Students

As a small and congenial organization, the WSC welcomes student participation. Students can submit papers; help out with meetings; compete for scholarships; and enjoy meeting students, faculty, and practitioners from other places at our annual conference. In addition to encouraging student participation, the WSC helps support student involvement in a number of ways. Students are encouraged to take advantage of the following opportunities:

 

Miki Vohryzek-Bolden Student Paper Competition

About the Competition: Students are invited to compete in the Miki Vohryzek-Bolden Student Paper Competition sponsored by WSC each year. Appropriate types of papers include, but are not limited to, policy analyses, original research, literature reviews, position papers, theoretical papers, and scholarly commentaries. Please note that papers co-authored by faculty will not be considered.

Eligibility: Any student currently enrolled full-time or part-time in an academic degree program at either the undergraduate or graduate level is eligible to submit a paper. Students from all majors are eligible, however, all entries must be related to criminology or criminal justice. Papers must not exceed 30 pages, including abstract, text, references, tables and figures, notes, etc. Papers exceeding this limit will not be considered. Papers must be double-spaced, typed in 12-point font on pages using one-inch margins, and conform to a standard format for the organization of papers and citation (e.g. APA, ASA, Bluebook). The WSC Awards Committee is responsible for evaluating papers meeting the guidelines described above.

Award Prize: Students selected for this award will be recognized at the WSC's annual conference and will receive a cash award $125 for first place and $75 for second place, as well as conference registration reimbursement. Additionally, if the award recipient desires, the the best paper will be submitted for review to the Western Criminology Review.

How to Compete: Abstracts should be submitted no later than October 12, 2011. Abstract submission information is available on the conference page of this web site.

Deadline: A completed, final paper should be emailed to the chairperson of the Awards Committee, Dr. Charles Katz, by October 12, 2011. Award winners will be notified in writing by December 1, 2011.

 

June Morrison Scholarship Fund

About the Travel Award: Using money raised from the Book Exhibit, the June Morrison Scholarship Fund provides supplemental funds to help defray the cost of student members' participation at the annual meeting, provided that they are presenting papers at the conference. A maximum of five awards will be made to students attending the annual meeting of the WSC. In the event that there are more than five eligible applications, the Awards Committee will randomly select five recipients. Please note that this scholarship is not related to the Student Paper Competition. All students attending the annual meeting are encouraged to apply.

Eligibility: Any student currently enrolled full-time or part-time in an academic degree program at either the undergraduate or graduate level is eligible to apply for this award, provided that they are presenting a paper at the annual conference. Conference registration and student membership dues must be paid prior to the scholarship being awarded.

How to Apply: Email the following information to the chairperson of the Awards Committee, Dr. Charles Katz, no later than October 12, 2011:

• a brief statement indicating that you are applying for the travel award and how conference attendance will be valuable to you;
• your full contact information, including your name, address, phone number, and email address;
• the name of your school, department, and whether you are a graduate or undergraduate student;
• the title of your paper presentation; and
• the name of the topic chair to whom you have submitted an abstract for presentation consideration.

Finally, to complete your application, you must have a faculty sponsor from your school write an email message to the chairperson of the Awards Committee indicating his/her support of your request for travel funds.

 

Student Social

Each year the WSC sponsors a social event, at which food is provided, to facilitate student members meeting with each other. See the conference schedule for the time and place.

 

Student Chapters

Benefits of Student Chapters: Students are encouraged to establish student chapters of the WSC at their colleges and universities. There are numerous advantages to having a student chapter. You can:

• add your membership to a professional association to your résumé
• network with other students, faculty, and practitioners in the WSC
• connect with other students by viewing the schools with chapters and lists of students and academic interests
• obtain up-to-date information about the WSC through the WSC newsletter and future publications of the WSC
• obtain information about upcoming conferences, scholarships, travel opportunities, etc.
• enjoy discounted registration fees at the annual conference
• have an opportunity to participate in a student paper competition
• present a paper at annual conference and possibly have it published in the newsletter the WSC, The Western Criminologist
• apply for a June Morrison Student Travel Scholarship to help pay for conference attendance

How Can a WSC Student Chapter Be Started? Creating a WSC Student Chapter is easy. Here is what you need to do:

• find a faculty advisor;
• collect WSC student membership dues, which are $25 per person (WSC Student Chapters may add other dues if they wish); and
• submit an application containing the information below.

When you submit your application, please be sure to include:

• a brief mission statement for your chapter;
• the structure of your student leadership, such as chapter officers (e.g., President, Vice President, Treasurer, etc., as needed);
• your school information, including school name, name of the department, the full mailing address of the department, and phone number of the department;
• your Faculty Advisor's information, including the name of the Faculty Advisor, his/her mailing address (if different from the school), his/her office phone number or extension, his/her e-mail address, and a list of his/her academic interests;
• a list of student member information; for each student member, please provide the student's name, address, e-mail, academic interests, and publications, if any; and
• website information: the world wide web URL of either the chapter (if established) or the host department.

Send your application to:

Vanessa Burrows, WSC Secretrary-Treasurer
Department of Criminal Justice
California State University, Long Beach
1250 Bellflower Blvd.
Long Beach, CA 90840
Phone: (562) 985-8965
Fax: (562) 985-8086