Tennessee Criminal Justice Summit




Steering Committee


Patricia B. Dishman (Pat)

With over 28 years of professional experience in working with Tennessee state government, Pat has served in four state departments and overseen numerous state efforts to provide more efficient and effective direct and contract services for the citizens of Tennessee.  Pat has directed contract/grant offices in both the Tennessee Departments of Children's Services and Finance & Administration and currently served as Director for the Office of Criminal Justice Programs in the Tennessee Department of Finance & Administration.  She is responsible for the development, review, awarding and administration of approximately 600 contracts for services with state, local and not for profit agencies.  Additionally, she directs the state's application for and implementation of numerous Department of Justice and Department of Health and Human Services grants.  The Office of Criminal Justice Programs is also the State Administrative Agency for the Department of Justice.

Pat Dishman received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology and Sociology from Middle Tennessee State University in 1975, a Master's Degree in Public Administration from the University of Tennessee in 1980, and has completed required course work for her Doctoral Degree in Public Administration from Tennessee State University.

 


Claire Drowota

Mrs. Claire Drowota has served as the Executive Director of the Tennessee General Assembly's Select Oversight Committee on Corrections since 1986, when the joint senate and house committee was established during the Special Session on Corrections in 1985.  Prior to holding this position, she worked on the ad hoc legislative task force assigned the responsibility to propose solutions to alleviate overcrowding and violence in the corrections system in order to comply with a federal court order.  Prior to this work, at request of the Davidson County District Attorney General, she helped establish the first Victim-Witness program in Nashville and served as the volunteer coordinator for the program.

Ms. Drowota has participated in numerous national conferences on correction issues and has served on the American Correctional Association's Legislative Affairs Committee and as the Staff Chair of the National Conference of State Legislature's Criminal Justice Committee.  In addition to writing impact statements on all corrections bills, she has co-authored reports on Tennessee corrections including comparisons of privately managed and state managed prisons and jail and prison population issues.

She attended Wellesley College from 1963-1965 and received her B.A. from Vanderbilt University in 1967.

 


Tim Guider

Tim Guider is a native of Loudon County.  He and his wife, Suzanne and son Timmy now reside in his old "home place" in Loudon.  Their daughter, Kristi lives in South Knoxville with her four beautiful children.

Tim is an active member of the Loudon Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the Tennessee Sheriff's Association, which he is currently serving as President.  He served on the Board of Directors of the 911 Board, Loudon County Fire-Rescue, Keep Loudon County Beautiful, Loudon County Div-Rescue Team, Tellico Village Volunteer Fire Department, the advisory board for the Loudon County Health Improvement Council and the 9th Judicial District Child Facility Review Team.

There has been numerous accomplishments in the Sheriff's Office under Tim Guider's leadership, such as the Drug Awareness and Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program to reduce drugs and violence in our county schools, the implementation of School Resource Officers and various other student safety programs, creation and formation of the Loudon County Metro Narcotics Unit, the Special Response Team (SRT) and the Arson Task Force, all of which are made up of local multi-jurisdictional law enforcement and/or firefighting agencies.  Additionally, the sheriff's office has again just recently partnered with the Lenoir City and Loudon Police Departments by purchasing a bomb sniffing K-9 unit as well as the acquisition of another utility K-9 for themselves.  Tim Guider spearheaded the Sheriff's Department Chaplain's Corp, which is a group of carefully selected pastors who have been specially trained as law enforcement chaplains.  Their duty is to assist and support officers and their families with injuries/illnesses and the everyday pressures of the job as well as comforting victims and/or victim's families of traumatic incidents.

Finally, the Sheriff's Office has held all categories of crime, especially violent crime, below national averages for counties with comparable populations to Loudon County.  Tim Guider is dedicated to the office he holds and attributes his success to his supportive family and his competent staff who truly believes it is a duty to protect and an honor to serve.

 


Charles M. Traughber

Charles M. Traughber began his career in the criminal justice field in 1969, as an Institutional Counselor with the Tennessee Department of Correction.  He progressed through the correctional ranks to Director of Counseling and then Special Projects Coordinator.  He was appointed to the Tennessee Parole Board in 1972, and now served as Chairman of the Board of Probation and  Parole.  Mr. Traughber currently sits on the Governor's Commission on the Enhancement Factors for Criminal Justice Sentencing, served as Chairperson of the Council for Chairs for the Association of Parole Authorities International, serves on the Conference Criminal Justice Task Force, and is a Charter Member of the Annual Tennessee Legislative Retreat and Training Conference.

