Category Archives: miscellaneous

The American Sociological Association’s Section on Crime, Law, and Deviance invites submissions for the 2026 Distinguished Student Paper Award competition. This award is presented annually for the best paper authored by a graduate student. Papers may be empirical or theoretical and can address any topic in the sociology of crime, law, and deviance. Submissions may be sole- or multiple-authored, but all authors must be students at the time of submission. Papers should be article length (approximately 30 double spaced pages) and should follow the manuscript preparation guidelines used by the American Sociological Review. Papers accepted for publication at the time of submission are not eligible. The winner will receive $500 to offset the cost of attending the 2026 ASA meeting. Nominations may be submitted by the author or by others, and we encourage self-nominations.

Please send a PDF of the paper to the Award Committee Chair, Dr. Bryan Sykes (bls244@cornell.edu) with the subject line CLD Distinguished Student Paper Nomination.

Committee:

• Bryan Sykes (Chair), Cornell University
• Stacy DeCoster, North Carolina State University
• Anne K. Johnson, Washington State University
• Felipe Salazar-Tobar, Kennesaw State University

The Criminal Justice Administrative Records System (CJARS) is excited to announce the launch of our new Virtual Data Enclave (VDE)!

The VDE is a cutting-edge research server, hosted by the University of Michigan, providing users secure, remote access to our curated microdata. Our data products are recognized as the gold standard of harmonized and integrated criminal justice administrative records and now include 200+ million criminal justice events, covering >84% of the U.S. population.

VDE Highlights:

• Simplified and expedited proposal review (<30 days, not 12-18 months)
• Remote access from home or office
• Support for integrating your own records
• Fast statistical disclosure turnarounds (<10 business days)
• Free trial access through the end of 2025

Whether you’re interested in advancing research, informing policy, or supporting evidence-based decision-making, now is the perfect time to explore the platform’s robust features and comprehensive data holdings. To learn more, please visit https://cjars.org/vde or reach out to us with your questions at cjars-vde-users@umich.edu.

Foster the Family gives supplies to children entering out of home care in the DMV area. The MoCo location serves families in Prince Georges and Montgomery Counties. Each child receives comfort items (blankets, toys, books, activities), clothing, hygiene products (soap, hair care, face wash, baby lotion, diapers, wipes), and even meals (Grubhub gift cards are especially appreciated). 

Mortality and Criminal Legal System Contact Conference

Cornell Population Center presents The Mortality and Criminal Legal System Contact Conference
Friday, September 26, 2025
8:00 am – 4:30 pm, Statler Hotel Amphitheater

The Cornell Population Center, in collaboration with the Racial Justice Institute at Georgetown University, is hosting a research conference on the mortality of people with criminal legal system contact in September 2025. The goal of this conference is to bring together a collection of work produced by academics, justice-involved people and their families, community advocates, and other stakeholders to develop a post-COVID-19 research agenda that documents and investigates how the criminal legal system affects the mortality of people and communities with the highest risk of contact. All aspects of the criminal legal system—policing, probation, prisons/jails, immigration detention centers, and other forms of social control/intervention—will be covered as mechanisms and sites of mortality disparities. Research and perspectives presented at this conference will culminate in a Special Issue of Population Research and Policy Review.

Register for the conference here!

Keynote Speaker: Evelyn Patterson, Professor of Public Policy at Georgetown University

Featured Participants:

• Saifuddin Abdus-Samad, Fortune Society
• Mirvais “Mir” Aminy, Project Rebound, CSU-Fullerton
• Andrea Armstrong, Loyola-New Orleans
• Ingrid Binswanger, Kaiser Permanente
• Sarah Brayne, Stanford U.
• Lauren Brinkley-Rubenstein, Duke U.
• Ernest Chavez, CSU – Long Beach
• Sarah Cushman, Cornell Prison Education Program
• Brittany Friedman, USC
• Amanda Geller, UC-Irvine
• Carmen Gutierrez, UNC-Chapel Hill
• Eunice Hyunhye Cho, ACLU
• Hedwig “Hedy” Lee, Duke U.
• Andrew Papachristos, Northwestern U.
• Becky Pettit, U. of Texas
• Michelle Phelps, U. of Minnesota
• Jessica Simes, Boston U.
• Justin Strong, U. of Arizona
• Naomi Sugie, UCLA
• Bryan L. Sykes, Cornell U.
• Emily Wang, Yale U.
• Chris Wildeman, Duke U.

