糖心Vlog传媒

Tusty ten Bensel named director of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock School of Criminal Justice

Dr. Tusty ten Bensel, associate professor of criminal justice, has recently been named the director of the听School of Criminal Justice and Criminology at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. 鈥淚鈥檓 very excited about serving as the director for our school,鈥� ten Bensel said. 鈥淥ur school has a number of exciting things happening. We鈥檝e got a good undergraduate base and our graduate programs were just ranked in the U.S. News and World Report. We are focused on student mentoring and community-engaged research. I feel like our school is shining, and I couldn鈥檛 be more thrilled to be the director of our school.鈥� When 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock reorganized colleges in 2020, the criminal justice department evolved to the School of Criminal Justice and Criminology when the program joined the College of Business, Health, and Human Services. Ten Bensel said the school鈥檚 faculty and staff are looking forward to the future and new ideas. 鈥淲e have an awesome group of faculty members in our school and they make this job so much easier,鈥� ten Bensel said. 鈥淲e are a very supportive and collaborative group and I鈥檓 excited about the news things we will do moving forward post-pandemic. We are coming together over the summer to talk about our vision, goals, and strategies for the school and to create a five-year strategic plan.鈥� The School of Criminal Justice is home to five degree programs, including an associate degree, bachelor鈥檚 degree, two master鈥檚 degrees, one of which is fully online, as well as the state鈥檚 only doctorate program in criminal justice. Ten Bensel, the former graduate coordinator for the School of Criminal Justice, is also the director of the听Justice Research and Policy Center at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, which works to cultivate, support, and disseminate research that is relevant to the State of Arkansas in the areas of juvenile and senior justice, crime analysis, environmental criminology, violence and victimization, and corrections. 鈥淢y goal as the director is for our school to be the institution where Arkansas criminal justice organizations come to when they need research, evaluations, or recommendations for their programs,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e are the flagship criminal justice program in the state and I鈥檇 like 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock to become the hub for criminal justice research that helps our agency partners. Our faculty and students are continuing to engage in cutting edge research to improve the criminal justice system and address the community鈥檚 most pressing issues.鈥� As director of the school, ten Bensel is also looking forward to her role as a faculty mentor.听听 鈥淚 get to work one-on-one with the faculty on their research and professional goals. That is one of the more exciting parts of my job,鈥� she said. 鈥淗aving teaching and research that impact the community is why I got into academia. Although I鈥檓 excited about leading our school, being in the classroom and helping students graduate and learn are close to my heart. I will try to hang on to those parts of my job as much as possible.鈥� She received her bachelor鈥檚 degree and master鈥檚 degree in criminal justice as well as a bachelor鈥檚 degree in philosophy from 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock and a Ph.D. in criminology and criminal justice from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She is also a graduate of the Women in Education Leadership program at the Harvard Business School and president of the Southwestern Association of Criminal Justice.