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Dr. Wilson is currently a Professor of Criminal Justice with a specialization in Victimology in the Department of Sociology. She has taught in the Criminology and Justice Studies major at the Â鶹´«Ã½ Trumbull Campus for 16 years. She has a Ph.D. in Political Science with a specific concentration in Justice Studies and a M.A. in Criminal Justice Administration both through Â鶹´«Ã½. She received an Excellence in Teaching Award from The National Society of Leadership and Success Kent State Trumbull Campus in December of 2015. She received a Faculty Recognition Award in 2017 from the University Teaching Council. Her current course work at the Trumbull Campus is comprised of traditional and distance learning courses including: Intro to JUS, Issues in Law and Society, Women in Crime and Justice, Victimology, Comparative Justice Studies, Criminology, Court Functions, Police Role, and Criminal Procedure and Evidence.

She supervises Internships, and Individual Investigation projects. A former criminal justice practitioner and crime victim advocate with 15 years of experience in the field. She has worked in both the public and private, non-profit sector of criminal justice. As a crime victim advocate, she specialized in homicide/capital murder, menacing by stalking, and child sexual abuse cases. In addition to advocacy, she worked in fundraising, program development, and grant writing. At the Trumbull Campus she is a member and former Co-Chair (FY15-16 and FY 16-17) of the Diversity in Action Council. She coordinated the annual Tunnel of Oppression Project for 10 years. Past themes have included: Human Rights, Bystander Intervention, Human Trafficking and Hate Crimes. She co-sponsors the Domestic Violence Awareness Month activities and events in October. She was a member of the committee for the new Associate of Technical Study program. The program is designed for current law enforcement officers to obtain an Associates’ Degree.

Dr. Wilson has co-authored a book chapter on elder maltreatment. Understanding Elder Maltreatment and Identifying Social Responses. In Moriarty, L.J. and Jerin, R.A. (Eds). Current Issues in Victimology Research, Third Edition (Chapter 10). Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, (2016). She is a co-author in Criminological Explanations for Gun Homicides in the U.S., in Bellas et al., (Eds)., Guns360: Differing Perspectives and Common Sense Approaches to Firearms in America, First Edition. Lanham, MD: Rowan and Littlefield (2021). A member of the Summit County Sexual Assault Coalition since 2007, she serves on the Public Policy Committee. She researches policy issues and prepares letters of support to Congressional and state lawmakers on legislation affecting victims of sexual assault and abuse. She is a current member and former co-chair (FY 2013 and FY 2014) of the annual Sexual Assault Symposium. Dr. Wilson is a member of the policy committee for the Ohio Victim-Witness Association (OVWA). She was one of several committee members instrumental in drafting a revision to O.R.C. 2930, Victims’ Rights, and a Mandatory Restitution Law. The legislation was re-introduced in the Ohio House in 2015. In addition, she has taught workshops on elder abuse and death notification to northeast Ohio law enforcement officers at the Trumbull Campus Police Academy. She has previously conducted a workshop on Elder Abuse Awareness for victim advocates at the annual Victim Assistance Conference sponsored by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.

She previously presented a paper on the topic of Women and Girls in the Criminal Justice System at the Balanced Woman Symposium held at the Trumbull Campus in July of 2012. She was previously a member of the Working Group for Distance Education. Dr. Wilson has a variety of research interests including: Megan’s law, justice system policies, elder abuse, homicide, human trafficking, and DNA technology and privacy issues in criminal justice, funding for crime victim services and compensation, restorative justice, the rights of crime victims, and general Victimology.