He has served on the Governor's Corrections and Law Enforcement Training Committee and Conference for a Drug-Free Tennessee; the Tennessee Sentencing Commission; the Juvenile Justice Reform Commission; the National Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project; and the Association of Paroling Authorities International, where he served as Southern Regional Vice-President and member of the Executive Committee for that body.

A graduate of Tennessee State University, he has earned postgraduate hours in Guidance and Counseling and Criminal Justice Administration from both Tennessee State University and Middle Tennessee State University.  He has also received specialized training from the National Institute of Corrections, the Association of Paroling Authorities International, the American Correctional Association, and the National Association of Administrative Law Judges.  In 1999, the Association of Paroling Authorities International recognized Chairman Traughber with its highest honor, the "Ben Baer Award" for his many contributions to the field of parole.

Facilitator


James Wilson, Ph.D.

Dr. James Wilson currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Fordham University in Manhattan.  His specialties include research on topics relevant to corrections and community corrections with a specific focus on issues of offender reentry and reintegration.  His most recent research projects, funded by the National Institute of Justice, include an evaluation of a prison-based offender reentry demonstration project, and an examination of changes in state sentencing policy at the national level over the past three decades.

Before joining Fordham in 2003, he spent two years as a Senior Research Associate with the Vera Institute, where he worked closely with leaders in government to study social problems and current responses, both nationally and internationally.  Prior to the Vera Institute, Dr. Wilson spent two years as the Director of Planning and Research for the Tennessee Department of Correction, overseeing many special projects and statistical reports including inmate population projections and forecasts.

Dr. Wilson earned his Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in 2001.

Subfacilitator


Dr. Rosevelt L. Noble

Dr. Rosevelt L. Noble is originally from Kankakee, Illinois.  He attended Vanderbilt University on a full football scholarship from 1994-1997.  He later won a Dean Fellowship that covered his graduate studies at Vanderbilt University from 1997-2003.  He received his Doctorate of Philosophy in Sociology (with special emphasis on Criminology) in May, 2003.  His dissertation focused on the United States' prison system and proposed an interracial theory of prison violence.

Dr. Noble has served on the Director of the Workforce Investment Act with the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) since September, 2002.  In addition to his work with the Commission, he has also worked as an adjunct professor in the Sociology Department at Vanderbilt University since September, 2002.  At Vanderbilt, Dr. Noble teaches courses on American Prison Life, Criminology, and Statistics for Social Sciences.

His current publications include:  King, Nancy J., and Rosevelt L. Noble. (2004).  Felony Jury Sentence in Practice:  A Three-State Study.  Vanderbilt Law Review 57(3): 885-962.  Pending publications are:  Noble, Rosevelt L. (2004).  Race Matters:  Black Rage in American Prison System.  Currently under review by LFB Scholarly Publishing and King, Nancy J., and Rosevelt L. Noble, (2004).  Jury Sentencing in non-Capital Cases:  Comparing Severity and Variance with Judicial Sentences in Two States.  Submitted to Law and Society Review (September, 2004).

 


Simon Tidd, Ph.D.

Dr. Tidd is currently a Research Associate in the Center for Evaluation Research and Methodology at Vanderbilt University's Institute for Public Policy Studies, where he studies the effectiveness of programs for reducing recidivism among juvenile and adult offenders.

Dr. Tidd received his Ph.D. in Management (Organizational Behavior) from Vanderbilt and has conducted research on correctional officer stress and turnover, the public's perception of the cost of crime and organizational conflict.

Speakers


Dr. Cynthia Ganote, Ph.D.

Dr. Cynthia Ganote currently serves as a consultant and educator for community organizations and institutions of higher education.  Her research focuses on social capital, or the way in which membership in social networks can provide access to previously unavailable resources.  She studies ways in which social capital can be used to improve communities, and then works directly with communities and organizations, analyzing how they can build their resources and develop strategic partnerships to meet collaborative goals.  Over time, she has also developed and implemented various training programs for organizations, service professionals, and teachers, based on their own needs and goals.

Before starting her consulting and training practice, she served as the Assistant Director for Vanderbilt University's Center for Teaching, where she prepared new instructors for their teaching duties, assisted Ph.D. students in career preparation, and helped international students acclimate to the U.S. educational system.  She also served as an instructor at Vanderbilt University and Belmont University, focusing her courses on successful ways to identify, analyze, and address social problems.  Dr. Ganote built up a residential service-learning program at Vanderbilt University that connected students with social change efforts in the Nashville community; this program won the Templeton Award for Character Development under her leadership.  In 2000, the American Association of Higher Education named her one of seven national Future Leaders in Higher Education.

