xavier serna

Seasoned academic professional with extensive experience in criminology and sociology, notably at Sam Houston State University and Texas A&M University. Excelled in curriculum development and online instruction, leveraging expertise in Blackboard Ultra and geocoding. Demonstrated exceptional ability in data analysis and student mentorship, significantly enhancing learning outcomes.

• Fall 2017, Graduate Research Assistant, Race and Ethnic Studies Institute (RESI), Texas A&M University, Assisted Dr. Verna Keith in her research on race and Caribbean mental health.
• Fall 2016, Assistant to the Associate Editor, Population Review Journal, Texas A&M University, Assisted Dr. Heili Pals in procuring reviewers, associated correspondence, and record keeping for submitted manuscripts.
• 2013-2014, Graduate Research Assistant, Howard B. Kaplan Laboratory for Social Science Research, Texas A&M University, Helped label longitudinal dataset, digitized scores, geocoded neighborhood characteristics.

• Pals, H., R. Abel, X. Serna, K. Harvey-Burnett, A. Trevino, Does Socio-Criminal Background Normalize Criminal Justice Involvement?
• Pals, H., X. Serna, Parental Incarceration and Offspring's Negative Self-feelings: The Role of Attachment to Parents and Other Mediators.
• Serna, X., Paternal Incarceration and Adolescent Substance Use.

• 2017, Pals, H., R. Abel, X. Serna, K. Harvey-Burnett, A. Trevino, Outlaw State of Mind: Normalizing Criminal Justice Involvement through Socio-Criminal Background., American Sociological Association, Montréal, Québec
• 2017, Pals, H., R. Abel, X. Serna, K. Harvey-Burnett, A. Trevino, Coming Undone: Does Socio-Criminal Background Normalize Criminal Justice Involvement?, Southwestern Social Science Association, Austin, TX
• 2016, Pals, H., X. Serna, Neighborhood Dynamics on Negative Self-Feelings: The Role of Changing Perception of Neighborhood., Southwestern Social Science Association, Las Vegas, NV
• 2015, Pals, H., X. Serna, Parental Incarceration and Offspring's Negative Self-feelings: The Role of Attachment to Parents and Other Mediators., American Sociological Association Roundtable, Chicago, IL
• 2015, Pals, H., X. Serna, Parental Incarceration and Offspring's Negative Self-feelings: The Role of Attachment to Parents and Other Mediators., Southwestern Social Science Association, Denver, CO
• 2015, Serna, X., Paternal Incarceration and Adolescent Substance Use., Southwestern Social Science Association, Denver, CO
• 2014, Pals, H., X. Serna, Parental Incarceration and Negative Self-Feelings., Southwestern Social Science Association, San Antonio, TX

• 2019, Panel Participant for 'The Pushouts' (2018) Screening and Panel Discussion, SHSU
• 2018, Trauma, Mental Health, Negative Emotions, Criminal Justice Contacts, and Delinquency., American Society of Criminology, Atlanta, GA
• 2018, Panel Participant for P.A.C.E. Youth Program Panel Discussion 'Support for Children of Incarcerated Parents', Houston, TX
• 2016, MSC Wiley Lecture Series Discussion Moderator, 'Guilty Until Reform', Texas A&M University
• 2015, Federal Prison Camp Panel Presentation Participant, 'Families 'On the Outside': A Discussion of Issues and Resources for Women in Prison', Bryan, TX
• 2014, Workshop Participant, 'Multigenerational Life Course Studies: A Workshop on Dr. Kaplan's Longitudinal Data', Texas A&M University
• 2014, Federal Prison Camp Panel Presentation Participant, 'Families 'On the Outside': A Discussion of Issues and Resources for Women in Prison', Bryan, TX

• 2017, Graduate Student Research and Presentation Grant, $750, Conference/travel award, Texas A&M University.
• 2017, Summertime for Advancement in Research Award (STAR), $2,500, Dissertation writing award, Texas A&M University.
• 2015, Sociology Department conference/travel award, $300, Texas A&M University
• 2014, Sociology Department conference/travel award, $250, Texas A&M University
• 2013-2014, Howard B. Kaplan Memorial Assistantship, $30,000, Department of Sociology, Texas A&M University
• 2009-2010, Texas Aggie Graduate Grant, $3,000, Texas A&M University
• 2006-2009, Graduate Diversity Fellowship, $75,000, Department of Sociology, Texas A&M University

• SHSU Spring 2024 Online Course Redesign and Faculty Certification Program
• SHSU Spring 2019 Online Course Redesign and Faculty Certification Program
• Blackboard Ultra
• ECampus
• Microsoft Software
• Stata
• SPSS
• SAS
• Geocoding
• Spanish written and spoken

• Criminology
• Criminal Justice
• Juvenile Justice
• Research Methods
• Due Process
• Inequality
• Sociology
• Social Diversity
• Stratification
• Social Psychology
• Witness Misidentification
• Wrongful Convictions
• Corrections
• Immigration
• Deviance
• Intersectionality
• Substance Use