When Julie Campbell started her college career, she didn’t know what she wanted to study or which career path to take.
The UNK criminal justice professor changed her major three times before finding her passion.
“I took my first criminal justice class as a general education course, and I loved it. I could not wait to go to class,” she said. “I was fascinated by the process of determining what behavior will be criminalized or required, how laws and legal procedure evolve, and how we seek justice in a democratic society. I was also drawn to the discussion of why people break the law and how we respond to that behavior. When I took my first class in victimology, I was hooked.”
Campbell earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminal justice and a doctorate in administration of justice, all from the University of Southern Mississippi. Originally planning to go to law school, she discovered her love for teaching during graduate school.
“I had the unexpected opportunity to teach a course when a member of the criminal justice department fell ill,” she explained. “I was a nervous wreck when I walked into the classroom for the first time as the instructor, but by the end of the class period I knew I never wanted to do anything else.”
After living in locations across the country, from New York to San Diego, Campbell found a long-term home in Kearney. She joined the UNK Department of Criminal Justice in 2006 and also serves as the faculty coordinator for the Thompson Scholars Learning Community, which supports students who receive the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation Scholarship.
“I have lived here for nearly 20 years, which is longer than I have ever lived in one place,” Campbell noted. “I have a strong sense of community belonging, both on and off campus.”
What brought you to UNK?
I fell in love with Kearney and with UNK during my campus visit. My dream was to teach at a university where teaching was the focus, where I could work closely with my students, and where I could develop long-term working relationships with colleagues and community partners.
Tell me about your role as a criminal justice professor:
I teach courses to criminal justice majors and minors, and also to those who are in a criminal justice class for the first time because they are seeking general education credit. There is nothing I enjoy more than talking with students about the subjects I am passionate about and seeing their own interest in these topics develop. I also have the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues and practitioners on research. I am currently working on two exciting projects – one focuses on trauma programming for women in prison and the other on juvenile justice in western Nebraska.
I absolutely love my field of study. I love that we can have intellectual conversations about the spirit of law and also delve deeply into people’s unique lived experiences. Most of all, I love that my field allows us to think about how to make our communities a better place to live.
And in the Thompson Scholars Learning Community:
I am responsible for creating a schedule of shared learning classes for our scholars to enroll in during the first and second years on campus. These classes are opportunities for our scholars to take classes comprised of others in their cohort. My second responsibility is to serve as a secondary academic adviser to all of our scholars while they are at UNK. I love this part of my job! I stick with scholars from their first day on campus through graduation, regardless of their academic major.
How do you help prepare students for their futures?
As an educator, my goal is to familiarize them with our criminal justice system and the challenges facing that system today. I hope to awaken in them a desire to engage with the world around them and be an active part in making our system more effective, more equitable and more compassionate.
I also enjoy watching my students grow as individuals and as young professionals. What students learn in college is not limited to the classroom. Students learn to navigate the world as adults. They learn what they are capable of. If they are lucky, they find the career path that will fulfill them for the rest of their lives. As an academic adviser, I am there to provide guidance when needed, but also encouragement.
What do you love most about UNK?
The opportunity to work closely with students. I enjoy getting to know them, learning their stories and watching them overcome the challenges they face during their time with us. At many universities, class sizes are so large that faculty never have the opportunity to engage with individual students. We are so fortunate at UNK to be able to hold small classes for those majoring in our programs, to provide students with experiential learning opportunities, and to have the chance to work with our students on undergraduate research. Graduation day is always the goal, and seeing the impact our students make on their communities after graduation is incredibly rewarding.
Share a fun fact about yourself:
Both of my daughters are now in college at UNK, so I have been looking for ways to fill my time as an empty nester. I love to read. Last year I spent six months watching movies about World War II. I also love to work on home improvement projects and out in the yard. I hope this summer to be able to travel internationally with my daughters.