Programmer/Data Analyst – CJARS

How to Apply

Applicants are required to submit a (1) cover letter, (2) resume, and (3) example code via the UM Careers website as one combined electronic document. The cover letter should explain how your skills and experience align with the job requirements and why you are applying for the position. Please include all relevant experience and education in your resume. Example code should not exceed 5 pages in length and should showcase your skills in cleaning, restructuring, and/or merging databases, or be an example of another relevant exercise.

Job Summary

The Criminal Justice Administrative Records System (CJARS) is a next-generation criminal justice data platform designed to improve policy-relevant research on the U.S. justice system. To date, the project has amassed a substantial amount of criminal justice data, including 3 billion lines of raw data, which come from 38 states and cover over 200 million criminal justice events. CJARS was recently awarded a $6 million grant from Arnold Ventures to expand project operations over the course of the next three years. We are seeking applications for a Programmer/Data Analyst to join our expanding team and contribute to the production of the CJARS data infrastructure. As a Programmer/Data Analyst, you will work within a team of data processing staff to develop a codebase to wrangle large criminal justice databases. 

Mission Statement

The mission of the University of Michigan is to serve the people of Michigan and the world through preeminence in creating, communicating, preserving and applying knowledge, art, and academic values, and in developing leaders and citizens who will challenge the present and enrich the future.

Responsibilities*

The Programmer/Data Analyst will engage in a number of activities that support the development and expansion of the CJARS data infrastructure.

The Programmer/Data Analyst will have a number of key roles, including:

• Contribute to a codebase of Stata and Python to manage, process, and harmonize large administrative criminal justice datasets to produce the CJARS data infrastructure.
• Develop code in a team environment, review code of other team members, and collaborate with other team members to solve new data wrangling challenges. Manage codebases using git.
• Test and debug code as needed to address the causes of data quality problems.
• Produce data visualizations using Stata and Python as needed.
• Review information available on data sources (e.g., criminal justice agency websites) to collect information to inform best approaches to coding and processing data.
• Update and maintain metadata files stored in CSV and JSON formats.
• Prepare documentation files that support and provide context for scripts developed to process data. 

Required Qualifications*

• A bachelors degree in a relevant field. A combination of education and professional experience may be considered in lieu of a bachelor’s degree.
• 1 to 3 years of relevant professional experience.
• Ability to code using common statistical/data management software programs, such as: Stata, Python, SQL, R, SAS, etc. 

Desired Qualifications*

• Experience writing and documenting high-quality code using version control systems such as Git.
• Experience using Stata to process and manage data.
• Experience wrangling large databases.
• Experience conducting statistical analyses on big data.
• Knowledge of the U.S. criminal justice system. 

Modes of Work

The position is in-person in Ann Arbor, Monday through Thursday. Friday is an optional work-from-home day.

Modes of Work

Positions that are eligible for hybrid or mobile/remote work mode are at the discretion of the hiring department. Work agreements are reviewed annually at a minimum and are subject to change at any time, and for any reason, throughout the course of employment. Learn more about the work modes.

Additional Information

The salary range for this position is $64,600 to $80,000.

As one of the world’s great liberal arts colleges, LSA pushes the boundaries of what is understood about the human experience and the natural world, and we foster the next generation of rigorous and empathetic thinkers, creators, and contributors to the state of Michigan, the nation, and the world.

To learn more about LSA’s Mission, Vision and Values, please visit https://lsa.umich.edu/strategicvision
 

Associate Director – CJARS

How to Apply

Applicants are required to submit a (1) cover letter, (2) resume, and (3) writing sample via the UM Careers website as one combined electronic document. The cover letter should explain how your skills and experience align with the job requirements and why you are applying for the position. Please include all relevant experience and education in your resume. The writing sample should showcase your ability to write professional documents that would be required in this position (e.g., technical report, formal business plan).

