Latoya Rochelle Burt

I work in higher education as a professor in the criminal justice field, where I focus on keeping students engaged and enrolled on campus. One of my biggest challenges right now is working hard to maintain on-ground enrollment given everything happening with the U.S. Department of Education and the lasting impacts of COVID-19. Many students now have the option to take classes online versus coming in person, and while I understand it might be easier for those with families to do online classes, I'm trying to keep things normalized and encourage campus engagement. I've also noticed significant differences in student engagement compared to what it was 5 or 10 years ago, particularly with the challenges posed by AI and technology. Beyond teaching, I've contributed to academic publications, including a section on plea bargaining in the criminal justice encyclopedia. I've also developed university-based journals and learning tools for students on topics like APA research writing. My dissertation focused on incarceration and how it impacts individuals whose parents may be incarcerated while the students are in college. I'm looking to expand on this research in the next couple of years, as COVID kind of pushed a lot of things back with people and interaction, and I'm working on getting that back up and running.