Acknowledging Excellence
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Kory Kilgore, Assistant Director, Graduate Studies
- Ava Mathis, Director of the Center for the Professional Development of Teachers in Urban Education
- Barbara Partaka, Administrative Assistant, UHD-Criminal Justice Training Center
- Natasha Perez, Assistant Professor, Literacy Education
- LaChelle Rhoads, Assistant Director, UHD-Criminal Justice Training Center
- Jerry Wallace, Assistant Dean, College of Public Service
- Eve Zehavi, Assistant Professor, Literacy Education
- Elizabeth Gilmore received a Curricular Innovation Award from the College of Public Service for her project entitled, “The TCOLE Conference: A Proposal to Social Network to Gain an Understanding of the Current Policing Profession in Texas”.
- Elizabeth Gilmore received a Curricular Innovation Award from the College of Public Service for her project entitled, “Applied Projects in Undergraduate Criminal Justice Courses: Teaching Investigation Techniques”.
- Irene Chen received a Curricular Innovation Award from the College of Public Service for her project entitled, “Tech Bowl for ETC 3301, Educational Technology”.
- Krista Gehring received a Curricular Innovation Award from the College of Public Service for her project entitled, “Gamification of Popular Culture, Crime, and Justice”.
- Kevin Buckler received a Curricular Innovation Award from the College of Public Service for his project entitled, “Teaching Applied Research Methods: A Proposal to Purchase Qualitative Research Software”.
- Heather Goltz received a Scholarly Innovation Award from the College of Public Service for her project entitled, Clinical Practice Intensive at 2019 Association of Oncology Social Work Annual Conference”.
- Krista Gehring received a Scholarly Innovation Award from the College of Public Service for her project entitled, “CrimComics at 32nd Annual New York Book Show”.
- Kevin Buckler and Elizabeth Gilmore received a Learning Course-Based Community Engagement and Service (LEARN) Award from the College of Public Service for their project entitled, “Teaching Freshman About Public Service: Lessons of 9/11 From a Police Practitioner”.
- Yu-Han Hung received a Research Initiatives Involving Faculty and Community at Conferences (RI-FACC) Award from the College of Public Service for her project entitled, “How Students Learn Controversial Public Issues in Their Classrooms: Investigator and Teacher Participants Building Dialogue with Educators”.
- Angela Goins was a finalist for the UHD Faculty Award for Outstanding Lecturer
- Rebecca Pfeffer was a finalist for the UHD Faculty Award for Excellence in Scholarly Creative/Activity
- Judith Harris was a finalist for the UHD Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching
- Dawn McCarty was awarded the UHD Funded Faculty Leave for her project to develop five of nine chapters of a book that applies the six Social Work practice values to the pressing issues of immigration.
- Irene Chen, Anna Esparza, Carlos Garza, and Hitesh Patel were honored for 20 years of service to UHD.
- Beth Pelz was honored for 30 years of service to UHD.
- Matt Fugate completed the UHD Grant Academy and was awarded a course release to prepare his grant proposal for external funding.
- Steven Villano was recognized by President Munoz for his outstanding service to members of the UHD community in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.
- Nina Barbieri was nominated by Poonam Gulati of the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning for the Ernest A. Lynton Award for the Scholarship of Engagement for Early Career Faculty.
- Rebecca Pfeffer was a finalist for the UHD Faculty Award for Excellence in Scholarly Creative/Activity
- Judith Harris was a finalist for the UHD Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching
- Dawn McCarty was awarded the UHD Funded Faculty Leave for her project to develop five of nine chapters of a book that applies the six Social Work practice values to the pressing issues of immigration.
- Irene Chen, Anna Esparza, Carlos Garza, and Hitesh Patel were honored for 20 years of service to UHD.
- Beth Pelz was honored for 30 years of service to UHD.
- Matt Fugate completed the UHD Grant Academy and was awarded a course release to prepare his grant proposal for external funding.
- Steven Villano was recognized by President Munoz for his outstanding service to members of the UHD community in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.
- Nina Barbieri was nominated by Poonam Gulati of the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning for the Ernest A. Lynton Award for the Scholarship of Engagement for Early Career Faculty.
