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WHO IS THE ACA?
The American Correctional Association (ACA) is a professional membership
organization for correctional and juvenile justice practitioners. ACA
offers a variety of opportunities for professional development including
certification programs, regional training programs, self-instruction courses,
and national conferences. At each of their Conferences, ACA sponsors a
Student Poster Session and other student-oriented activities that are
designed to develop the next generation of correctional and juvenile justice
professionals. If you would like more information about ACA, please visit
their website at
http://www.aca.org.
WHAT IS A POSTER SESSION?
A Poster Session provides a friendly, informal
environment for students interested in presenting a paper. For the purpose of
the session, the student must summarize the paper into a graphic and textual
format that is reader friendly and can be posted on a three panel science
board (which the student is to provide). The poster is then displayed on a
table or easel in a conference room for conference attendees to review. Each
student stands by their poster and answers questions about their research.
WHEN IS THE POSTER SESSION HELD?
The poster sessions are on the Sunday of the conference. This year:
Sunday, August 1, 2010. The session lasts for two hours, and participants
display their papers on poster board and discuss them with other conference
participants who come in to learn what students are doing.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR PARTICIPATION?
Any graduate or undergraduate student in Criminal Justice and related
disciplines (Sociology, Psychology, Corrections, Juvenile Justice, Social
Work, etc.) whose paper focuses on an issue in the corrections or
juvenile justice field.
WHAT INFORMATION SHOULD APPEAR IN THE POSTER?
Both conceptual and empirical papers representing a student's original
work are appropriate. Each poster should include the following
information:
1) Title of paper;
2) Student's name, university affiliation, and contact information;
3) the thesis, or purpose of the paper;
4) Research methods
5) Key findings
6) Conclusions.
Posters should include graphs and charts to depict any statistics reported,
and bulleted text to convey the main points and conclusions. The student can
then supplement this information orally, during their conversations with
conference attendees. A 3-panel science board is recommended for the poster.
(For instructions and tips on preparing a conference poster, see examples
from these organizations, which we follow:
http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/cpurrin1/posteradvice.htm
or: or: http://urp.udel.edu/calendar/symposia/posterses.html
Please note that undergraduate papers do not need to be research based,
but must explore a relevant corrections/juvenile justice topic and
opinions must be supported by factual basis. Graduate papers are to be
research based and should explore a timely, relevant corrections/juvenile
justice topic.
WHAT ARE THE SUBMISSION PROCEDURES?
You must send an email notification of your intent to participate in the
poster session by May 15, 2010 This email notification should include an
abstract of about 150-200 words describing your proposed paper. The
complete paper must be submitted by July 1, 2010 as an attachment to an
email to:
Professor Jim Thomas - Northern Illinois University - jthomas@math.niu.edu
You will receive an email confirmation of the receipt of your paper; if not,
contact Jim Thomas at: (815) 756-3839
You are not required to submit the poster, or its content, prior to the actual
poster session.
HOW WILL MY ENTRY BE JUDGED?
The ACA Student Affairs Committee will select people
from ACA's membership to judge the Student Poster Session. Each judge will be
provided with an electronic copy of the students. papers prior to the
conference. During the poster session, the judges will meet individually with
each student to discuss their paper and conclusions. The written and oral
components of the competition will be judged jointly based on:
1) The clarity and organization of thoughts
2) Knowledge of topic
3) The theoretical and/or methodological basis of the paper
4) Strength of conclusions
1st and 2nd place will be awarded at both the graduate and undergraduate
levels. All participants will receive a certificate of participation and the
winners of each category will be published in ACA's Conference Proceedings.
WHAT IS THE COST?
You must attend the Conference to participate in the Student
Poster Session. In the interest of promoting student involvement, ACA has
approved a reduced rate for students. To take advantage of this rate, please
contact:
Ms. Jen Bechtel (1-800-222-5646, ext. 0102)
as all those registrations MUST go through her office to mark the special rate.
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