March 2017
- December, 2016 graduate from the UHD Bachelor of Social Work program and Commencement Speaker, Naiyolis Paloma-Garcia visited the College of Public Service on Friday, February 24, 2017 to work with some of our current Social Work students. while she was here she shared that just after commencement, Commissioner Rodney Ellis invited her to intern with a Texas legislator in Austin. She began her graduate studies at the UH Graduate College of Social Work and her internship in Austin, Texas one week after graduation from UHD!
- On February 15th, President Michael Olivas, Provost Ed Hugetz, Regent Paula Mendoza, Leigh Van Horn, Ron Beebe, Franklin Allaire, Nina Barbieri, Matt Fugate, Brad Hoge, and David Ryden attended the 2017 HISD State of the Schools luncheon at the Hilton Hotel of the Americas where Superintendent Richard Carranza was the keynote speaker. One of the students featured in his address has chosen to attend UHD's College of Public Service and will be majoring in bilingual education in the Department of Urban Education. Superintendent Carranza gave her a contract to teach for HISD when she graduates.
- John Kelly has expanded his high impact service learning literacy project at the Juvenile Detention Center's Excel Academy to include the JJAEP, Harris County Probation alternative school for school districts in Harris County. Laura Mitchell will join him on the project.
- Rebecca Pfeffer had an op-ed (short for opposite editorial) piece published in the Houston Chronicle titled. "Human trafficking isn't just a Super Bowl problem."
- Maria Bhattacharjee and John Kelly received book donations from the Barbara Bush Houston Foundation for their community projects at Crockett Elementary School and the Harris County Juvenile Probation department, Excel Academy.
- Nina Barbieri, Sharon Noel, Bernardo Pohl, Jace Valcore, and Hsiao-Ming Wang participated in the rubric evaluation session for General Education Assessment.
- Krista Gehring published the third book in her series for Oxford University Press, CrimComics: Classical and Neoclassical Criminology.
- Jace Valcore and Maria Bhattacharjee have been selected as the College of Public Service Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence Teaching Fellows for the 2017-2018 academic year.
- Marr Fugate, member of the Research Advisory Board for the Grayson School in Philadelphia, will travel to Philadelphia to conduct observations in classrooms, dialogue with teachers, and make several presentations to parents and community members. The presentations are titled, "There are 2 Es in crEativE," "Where would Harry and Ron be with Hermione? Understanding the Unique Needs of Gifted Girls," and "Social Contracts: Being Gifted in the Age of Social Media."
- Judith Harris hosted 15 students and additional faculty from the Zhejiang Police University in Hangzhou, China on March 1st. While at the University of Houston-Downtown, the group made a presentation in Larry Karson's Police Systems class and visited the UHD Criminal Justice Training Center where they were welcomed by Acting Director, Louis Evans.
- Nina Barbieri's paper, "Gang membership and self-esteem: A mixed-methods approach,' was accepted for presentation at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences annual meeting.
- Jace Valcore's blog, "What Jeff Sessions and Tom Price means for the trans*community," was published in the Criminalizing Gender Diversity - Gender Policy Report.
- Diane Miller is working with Rose Hinojosa and Sally Swanson at the Houston Public Library to provide opportunities for UHD students to participate in the Barbara Brush Literacy Plaza Kick-Off Outreach Event. She has proposed a 24-hour Read-Aloud-Athon to demonstrate the "pervasive impact of literacy through every part of our days (and nights!)".
- Kevin Buckler's op-ed piece, "Distracted media missed the asset forfeiture issue," was published in the Texas Tribune.
- Karen Palmer will attend the Alliance of Hispanic Serving Institution Educator's Conference.
- Jace Valcore's op-ed piece, "The real victims of the Senate's bathroom bill," was published in the Texas Tribune.
- Carol Boethel and Teryana Lamb attended the Texas Association for Institutional Research Conference.
- Janice Ahmad attended the 2017 Texas Legislative Conference of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty with Spring 2017 Texas Legislative Intern Esperanza Martinez who is assigned to the office of Representative Alma Allen from District 131.
- Kevin Buckler's op-ed, "Legislators should reform age of responsibility in Texas," was published in the Texas Tribune.
- Ron Beebe, Bernardo Pohl, and Leigh Van Horn participated in the Texas Tribune Community Roundtable Discussions on Public Education in Texas at UHD on March 2nd.
- Barbara Belbot's paper, "The Supreme Court and Sentencing" was accepted for presentation at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences annual meeting.
- Nina Barbieri hosted community member and partner, Charles Savage, Executive Director of Our Boys Matter, formerly the Fifth Ward Enrichment Program, Jerry Wallace, Minority Male Recruitment at UHD, Dana Smith, Social Work program, Steven Villano, Director of the Center for Public Service and Family Strengths/Institute for Community Research, and Leigh Van Horn, in a luncheon discussion and planning session to combine efforts to advance young men and assist families. The group will meet again in the near future for system mapping of possible initiatives with Faiza Khoja.
- Dana Smith, Ron Beebe, and Sharon Noel will represent Social Work, Urban Education, and College of Public Service Assessment on the Stage 1 Implementation Team for TK20. A representative from Criminal Justice will join the team during the Stage 2 Implementation phase.
- Lori Lovins attended a meeting with representatives from the American Probation and Parole Association to discuss initiatives associated with their Winter 2018 training event slated for January 21-24, 2018 at the Hyatt Hotel in Houston.
- Mike Cavanaugh's paper, "Black and Blue: An Analysis of Police Shootings in Houston," was accepted for presentation at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences annual conference.
- Krista Gehring's paper, "The Best Laid Plans: Lessons Learned Through Implementation Approaches for Women Offenders," was accepted for presentation at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences annual conference.
- Rebecca Pfeffer's paper, "Policing Prostitution: Strategies That Increase Identification in Human Trafficking Cases," was accepted for presentation at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences annual conference.
- Stephanie Karas' paper, "Life After Ferguson: Why Police Cadets Still Want to Do the Job,' was accepted for presentation at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences annual conference.
- Congratulations and best wishes to Faculty Awards Finalists in the College of Public Service:
Excellence in Teaching: Judith Harris, Criminal Justice
Excellence in Service: Maria Bhattacharjee, Urban Education
Excellence in Service: Ashley Blackburn, Criminal Justice
Outstanding Lecturer: Angela Goins, Social Work
Outstanding Adjunct: Charles Pelz, Criminal JusticeOutstanding Adjunct: Joshua Reynolds, Social Work