- Mike Emery of the University Relations Team received the Houston Press Club Lone
Star Award for his news release about Krista Gehring, “UHD Professor Teaching Criminology
Using Comics”.
- Beverly Alford received a UH/UHD Synergy Grant for her collaborative research project with Hanako Yoshida of the University of Houston.
- Christal Burnett-Sanchez was awarded the opportunity to participate in the Texas Academic Leadership Academy.
- Maria Bhattacharjee received an award from the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning for service learning course designation and funding for two sections of PED 3314.
- Heather Goltz received an award from the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning for service learning course designation and funding for three sections of SOCW 3350.
- Laura Mitchell received an award from the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning for service learning course designation and funding for READ 3317.
- Judith Harris received an award from the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning for service learning course designation and funding for CJ 4370.
- Angela Goins received an award from the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning for service learning course designation and funding for SOCW 2361, SOCW 4304, and SOCW 4302.
- Christal Burnett-Sanchez received an award from the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning for service learning course designation and funding for her Near North Side Community Engagement proposal entitled “Installation of Tiny Libraries in NNS – Project 5”.
- Nina Barbieri was selected as the College of Public Service Faculty Teaching Fellow for the 2018-2019 academic year.
- Franklin Allaire’s article, “Cobern and Lovings Card Exchange Revisited: Using Literacy Strategies to Support and Enhance Teacher Candidates’ Understanding of NOS (Nature of Science)” was published in Innovations in Science Teacher Education.
- Dawn McCarty contributed to an article in Psychology Today on the damage of separating families.
- Nina Barbieri’s article, “A Preliminary Evaluation of the Supervision with Immediate Enforcement Probation Program for Adult Gang-Affiliated Offenders in Texas” was published in Criminal Justice and Behavior.
- Franklin Allaire’s article, “Themes from a Narrative Analysis of Native Hawaiian Experiences in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics” was published in the Journal of Ethnographic and Qualitative Research.
- Krista Gehring’s latest book in the CrimComics series, “Anomie and Strain Theories” was published by Oxford University Press.
- Sharon Noel attended the Texas Association for Institutional Research Professional Development Program.
- Carol Boethel attended the 2018 Texas Association of Certification Officers Summer Conference
- Terrilyn Ratcliff will attend the National Academic Advising Association Conference in late September.
- Anna Esparza will attend the National Academic Advising Association Conference in late September.
- Dana Smith and Angela Goins have had their paper, Are social work field practicum costs a social and economic justice issue?” accepted for presentation at the 64th Annual Council on Social Work Education Conference.
- Shahnaz Savani’s workshop, “Confronting Islamophobia through Social Work Education,” and her paper, “Suicide in Central Asia,” have been accepted for presentation at the 64th Annual Council on Social Work Education Conference.
- Hsiao-Ming Wang’s paper, “Phone scams: A prevailing telecommunication fraud in Houston,” has been accepted for presentation at the International Forum on Police Cooperation: Combating Transnational Telecommunications Fraud.
- Franklin Allaire’s paper, “Building elementary science teaching efficacy through self-analysis of digitally recorded lessons,” has been accepted for presentation at the Texas Association of Teacher Educators 2018 Conference.
- Bernardo Pohl’s paper, “Examining the mentoring and induction experience of novice special education teachers: Perspectives from the field” has been accepted for presentation at the EDULEARN 18 Conference.
- John Kelly and Bernardo Pohl’s paper, “The impact of a service-learning project involving pre-service teachers working with incarcerated youth,” was accepted for presentation at the EDULEARN 18 Conference.
- Shahnaz Savani’s paper, “Investigating prevalence, risk, and protective factors for suicide in Central Asia: The implicit role of culture,” was accepted for presentation at the International Association for Suicide Prevention Asia Pacific Conference.
- Matt Fugate’s paper, Exploring issues of identifying twice exceptional learners through case studies,” was accepted for presentation at the 2018 European Council for High Ability Conference. During the conference, Matt also participated in a symposium and a workshop.
- Dana Smith’s paper, “Cell phone use in formal and informal work settings: How do attitudes of social work students and professionals differ,” was accepted for presentation at the 2018 Joint World Conference on Social Work Education ad Social Development.
