the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.  The award is given annually “in recognition of the best book published in the area of criminal justice” and that has made an  “extraordinary contribution to the study of crime and criminal justice.”  The award will be presented at the Academy’s annual meeting, held  March 19-23 in Dallas, Texas.

The internship program gives students work experience that counts as academic credit. Interested criminology students are invited to the Internship Expo, Thursday, October 18th from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Broad Auditorium, to learn about various internship opportunities for spring semester. Agencies represented at the fair include:

Professor Carter Hay’s Residential Positive Achievement Change Tool (R-PACT) Validation project with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) focuses on juvenile offenders in residential facilities. The Residential Positive Achievement Change Tool (R-PACT) is used by DJJ to track the criminogenic needs and risks of offenders regarding such things as educational progress, relationships with family members, attitudes about drugs and alcohol, and the development of social skills for controlling emotions and behavior.

One of the College’s doctoral students, Joshua C. Cochran, recently received the American Society of Criminology (ASC) Division on Corrections and Sentencing Dissertation Scholarship Award for his dissertation entitled “Prison Experiences, Social Ties, and Inmate Behavior: Examining Visitation and Its Effects on Incarceration and Reentry Outcome”. The award carries with it official recognition at the annual ASC meeting as the first place recipient in this division and includes a monetary amount.