Job Summary

The Criminal Justice Administrative Records System (CJARS) is a next-generation criminal justice data platform designed to improve policy-relevant research on the U.S. justice system. To date, the project has amassed a substantial amount of criminal justice data, including 3 billion lines of raw data, which come from 38 states and cover over 200 million criminal justice events. CJARS was recently awarded a $6 million grant from Arnold Ventures to expand project operations over the course of the next three years. We are seeking applications for an Associate Director to join our expanding team and catalyze project growth. As Associate Director, you will lead the business development of CJARS to expand the project, manage internal operations and a team of full-time staff, and develop strategic plans to ensure long-term project sustainability. 

Responsibilities*

Leadership and Strategic Planning (30%)

• Lead business development of CJARS to expand the scope of its data products and user-base. This will include expanding data acquisition efforts, guiding the goals of data production, and developing a strategic plan to increase the user-base of CJARS data products. 
• Develop and monitor financial projections for the CJARS funding portfolio which includes federal grants, foundational funding, and other revenue sources. Develop budgets and create plans to allocate resources to ensure major project milestones are achieved. 
• Engage with the changing external funding landscape and develop new revenue-generating strategies as needed to ensure long-term project sustainability.
• Develop a growth plan for the project to expand staffing and other infrastructure (e.g., IT resources) necessary to increase the overall scope of the project. Also devise a financial sustainability plan that facilitates continued project operations.

External Engagement and Marketing (30%)

• Advise on the development of events, initiatives, and other materials to engage external stakeholder groups, such as criminal justice data providers, data users, and funding partners. 
• Represent CJARS at external conferences and other professional meetings. 
• Evaluate effectiveness of revenue generating strategies and user-engagement initiatives.

Operational Management (20%)

• Liaise with other departments within the university as needed to accomplish project goals, such as research administration, legal, IT, procurement, and finance. 
• Oversee day-to-day decisions that guide each of the main arms of CJARS, including data acquisition, data processing, and development/external researcher engagement. 
• Develop and implement internal policies that ensure the achievement of both short and long-range objectives.

Team Management (20%)

• Manage a team of full-time staff. Create work plans and assign tasks. 
• Support project team members through professional growth and development. 
• Appraise staff performance and recommend promotions or other changes in status. 
• Lead hiring process for new staff members. 

Required Qualifications*

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field.
• 5+ years of experience growing, developing, and leading organizations.
• 5+ years leading staff teams.
• Ability to travel for professional meetings and conferences.
• Experience with budget development and financial oversight. 

Desired Qualifications*

• Master’s degree in a relevant field.
• Experience leading a start-up or non-profit.
• Working knowledge of the U.S. criminal justice system, data science, and data acquisition. 

Modes of Work

The position is in-person in Ann Arbor, Monday through Thursday. Friday is an optional work-from-home day.

Modes of Work

Positions that are eligible for hybrid or mobile/remote work mode are at the discretion of the hiring department. Work agreements are reviewed annually at a minimum and are subject to change at any time, and for any reason, throughout the course of employment. Learn more about the work modes.

Additional Information

The salary range for this position is $114,000 to $142,500, please note a higher salary may be offered for highly qualified candidates.

As one of the world’s great liberal arts colleges, LSA pushes the boundaries of what is understood about the human experience and the natural world, and we foster the next generation of rigorous and empathetic thinkers, creators, and contributors to the state of Michigan, the nation, and the world.

To learn more about LSA’s Mission, Vision and Values, please visit https://lsa.umich.edu/strategicvision

Founded in 2020 by the mental health committee of the BSOS DGSAC, the program seeks to provide better support for first-year Ph.D. students by pairing them with professors across programs who are willing to discuss their personal lives, work-life balance, and navigating academia with different identities. DGSAC will make every effort to pair students with faculty mentors who are a good fit based on shared interests, goals, and preferences.

The brief survey form is to gauge interest in participating in the 2025-2026 Buddies program.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdjp79Wb2PbS7iaWkZ8BFok4j0W3X67VDANFciT67z0_5etUw/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=115953721520202476404