- Nina Barbieri’s paper, Assessing general strain theory and measures of victimization 2002-2017,” was accepted for presentation at the International Society of Research on Aggression.
- Ash Tiwari’s paper, “Measuring general education teachers’ attitude towards inclusion of special education teachers,” was accepted for presentation at the International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences Conference.
- Beverly Alford received a UH/UHD Synergy Grant for her collaborative research project with Hanako Yoshida of the University of Houston.
- Christal Burnett-Sanchez was awarded the opportunity to participate in the Texas Academic Leadership Academy.
- Maria Bhattacharjee received an award from the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning for service learning course designation and funding for two sections of PED 3314.
- Heather Goltz received an award from the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning for service learning course designation and funding for three sections of SOCW 3350.
- Laura Mitchell received an award from the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning for service learning course designation and funding for READ 3317.
- Judith Harris received an award from the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning for service learning course designation and funding for CJ 4370.
- Angela Goins received an award from the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning for service learning course designation and funding for SOCW 2361, SOCW 4304, and SOCW 4302.
- Christal Burnett-Sanchez received an award from the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning for service learning course designation and funding for her Near North Side Community Engagement proposal entitled “Installation of Tiny Libraries in NNS – Project 5”.
- Nina Barbieri was selected as the College of Public Service Faculty Teaching Fellow for the 2018-2019 academic year.
- Franklin Allaire’s article, “Cobern and Lovings Card Exchange Revisited: Using Literacy Strategies to Support and Enhance Teacher Candidates’ Understanding of NOS (Nature of Science)” was published in Innovations in Science Teacher Education.
- Dawn McCarty contributed to an article in Psychology Today on the damage of separating families.
- Nina Barbieri’s article, “A Preliminary Evaluation of the Supervision with Immediate Enforcement Probation Program for Adult Gang-Affiliated Offenders in Texas” was published in Criminal Justice and Behavior.
- Franklin Allaire’s article, “Themes from a Narrative Analysis of Native Hawaiian Experiences in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics” was published in the Journal of Ethnographic and Qualitative Research.
- Krista Gehring’s latest book in the CrimComics series, “Anomie and Strain Theories” was published by Oxford University Press.
- Sharon Noel attended the Texas Association for Institutional Research Professional Development Program.
- Carol Boethel attended the 2018 Texas Association of Certification Officers Summer Conference
- Terrilyn Ratcliff will attend the National Academic Advising Association Conference in late September.
- Anna Esparza will attend the National Academic Advising Association Conference in late September.
- Dana Smith and Angela Goins have had their paper, Are social work field practicum costs a social and economic justice issue?” accepted for presentation at the 64th Annual Council on Social Work Education Conference.
- Shahnaz Savani’s workshop, “Confronting Islamophobia through Social Work Education,” and her paper, “Suicide in Central Asia,” have been accepted for presentation at the 64th Annual Council on Social Work Education Conference.
- Hsiao-Ming Wang’s paper, “Phone scams: A prevailing telecommunication fraud in Houston,” has been accepted for presentation at the International Forum on Police Cooperation: Combating Transnational Telecommunications Fraud.
- Franklin Allaire’s paper, “Building elementary science teaching efficacy through self-analysis of digitally recorded lessons,” has been accepted for presentation at the Texas Association of Teacher Educators 2018 Conference.
- Bernardo Pohl’s paper, “Examining the mentoring and induction experience of novice special education teachers: Perspectives from the field” has been accepted for presentation at the EDULEARN 18 Conference.
- John Kelly and Bernardo Pohl’s paper, “The impact of a service-learning project involving pre-service teachers working with incarcerated youth,” was accepted for presentation at the EDULEARN 18 Conference.
- Shahnaz Savani’s paper, “Investigating prevalence, risk, and protective factors for suicide in Central Asia: The implicit role of culture,” was accepted for presentation at the International Association for Suicide Prevention Asia Pacific Conference.
- Matt Fugate’s paper, Exploring issues of identifying twice exceptional learners through case studies,” was accepted for presentation at the 2018 European Council for High Ability Conference. During the conference, Matt also participated in a symposium and a workshop.
