Researcher Development Program

Faculty Development Program

Funded by

Due: January 31, 2026

Researcher Development Institute

01 Program Details

The Center for Justice Research Development and Training Institute (DTI) was established to address the of lack of culturally- responsive research training and professional development opportunities for tenure-track faculty.

Knowledge and intellectual abilities
Personal effectiveness
Research governance and organization
Engagement, influence and impact

During their fellowship, fellows carry out a proposed project and receive an honorarium to support conference travel. The scope of projects reflects approximately 60–120 hours per year of the fellows’ time, including project design, preparation, implementation, and wrap-up.

The Fellowship Program is based on the Researcher Development Framework (RDF). The RDF Model focuses on research and professional development in four distinct domains:

The DTI offers opportunities for training in fundamental research principles and strategies with an emphasis in team and project- based learning with clearly defined, research-oriented deliverables. Aligned with the DTI’s mission to increase the availability of culturally relevant researcher development opportunities for faculty, we have launched a new initiative in partnership with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund to provide a 12-month researcher development program.

Program Priorities

Building and sustaining diversity in solutions-oriented criminal or social justice research
Establishing a network for systemic change among culturally-competent graduate students and faculty researchers
Providing quarterly training workshops for project-based learning with a small cohort of doctoral students and tenure-track faculty in key areas of research and professional development

Eligibility and Expectations

This fellowship was open to doctoral students and tenure-track faculty who had demonstrated an extensive commitment to criminal justice research and were interested in exploring culturally relevant solutions to issues in the field.

As part of the program, fellows receive:

Quarterly instructor-led interactive sessions based on the Researcher Development Framework
Support, educational resources, and networking with expert researchers in justice-related fields and the CJR Team
An honorarium towards conference travel
Travel expenses to attend the in-person summit

Fellows are expected to:

Attend and actively participate in quarterly two-hour instructor-led interactive sessions
Make a monthly time commitment of 5–10 hours, which will be used to work on a project deliverable
Create a research program evaluation instrument and web tool and prepare a scholarly product (i.e., peer-reviewed manuscript)

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More About Faculty Development

Research Development Institute

"It is within the realm of the institution that I am often confined by a sense of not belonging… through the empowerment of being in a space with like-minded individuals, I am better equipped to work and learn among colleagues, who can empathize with the duality of my experience as both a minority and an educator."

"Participating in this program has been life-changing for professional and personal reasons. The program allowed me to be a part of a cohort of doctors and doctoral candidates who looked just like me and experienced the same academic barriers and systematic issues that I have while trying to navigate in this field. "

"The areas that I have seen tremendous changes both professionally and scholarly lay within my strategic planning, time management, and organization."

"The RDI has provided me with a safe space to share my thoughts and experiences with other Black scholars and gives me a sense of belonging and self-pride as a minority researcher."

"I've been able to network with and learn from other Black scholars when we would not have crossed paths if not for the program."

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Program Overview

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Program Overview

02 Program Details

03 Program Eligibility

Meet the Team

Project Leadership

JASMINE DRAKE, PH.D

Jasmine M. Drake, PhD, is a fellow in the Center for Justice Research (CJR) and an assistant professor in the Administration of Justice Department in the School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University. She currently serves as a Governor-appointed commissioner on the Texas Forensic Science Commission.

KANDACE HURST, PH.D

Kandace T. Hurst, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Justice Research (CJR) at Texas Southern University and a senior instructor and director of the undergraduate laboratories and undergraduate office in the Department of Chemistry at Louisiana State University and A&M College (LSU).