Two Sam Houston State University College of Criminal Justice (SHSU CJ) doctoral students are selected to participate in the next cohort of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences’ (ACJS) Doctoral Summit. Kyler Nielson and Ghady Hbeilini received a scholarship to join PhD students from across the country attending the ACJS 2023 Annual meeting in March 2023.
“This is a very prestigious accomplishment,” SHSU Assistant Professor in Criminal Justice and Criminology Dr. Jared Dmello said. Dr. Dmello, who also serves on the Summit’s organizing committee further states that “Competition was extremely high with many well qualified candidates from across the world.” To qualify, Kyler and Ghady had to maintain at least a 3.5 grade point average, be of advanced doctoral student standing and demonstrate through their nomination and application materials they are rising leaders in the field. “As a first-generation international student from the Middle East, I am very grateful to the committee for selecting me to participate in this event,” Ghady Hbeilini said. “I have no doubt this experience will improve my professional development skills and allow me to connect with academics and leaders in our field from around the world.”
SHSU CJ and Criminology Graduate Programs Director Dr. Ling Ren says the recognition is well-earned, pointing to their leadership experience with the SHSU CJ Graduate Student Organization (GSO). Kyler serves as the GSO President and Ghady as Secretary. “This recognition acknowledges their achievements in academic performance, scholarly productivity and service in student leadership,” Dr. Ren said. “I am delighted SHSU-CJ will be represented among the peer PhD programs at the ACJS Doctoral Summit.”
As part of their participation at the Summit, Kyler and Ghady will participate in conference workshops and professional networking events. “I am eagerly looking forward to attending,” Kyler Nielson said. “The ACJS Doctoral Summit will be a great opportunity for professional development and networking.” In addition to exploring those opportunities, they will also join a Section or volunteer to serve on an ACJS standing or section committee for the year following the Summit.
Incoming ACJS’ Vice President and SHSU Professor in Criminal Justice and Criminology, Dr. Bitna Kim, is delighted SHSU will be represented again at this year’s summit and knows the experience will be very rewarding for Kyler and Ghady. “Over the past few years, I've served as a facilitator for roundtables, so I've had the opportunity to interact with students who attended in years past,” Dr. Kim said. “Doctoral summits are among the most beneficial opportunities for PhD students to connect with fellow doctoral program students and leaders in the discipline and gain insight into evidence/experience-based strategies for research, teaching and service.” Dr. Kim will serve as ACJS Vice President for 2023-2024 and President for the 2024-2025 academic year.
The Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences is an international organization whose mission is to promote education, research and policy analysis for Criminal Justice scholars and professionals. For more information about ACSJ, visit their website, https://www.acjs.org/.