- Dana Smith’s paper, “Cell phone use in formal and informal work settings: How do attitudes of social work students and professionals differ,” was accepted for presentation at the 2018 Joint World Conference on Social Work Education ad Social Development.
- Nina Barbieri’s paper, Assessing general strain theory and measures of victimization 2002-2017,” was accepted for presentation at the International Society of Research on Aggression.
- Ash Tiwari’s paper, “Measuring general education teachers’ attitude towards inclusion of special education teachers,” was accepted for presentation at the International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences Conference.
- Krista Gehring was invited to participate as a panelist for the inaugural Leadership Summit event at the University of St. Thomas; Ethics, Equity, and Empowerment; Striving for a Fuller Humanity.
- Angela Goins’ paper, “Service learning with older adults with dementia: A mixed method study,” was accepted for presentation at the Joint World Conference on Social Work, Education, and Social Development.
- Beth Pelz, Judith Harris, and Paulette Purdy organized a program; Criminal Justice and Public Health: Where are we and where do we need to go? Nina Barbieri, Alpha Phi Sigma Faculty Sponsor and members of APS assisted with the logistics. Panelists included: Heather Goltz, Associate Professor of Social Work, Kim Ogg, Harris County District Attorney, Jessica Khan, Director of the Division of Clinical Virology UTMB – Correctional Managed Care, and Garnet Coleman, Texas State Representative, District 147.
- Students from Angela Goins’ class, Practice with Older Adults and Stephen Wernet’s class, Urban Issues in a Global Environment presented research posters to inform the public on critical issues.
- Students in Elizabeth Gilmore’s class, Child Abuse and Neglect, participated in
National Child Abuse Prevention Month by designed and presenting presented posters
themed around the issue of child abuse prevention.
- Janice Ahmad wrote a piece about former Master of Science in Criminal Justice graduate
student Henry Gonzales who was appointed the Executive Director/Chief Juvenile Probation
Officer for the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department. The piece and a photograph
of Henry Gonzales taken by Paulina Gamino are on the College of Public Service website.
- Kevin Buckler was on Houston Public Media the week of May 28th discussing unusual crime solving methods.
- Kevin Buckler was on Houston Public Media the week of May 28th discussing unusual crime solving methods.
- Rebecca Pfeffer was on Houston Public Media the week of May 28th discussing human
trafficking.
- Rebecca Pfeffer was interviewed on Houston Matters regarding a State Department
report warning that children separated from their families at the border are at risk
for human trafficking.
- Shannon Fowler worked with Carol Tucker and Faiza Khoja to complete the US News
and World Report Best Online Criminal Justice Graduate Programs survey. This effort
may result in a further increase in our rankings.
- Paulina Gamino created the first interactive organization chart at the University
of Houston – Downtown for the members of the College of Public Service. She will share
her process with her colleagues in our other four colleges.
- Thanks to the following college members for their participation in Coffee With the Colleges. This event provides us with an opportunity to interact with the parents of incoming students; Franklin Allaire, Nina Barbieri, Ashley Blackburn, Kevin Buckler, Anna Esparza, Angela Goins, Heather Goltz, Larry Karson, and Lori Lovins.
- Thanks to Anna Esparza, Tream Charvis, Damaris Cortez, Mercedes Gonzales, Terrilyn Ratcliff, and Jerry Wallace for leading the work in texting and advising continuing students this summer. Their efforts enhanced our retention in the college and contributed to the university goal of achieving enrollment of 14,500 for Fall, 2018.
- Congratulations to Michael Cavanaugh and Angela Lopez-Pedrana who will serve as Assistant Chairs in the Department of Criminal Justice and Social Work and Urban Education.
- Congratulations to Michael Cavanaugh who has been elected Faculty Senate Secretary.
- Congratulations to Matt Fugate who has been elected to serve on the Academic Affairs Council representing Urban Education.
- Congratulations to Laura Mitchell who is the newly elected Faculty Senator from Urban Education.
- Congratulations to Jace Valcore who is the newly elected Faculty Senator from Criminal Justice and Social Work.
- Congratulations to Angela Lopez-Pedrana who has been elected to serve on the Grievance Committee representing Urban Education.
