Two Sam Houston State University College of Criminal Justice (SHSU CJ) doctoral students participated in the latest cohort of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences’ (ACJS) Doctoral Summit. Matthew Caines and Victoria Rivera Laugalis received a scholarship to join PhD students from across the country attending the ACJS 2024 annual meeting in March.
To qualify, Caines and Laugalis had to maintain at least a 3.5 grade point average, be of advanced doctoral student standing and demonstrate they are rising leaders in the field through their nomination and application materials.
Jason Ingram, assistant chair and graduate program director for the SHSU Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology says it’s an honor for the students to be selected and the accolades are well deserved.
The ACJS Doctoral Summit provides valuable professional development opportunities, especially in the areas of networking, teaching, research and service.
As part of their experience at the Summit, Caines and Laugalis participated in conference workshops and professional networking events.
Also attending the conference was SHSU CJ doctoral student Cristal Hernandez-Avalos, who received the Student Scholarship Mini-Grant Travel Award. During the conference, she presented research findings from a project on which she collaborated with SHSU CJ Assistant Professor Miltonette Craig, examining the use of deadly force toward Latino individuals by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents.