Dr. Ganote holds masters' degrees in Higher Education Administration and Counseling Psychology.  She received her Ph.D. in Sociology from Vanderbilt University in 2004.

 


James C. (Buddy) Howell, Ph.D.

Dr. Howell is currently an Adjunct Professor, University of South Carolina, and Senior Research Associate at the National Youth Gang Center, in Tallahassee, Florida.  He was formerly the Director of Research and Program Development at the Federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice.  He worked at OJJDP for 21 years and took early retirement in 1995.  While employed at OJJDP, Dr. Howell co-authorized with John J. Wilson the "Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent and Chronic Juvenile Offenders" that is being implemented in 20 states.  In addition to numerous other publications on juvenile justice and youth gangs, he recently published his second book, titled Preventing and Reducing Juvenile Delinquency:  A Comprehensive Framework (2003, Sage Publications).

He is actively involved in assisting states and localities in evaluating and improving their juvenile justice system using the comprehensive strategy framework and evidence-based programs.  He is co-director with Dr. Mark Lipsey, Vanderbilt University, of a North Carolina project that is implementing a new method for evaluating existing programs against research-based standards that Dr. Lipsey has synthesized from juvenile justice program evaluations.  This tool enables states and localities to take a practical approach to improving juvenile justice programs.

Dr. Howell received his Ph.D. in Criminology from the University of Colorado in 1973.

 


Wendy Naro

Ms. Naro currently serves as VP and Lead Research Scientist/Forecasting Specialist with JFA Associates.  Prior to June, 2003, Ms. Naro was a Research Scientist/Forecasting Specialist with the Institute on Crime, Justice and Corrections at the George Washington University.  Prior to joining the institute, Ms. Naro served as project director and forecasting coordinator for CompuQuest, Inc., and as the senior analyst and project manager for the forecasting unit of the Washington, DC, office of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency.  Since beginning her career in correctional forecasting and simulation, Ms. Naro has developed over 100 simulation models and forecasts, conducted numerous research projects and provided technical assistance for over 30 state and local adult and juvenile correctional systems across the country.

Recognized as one of the nation's leading experts in correctional forecasting, prediction and simulation modeling techniques, she is a frequent consultant to NIC and the Corrections Program Office (CPO) for providing forecasting and data analysis technical assistance.  Ms. Naro has also established herself as an expert in correctional data collection, sampling and simulation modeling and has conducted research evaluations and designed simulation models for state and local agencies across the country.  Ms. Naro has conducted on-site evaluations, recommended research actions and presented impact findings to sentencing commissions, legislatures and Departments of Correction in Virginia, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Arkansas, Philadelphia (PA), Indiana and Jefferson Parish (LA).

Through her work projecting prison and community correction populations, Ms. Naro has completed and managed extensive research and database creations and upgrade projects on a number of correctional Management Information Systems.  Her expertise in data extraction and planning statistics has allowed her to provide MIS design and improvement consulting services to many of her forecasting sites.  Ms. Naro has completed numerous database evaluations, provided database-consulting services, and made improvement recommendations to Virginia, Mississippi, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Kansas, ARkansas, Indiana, Westchester County (NY), Philadelphia (PA), Jefferson Parish (LA), and Washington, DC.  Ms. Naro has also had experience with data systems in Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia.

Ms. Naro has authored and co-authored several technical manuals on the topic of simulation modeling including:  "Prophet '98:  User's Manual", "Prophet 98:  An Introduction to the Prophet Simulation System for Windows," "Prophet 98 User's Manual," "Prophet for Classification Systems User's Manual," "Projecting the Future:  Massachusetts Department of Corrections Ten Year Adult Inmate Population Projections," "The Impact of Truth-in-Sentencing:  A Report to the Virginia Legislature," "New Jersey Department of Corrections:  Ten Year Adult Inmate Population Forecast," and "Kansas Sentencing Commission:  The Projected Impact of Sentencing Guidelines on Future Prison Bed Needs."  Ms. Naro has also made several formal presentations including: 'An Introduction to Research Methods and Simulation Modeling in the State of Virginia,' 'State of Oklahoma:  Preliminary Impact of Truth-in-Sentencing,' and 'Virginia Department of Corrections:  Summary of DOC Intake Trends and Baseline Admissions Forecast.'

Ms. Naro has expertise in computer analysis, database management, SPSS, Excel, Windows 95, 98 and NT, statistical and micro-simulation forecasting techniques, and criminal justice and correctional issues.  Ms. Naro's demonstrated knowledge, experience and success in working with correctional facilities and their data systems make her the ideal candidate as project manager, lead data analyst and lead forecaster for the proposed project.