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The North Carolina Criminal Justice Association: Who are We, Really?

In 2010-2011, under the presidency of Matthew Robinson, the North Carolina Criminal

Justice Association (NCCJA) modified its Constitution to switch from two annual conferences

varying from the eastern and western parts of the state to a single annual conference early in the

year in a central location (i.e., Raleigh). The conference format was also changed, switching

from one keynote speaker and perhaps one or two other invited speakers, to a submission-based

format where anyone can submit abstracts for consideration for inclusion in the annual program.

The purpose of the changes was to encourage greater participation by students, faculty,

and practitioners in the state and beyond to participate in the conference. Historically, NCCJA

conferences were not well-attended for many reasons. First, faculty, students, and practitioners

could present research or give talks by invitation only. Second, it is often difficult if not

impossible to obtain funding for conference travel when one is not making a presentation. Third,

the focus of the conference programs was often not themed or themes were very limited in scope.

The new conference format allows anyone to submit abstracts for papers, posters, talks,

roundtables, and entire panels. This assures presenters can obtain funding from their institutions

to attend. Each year there is a broad theme, and a call for papers is sent out to educational and

professional institutions. This allows presenters from all types of institutions across the whole

state. With no question, this has been an unqualified success, as attendance at the conference has

grown significantly.

This paper examines the nature of conference presentations since the change, from the

first year when the new conference format was practiced (2011), to the most recent conference

(2018). The author examines each of the last eight conference presentations to identify the

numbers of papers, presenters, and schools/agencies represented each year. The author also

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