Abstract
Professional development is about creating leaders in the field—in this instance, the academic field. In the vast majority of cases, our students are only as good as the education and mentoring they are provided. Excellence in instruction generally produces excellence in the field. Professional development is the process of preparing students and faculty beyond the substantive matter of criminal justice and criminology for a successful career. It involves providing students with tools to be a successful graduate student, a successful publisher, a successful classroom teacher, a successful mentor, and, for some, a successful administrator. Professional development can be provided in various formats, from one-on-one interactions with students, to specially designed seminars, to entire courses dedicated just to professional development. Professional development also involves a modeling component and occurs with and without the conscious involvement of faculty.
In 2012, after teaching a doctoral course on professional development, I began a dialogue with Frank Cullen hoping I could convince him to author or co-author a second edition of Lessons of Criminology (Geis & Dodge, 2002). I used Lessons of Criminology in my doctoral course on professional development and needed to update the advice offered in that underappreciated resource. My vision was not realized, and in true Cullen style, I found myself involved in a primary way in this very worthwhile project. I am particularly grateful to Frank and Cheryl Jonson for their work on seeing this initiative through to completion.
The series of articles in this special edition, from a number of well-established scholars, aim to better prepare doctoral students for their first day as a new assistant professor, faculty who are entering the maze of tenure and promotion, and faculty who are in the process of mentoring and professionally developing graduate students. The guidance in these articles is similar to that offered in Lessons of Criminology (Geis & Dodge, 2002) and moves our mandate to mentor young scholars forward while providing guidance to enhance the professional development of those involved in criminal justice/criminology education.
As I reflect back over my career and life experiences, I have come to understand that as a discipline, we need to focus more on preparing our doctoral graduates for life in academia. As I have said on a number of occasions, while “nothing can really prepare one for a life in academia,” I strongly believe that our efforts at professional development will be a step in that direction. Professional development is critical to the education process of students and to the continuing education process of faculty. Professional development has the capacity to positively affect the future of criminal justice education and have long-term positive effects on those we prepare to work in the criminal justice system. Professionalism is a way of thinking, acting, looking, and being. It is who we are in what we do and how we do it. Professionalism breeds excellence. Professional development matters only if it matters to you. We hope the articles in this special edition move that process forward.