- Congratulations to Maria Bhattacharjee who has been elected to serve on the Funded Faculty Leave Committee representing Urban Education.
- Congratulations to Ashley Blackburn who has been elected to serve on the Funded Faculty Leave Committee representing Criminal Justice and Social Work
- Congratulations to Matt Fugate who has been elected to serve on the Organized Research Committee representing Urban Education.
- Congratulations to Rebecca Pfeffer who has been elected to serve on the Committee on Credentials and Elections.
- Congratulations to Beth Pelz who has been elected to serve on the Grievance Committee representing Criminal Justice and Social Work.
- Thanks to the following college members for their participation in Coffee With the Colleges. This event provides us with an opportunity to interact with the parents of incoming students; Franklin Allaire, Nina Barbieri, Ashley Blackburn, Kevin Buckler, Anna Esparza, Angela Goins, Heather Goltz, Larry Karson, and Lori Lovins.
- Thanks to Anna Esparza, Tream Charvis, Damaris Cortez, Mercedes Gonzales, Terrilyn Ratcliff, and Jerry Wallace for leading the work in texting and advising continuing students this summer. Their efforts enhanced our retention in the college and contributed to the university goal of achieving enrollment of 14,500 for Fall, 2018.
- Congratulations to Michael Cavanaugh and Angela Lopez-Pedrana who will serve as Assistant Chairs in the Department of Criminal Justice and Social Work and Urban Education.
- Congratulations to Michael Cavanaugh who has been elected Faculty Senate Secretary.
- Congratulations to Matt Fugate who has been elected to serve on the Academic Affairs Council representing Urban Education.
- Congratulations to Laura Mitchell who is the newly elected Faculty Senator from Urban Education.
- Congratulations to Jace Valcore who is the newly elected Faculty Senator from Criminal Justice and Social Work.
- Congratulations to Angela Lopez-Pedrana who has been elected to serve on the Grievance Committee representing Urban Education.
- Congratulations to Maria Bhattacharjee who has been elected to serve on the Funded Faculty Leave Committee representing Urban Education.
- Congratulations to Ashley Blackburn who has been elected to serve on the Funded Faculty Leave Committee representing Criminal Justice and Social Work
- Congratulations to Matt Fugate who has been elected to serve on the Organized Research Committee representing Urban Education.
- Congratulations to Rebecca Pfeffer who has been elected to serve on the Committee on Credentials and Elections.
- Congratulations to Beth Pelz who has been elected to serve on the Grievance Committee representing Criminal Justice and Social Work.
- Congratulations to Clete Snell who has been elected to serve on the Organized Research
Committee representing Criminal Justice and Social Work.
- Congratulations to Diane Miller who has been elected to serve on the Faculty Affairs
Committee representing Urban Education.
- Congratulations to Krista Gehring who has been elected to serve on the Academic
Policy Committee representing Criminal Justice and Social Work.
- Congratulations to Heather Goltz who has been elected to serve on the Curriculum
Committee representing Criminal Justice and Social Work.
- Beth Gilmore and UHD Criminal Justice Student and Ambassador, Ronald Restrepo were
interviewed on the Isiah Factor, where they discussed the initiative formed with the Houston Police Department and
the Communicators on Patrol Program. We have UHD Criminal Justice students who are
bilingual serving as Communicators on Patrol, riding with HPD patrol officers and
providing interpretation as needed while earning internship credit for their service.
- Krista Gehring was interviewed on the Isiah Factor on August 2 on the topic, “Comic Books to Teach Criminology,” on August 3 on the topic,
“Air Conditioning in Prisons,” and on August 17 on the topic, “Fewer Educational Opportunities
for Female Inmates.”
- Beth Gilmore successfully defended her dissertation and will receive her doctoral
degree in Criminal Justice from Prairie View A&M. Congratulations Dr. Gilmore!
- Shahnaz Savani successfully defended her dissertation proposal and will conduct
her dissertation study toward the doctoral degree in Social Work.
- Much appreciation to our College of Public Service Advisors who contacted all continuing
students and worked with each individually to ensure students could register for the
fall semester. This included alerting us when there were students who needed additional
financial assistance to complete a final semester and graduate in December. Through
our Gators With Grit Scholarship in the college we have been able to assist 10 students.
