The National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) recently announced the 2009 Winners of the Prevention for a Safer Society (PASS) awards. The awards are made annually to honor and recognize professionals who cover issues and highlight solutions to criminal justice, juvenile justice and child welfare problems. Dr. Vanessa Barker is the recipient of the 2009 NCCD PASS Award for her recent book entitled; The Politics of Imprisonment: How the Democratic Process Shapes the Way America Punishes Offenders (Oxford University Press 2009).

In fall 2010 the College will begin offering a distance learning undergraduate certificate in Criminology. The certificate program offers non-traditional students such as those currently working in the field of criminal justice, the flexibility to take coursework while balancing a busy schedule that can lead to completion of a bachelor’s degree. Successful completion of the Certificate will satisfy part of the requirements for the bachelor’s degree in criminology and criminal justice for those student interested in continuing beyond the Certificate Program.

The College has extended the 2010-11 deadline for submission of scholarship applications until September 8, 2010. Students can fill out the form online or stop by the Student Services Office, 209 Hecht, to fill out an application. Scholarship award announcements are expected to be made in mid-October and will be retroactive to the beginning of the fall semester.

Eric Baumer, Allen E. Liska Professor of Criminology, received a National Institute of Justice Grant to conduct a research project titled “Assessing the Link between Foreclosure and Crime Rates: A Multi-level Analysis of Neighborhoods across Cities and Metropolitan Areas.”

Congratulations to graduate student Kevin Wang who received a National Institute of Justice Graduate Research Fellowship, a distinction granted to just six U.S. scholars this year. Kevin works with criminology professor Gary Kleck.

The American Society of Victimology selected FSU criminologist Bill Doerner as the recipient of this year’s John P.J. Dussich Award. This prestigious award acknowledges Doerner’s significant contributions to the field of victimology and victim services. The award was presented at the annual meeting of the World Society of Victimology in Milto, Japan. Read more on the American Society of Victimology Web site.

FSU criminologist Kevin Beaver received this year’s American Society of Criminology Ruth Shonle Cavan Young Scholar Award. The award recognizes his outstanding contributions to the field in just the few years since he received his doctorate.

“The Labeling of Convicted Felons and Its Consequences for Recidivism,” published in Criminology (45: 547–582) and authored by professors Ted Chiricos and Bill Bales and recent Ph.D. graduates Kelle Barrick and Stephanie Bontrager was selected as the winner of the American Society of Criminology’s Outstanding Paper Award.

In this era of increased accountability and tightened budgets within higher education, it is essential that programs and colleges demonstrate their quality and success. One indicator of the quality and success of a program is its faculty and their research, which can be measured through grant dollars received.

Dean and Sheldon L. Messinger Professor of Criminology Tom Blomberg recently provided expert testimony to the U.S House of Representatives Joint Hearing of the Healthy Families and Communities Subcommittee and the Crime Subcommittee on Lost Educational Opportunities for Kids in Juvenile and Other Non-Traditional Settings. Blomberg was asked to testify because of his long history of research in juvenile justice education facilities in Florida and across the country.