Title
TextInternship Coordinator Jim Dozier, a professor in the Department of Security Studies, was presented the David Payne Academic Community Engagement Award at Sam Houston State University for 2017.
The Payne Award, named in honor of Provost Emeritus David Payne, was created in 2012 to recognize excellence in community engagement through teaching, research, and service. In addition to serving as the Internship Coordinator for the College of Criminal Justice overseeing 150 -200 students annually, Dozier puts theory into practice in his graduate security studies classes by helping organizations in the community keep their clients safe and secure.
“It is very rewarding,” said Dozier. “I think that students get to take what we teach them in the classroom and put theory into practice. They say it is one of the most rewarding things they do.”
This year, Dozier’s Security and Management class developed a security plan for Bridgewood Farms, a non-profit that serves teens and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities through day and residential programs. The program provides adult continuing education, vocational training, social and recreational activities, horticulture, and ceramics, as well as physical education and related activities on a 53-acre campus in northern Montgomery County.
Students surveyed the facility several times and interacted with staff and students to develop a plan to address daily and crisis operations. In addition to recommending enhancements to technology, security, policies, and procedures, the students also identified grants to help pay for improvements.
Dozier also led a similar study for the Gulf Coast Trade Center, a non-profit, residential facility that provides education and training in vocational skills for at-risk youth from the juvenile justice system. The security plan focused on the mission of the program to coach and teach students rather than control and punish youth to attain positive development and long-term behavior change. Youth in the program can earn their GEDs through the Raven School or learn a trade in automotive, building maintenance, bricklaying and masonry, business information systems, or culinary arts.
Students in Dozier’s class remain committed to the motto of Sam Houston State University: “The measure of a life is its service.” Last summer, graduates from the program assisted with “Teddy Bears for Tots,” an ASIS-sponsored event to deliver teddy bears to sick and impoverished children at major hospitals in the Houston region. Dozier and his former students delivered 150 teddy bears to children at Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital in Houston.
As the internship coordinator, Dozier continues to work with the community in seeking opportunities for students in the field. Students work full-time for a semester in diverse agencies in the criminal justice field and often give back to the community through activities like fingerprinting children, participating in National Night Out, and aiding victims at domestic violence shelters.
“We do so much more than law enforcement,” Dozier said. “A large part of law enforcement is in the area of prevention, and we are trying to prevent crime in our communities.”
Dozier said he is humbled by the award.
“Many people at the College of Criminal Justice and the University are doing great things,” said Dozier. “To be singled out from all these great people is humbling.”
The College of Criminal Justice Office offers many Academic Community Engagement classes in juvenile delinquency, family violence, victim services, police strategies, security, forensic science, professionalism and ethics, law, crime prevention, child abuse, and elder abuse. For a list of offerings, visit the Office of Community Engagement web site. .
The College has a strong tradition of community service. Phillip Lyons, Dean of the College of Criminal Justice and the Director of the Criminal Justice Center, was the inaugural recipient of the Payne Award.