These days, teaching criminal justice involves more than reading textbooks and taking exams. Mary Dodge, assistant professor in the Graduate School of Public Affairs, takes advantage of every contemporary means available to ensure the students she teaches are fully prepared to serve and protect when they leave her program.
“Technological advancements, cultural changes, diversity issues and world events now require that teaching extend beyond the classroom,” she stresses. “I believe that teaching means embracing a scholarship of engagement that offers the highest quality and widest range of educational experiences for students.”
Dodge emphasizes that students should be active participants in their education; that her role is not to be a teacher, but a mentor, facilitator and arbitrator. For her engaging approach to teaching, her unparalleled interaction with students and the outstanding outcome of her work, Dodge was chosen the 2007 Excellent in Teaching Award recipient.
“Dr. Dodge understands that the ability, strengths and weaknesses of each student varies and she is able to cater to her student’s individual needs by promoting one’s strengths and helping to overcome or minimize their weaknesses,” writes Kelli Wilson, a 2006 MCJ graduate.
In her classes, Dodge incorporates techniques in structured debates, lecture summaries, brainstorming and case studies. A prolific applied researcher, she incorporates her scholarship into her courses, enriching the students’ experiences with her own. Her courses are structured to encourage participation, whether debate on capital punishment, gun control or victimless crimes. She is adamant about making sure each student understands the topics and lessons.
In the community, Dodge’s position on the steering committee for the Betty Marler Youth Services Center has provided her entry into the community’s only female juvenile detention facility and student participation on an evaluation project. “Over the years, Dr. Dodge has maintained a strong network of colleagues in the field and actively helps her students connect with these professionals and various state and private organizations,” notes Patricia L. Kirk, program consultant with the Rite of Passage at the Betty K. Marler Youth Services Center. “Dr. Dodge’s combined academic, teaching and professional background and expertise in the criminal and juvenile justice fields have lent themselves to a well rounded partnership between her classroom and the community.”
Dodge is now launching into yet another important endeavor in the Graduate School of Public Affairs as director of the new bachelor of arts in criminal justice program that launches this fall.
“Several aspects of Mary’s teaching have won her the enthusiastic praise of her students and the respect and admiration of her colleagues,” notes GSPA Dean Kathleen Beatty. “She’s an outstanding educator: creative, wise and always willing to put in tremendous time and effort into her teaching.”
Dodge, who joined GSPA in 1998, notes her teaching techniques continue to evolve in a changing world. “I find that enthusiasm, creativity, flexibility and innovation enhance interactions and classroom discussion,” she says. “Teaching often involves a process of trial and error that helps develop and hone my skills by recognizing what works and, more importantly, what doesn’t in the classroom.”