Melissa Moon
Melissa Moon earned her Ph.D. in Criminal Justice in 1996 at the University of Cincinnati. She was a faculty member at East Tennessee State University for four years before coming to NKU in 2000. She has taught undergraduate courses in introductory criminal justice, corrections, careers in criminal justice, research methods and data analysis. She has also taught research methods at the graduate level.
Dr. Moon served as assistant chair in the Political Science and Criminal Justice Department from 2001-2006. In 2007, she was certified as a Master Advisor and served as coordinator of the criminal justice program.
Her research has focused primarily on juvenile justice, correctional effectiveness and attitudinal surveys. She has published works in Justice Quarterly and Crime and Delinquency. She has also presented several papers at both regional and national conferences.
Dr. Moon is qualified to conduct the Correctional Program Assessment Inventory, an instrument used to determine the extent to which programs are following known principles of effective intervention.
Dr. Moon is very active in service to the community. She was the lead researcher on the Boone County Safety and Satisfaction Survey conducted in partnership with the Boone County Sheriff's Department. She also worked with faculty at the NKU Steely Library and received a Community Partnership grant for $71,000 to determine the effectiveness of a jail library at the Kenton County Detention Center.
Dr. Moon is active in the Southern Criminal Justice Association. She previously served on the fundraising committee and the audit committee. In 2008, she was elected as secretary/treasurer of this organization. Her other service contribution was co-program chair for the 2004 American Society of Criminology meeting in Nashville, Tennessee.
Dr. Moon has been granted a sabbatical for 2009 spring semester. She will be collecting data using local police departments to explore the extent to which a police officer's work life "spills over" into the home life and visa versa.