News Item
Press Release: Pace University Professor Honored with Outstanding Public Service by an Employee by Jefferson Awards Foundation
Professor Collica-Cox recognized for her work with incarcerated women at Metropolitan Correctional Center and Westchester County Jail
Pace University Professor Kimberly Collica-Cox, PhD, was honored on June 28 at the National Ceremony of the Jefferson Awards Foundation in Washington, D.C., in the category of Outstanding Public Service by an Employee. The Jefferson Awards Foundation is the nation’s most prestigious and longest-standing organization dedicated to inspiring and celebrating public service.
“Recognizing individuals who are making a positive difference in their communities – and encouraging people to follow their lead – has never been more important,” said Hillary Schafer, Jefferson Awards Foundation CEO. “The Jefferson Awards Foundation is proud to continue its long tradition of honoring those who have dedicated their lives to serving others.”
Collica-Cox has spent nearly 19 years working with incarcerated populations and implementing programs to support them. Collica-Cox is a certified Prison Rape Elimination Act and American Correctional Association auditor and serves as a professional trainer in the cross-section between HIV and incarceration. Since 1997, she has worked with inmates, correctional staff, and community-based service providers. At Pace University’s Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, she serves as the adviser to the Criminal Justice Society and Alpha Phi Sigma student organizations. She developed a civic engagement course, which resulted in the creation and implementation of the Parenting, Prison and Pups (PPP) program, volunteering her time as the program’s director and lead trainer. In partnership with the Good Dog Foundation, PPP is an animal assisted therapy-integrated parenting program offered to female inmates at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan and at the Westchester County Jail in Valhalla, NY.
“Professor Collica-Cox truly epitomizes the goals of the Jefferson Award: not only is she fully engaged in supporting an often-forgotten community of incarcerated women, but she has also engaged Pace University students in life-changing experiences with this community,” said Nira Herrmann, PhD, dean of the Dyson College of Arts and Sciences at Pace. “Her personal commitment is expanding outward through her mentoring of students, to touch more and more lives in positive and uplifting ways. She is truly an influential role model and we are very excited to see her excellent work acknowledged with this prestigious award.”
“One major learning objective for our Pace University students is to grasp the complexity of the criminal justice system,” said Joseph Ryan, PhD, head of the criminal justice program at Pace. “It important to understand what happens to those who confined to our jails and prisons. The correction component of the system could be considered an oxymoron. Inmates receive little to no guidance on how to resume a better life upon entry back to society. My colleague, Dr. Kimberly Collica-Cox, is at the forefront of not only helping incarcerated mothers become better parents, but to learn how best to maintain a relationship with their children during their incarceration. I have rarely encountered a person with her level of enthusiasm. Kimberly brings light into the lives of those who need guidance. She is truly multiplying goodness.”
The National Ceremony, now in its 46th year, took place June 28 at The Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. For more information on the Jefferson Awards Foundation visit www.JeffersonAwards.org.
Caption: photo 1. Pace University Professor Kimberly Collica-Cox, PhD, at Jefferson Award in Washington, D.C. on June 28. Photo 2: Pace University Professor Kimberly Collica-Cox, PhD (center) with inmates in the Prison, Parenting and Pups program at Metropolitan Correction Center.
About Pace University: Since 1906, Pace has educated thinking professionals by providing high quality education for the professions on a firm base of liberal learning amid the advantages of the New York metropolitan area. A private university, Pace has campuses in Lower Manhattan and Westchester County, NY, enrolling nearly 13,000 students in bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs in its Lubin School of Business, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, College of Health Professions, School of Education, Elisabeth Haub School of Law, and Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems. A 2017 study by the Equality of Opportunity Project ranks Pace University first in the nation among four-year private institutions for upward economic mobility based on students who enter college at the bottom fifth of the income distribution and end up in the top fifth. www.pace.edu
About Dyson College
Pace University’s liberal arts college, Dyson College offers more than 50 programs, spanning the arts and humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, and pre-professional programs (including pre-medicine, pre-veterinary, and pre-law), as well as numerous courses that fulfill core curriculum requirements. The College offers access to numerous opportunities for internships, cooperative education and other hands-on learning experiences that complement in-class learning in preparing graduates for career and graduate/professional education choices.
About the Jefferson Awards Foundation
The Jefferson Awards Foundation (JAF) powers others to have maximum impact on the things they care about most. They are the largest multiplier of public service in America. Through celebration, they inspire action. With programs and partnerships, they drive Americans to change their communities and the world. They are celebrating 45 years of powering public service. To learn more about the Jefferson Awards Foundation, visit: JeffersonAwards.org or engage with their community on Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Facebook.
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