- Houston-Galveston Area Council recently awarded two grants totaling $1.1 million (1/2 to UHD) to the Housing, Entrepreneurship And Readiness Training (H.E.A.R.T.) Program and the
University of Houston-Downtown (UHD) to help adults with intellectual and developmental
disabilities rejoin the workforce and continue to recover from Harvey. Through this grant, H.E.A.R.T and UHD’s Center for Public Service and Community Research developed a Continuing Education Certificate Program to help community members advance
their education and gain career-building skills. Program participants will attend
on-campus classes, participate in on-campus internships, off-campus externships, and
final capstone projects prior to graduation. Students will be paired with UHD student
mentors, who will provide guidance and support during a three-semester course of study. The program will accommodate up to 80 students and will begin on Sept. 24. Congratulations to Steven Villano, Director of the Center for Public Service and Community
Research, and Urban Education faculty members Bernardo Pohl and Ash Tiwari.
- Our appreciation to G.V. Krishnan, Brandi Smith-Irving, Jerry Johnson, Lea Campbell,
Faiza Khoja, Provost Hugetz, and President Munoz for providing support throughout
the development of the UHD-HEART proposal.
- Much appreciation to our College of Public Service Ambassadors, Damaris Cortez (Social
Work Faculty), Alejandra Villarreal, (Urban Education student), Safia Kuzu (Social
Work student), Ronald Restrepo (Criminal Justice student), and our advisors, Anna
Esparza and Mercedes Gonzales for participating with me in creating the first College
of Public Service Live Webinar for potential transfer students. Thanks also to Cynthia
Hartman who assisted in hosting 20 participants who wanted to participate “live” and
who then registered. Two online participants and 2 in-person participants received
a $500 scholarship each upon registration. You can watch the webinar by clicking on
the link on the College of Public Service page under “Who, What, and Why the College
of Public Service”.
- Janice Ahmad’s paper, “Criminal Justice Public Police: Recent Changes,” has been
accepted for presentation at the Southwestern Association of Criminal Justice annual
conference.
- Ash Tiwari is a founding member of the University of Texas at Rio Grand Valley College
of Education Special Education Research Consortium. The Consortium received a $500,000
Autism Grant from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Ash Tiwari will be
involved in research projects that will come out of this project.
- Mercedes Gonzales’ paper, “The Fishermen Class: A First Gen-ESL-BA’s Attempt to
Nurture Intellectual Curiosity in Her Advisees” was accepted for publication in the
National Academic Advising Association’s (NACADA) e-journal, Academic Advising Today. Her piece will appear in the December, 2018 edition.
- Lee Smith and Jerry Wallace attended the Texas Challenge to Reach Higher Conference
at the University of Houston.
- Anna Esparza, Terrilyn Ratcliff, and Mercedes Gonzales will attend the NACADA Conference.
- Maria Bhattacharjee, Irene Chen, Bernardo Pohl, and Urban Education students will
present at he 2018 Binational Conference at UHD on the topic of Integrating Digital
Citizenship Education in Teacher Training.
- Maria Bhattacharjee and College of Public Service Student Ambassador, Alejandra
Villarreal were guests of Dr. Laura Murillo, President and CEO of Houston Hispanic
Chamber of Commerce, on Contacto En Espanol, a Univision/Univers 67 Spanish public affairs program where they discussed our Bilingual Education Program in the Department of Urban Education.
- Matt Fugate served as the Guest Editor for a special issue of Teaching for High Potential: Quality Classroom Practice for High-Ability Students
focused on gifted and talented girls.
- Larry Karson and Barbara Belbot’s paper, “Legal formalism in a 1930 Houston homicide,” has been accepted for presentation
at the Southwestern Association of Criminal Justice annual conference.
- Hsiao-Ming Wang’s paper, “The challenge of preventing phone scams in the contemporary
societies,” has been accepted for presentation at the Southwestern Association of
Criminal Justice annual conference.
- Jerry Wallace was an invited speaker on the topic of Discrimination in Incarceration at the Conscience and Justice Council Conference.