Staff

Alecia joined the staff of the Corrections Institute (UCCI) in October of 2018. Originally from Staten Island, NY, Alecia holds an A.A.S. in Business Administration and has 15 years of experience in the administrative field. As Executive Staff Assistant, she provides administrative support to both business and research staff at the UCCI, as well as a large team of UCCI fellow experts and contract trainers/coaches.

Amanda Pompoco is originally from Youngstown, Ohio and received her Master of Science in Criminal Justice from the University of Cincinnati in 2013. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati and a Junior Research Associate at the University of Cincinnati Corrections Institute.  Since the beginning of her assignment at the Corrections Institute in 2011, she has worked on various phases of a statewide study of Ohio’s prison programs. The Prison Study was an evaluation of Ohio’s reentry approved programs to determine their effectiveness in reducing institutional misconduct and recidivism. After the completion of the Prison Study, Amanda transitioned into working on redesign initiatives and training multiple Cognitive Behavioral Interventions. In the past, she has also trained and coached the EPICS model in probation departments and trained graduate students to code EPICS audio submissions to provide feedback to correctional professionals on their use of EPICS. She is currently conducting a study to validate a group observation tool to assist in fidelity monitoring. Her research interests include correctional education, institutional programming, the transfer of knowledge to practitioners and policy-makers, the assessment of correctional programs, and applying the principles of effective intervention to community settings.

Carrie Sullivan, M.A., is a Senior Research Associate in the Center for Criminal Justice Research and the Corrections Institute at the University of Cincinnati. She has 19 years of correctional experience and has been the project director for numerous large-scale research projects including a national evaluation of juvenile drug courts and a state-wide evaluation of the impact of earned-time credit prison programs. In addition to research, she specializes in correctional program evaluations to assist agencies in providing effective correctional interventions and assists agencies in implementing evidence-based practices. She also serves as a trainer for UCCI. Ms. Sullivan is certified to train correctional professionals in many areas, including but not limited to evidence-based practices, cognitive–behavioral interventions, core correctional practices, behavior management, the Evidence-Based Correctional Program Checklist (CPC), and Effective Practices in Community Supervision (EPICS).

Eric Willoughby received his M.S. in Criminal Justice from the University of Cincinnati in 2008.  He currently serves as a Junior Research Associate for the University of Cincinnati Corrections Institute.  Eric has over eight years of clinical experience while working at River City Correctional Center (RCCC) in Hamilton County, Ohio.  During his tenure at RCCC, Eric provided several treatment services while working individually with inmates applying the Principles of Effective Intervention through individual sessions and group facilitation.  Eric has years of experience facilitating various treatment groups which includes Thinking for a Change and Cognitive Behavioral Interventions in Substance Abuse.  In his last two years at RCCC, Eric served as the Quality Assurance Coordinator and completed multiple audits through group and individual session observations and file reviews ensuring the staff upheld various ACA and ODRC standards.  Eric also served as RCCC’s liaison to the Sex Offender program, a PREA SART team member and as the lead training coordinator for the entire facility.

Dr. Jamie Newsome started as a Research Associate for the University of Cincinnati Corrections Institute in January. She earned her doctorate in criminal justice from the University of Cincinnati, with concentrations in corrections and criminological theory.  Jamie has experience working in a community-based correctional facility, and conducting research on the causes of crime and delinquency and translating research into practice.  Her research has been featured in the Journal of Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice and Behavior, Development and Psychopathology, and the Journal of Youth and Adolescence.

Jennifer Lux is a Research Associate at the Corrections Institute in the School of Criminal Justice at University of Cincinnati. She received her Ph.D. in Criminal Justice in 2016 from the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Lux’s research interests include offender classification and assessment, correctional rehabilitation, program implementation and evaluation, and the transfer of knowledge to practitioners, policy-makers, and stakeholders in the field.  She has co-authored several publications, presented nationally and internationally on correctional interventions, and served as a project director on a variety correctional projects.

Jennifer joined the staff of the Corrections Institute (UCCI) in July of 2012.  As Program Director, she leads the administrative team and daily operating functions of UCCI, oversees all sales and marketing initiatives, and works with criminal justice agencies to create proposals/timelines/scopes for services offered. In addition to serving as Principle Investigator on training grants, Jennifer also leads the UCCI’s collaborative efforts with the University’s Office of Innovation, the UC Research Institute (UCRI) and all product automation partnerships with the Information Technology Solution Center (ITSC) in UC’s College of Education, Criminal Justice, Human Services, and Information Technology (CECH).

Jodi Sleyo is a Research Associate and trainer for the University of Cincinnati Corrections Institute.   Ms. Sleyo has a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology from Xavier University and has worked in the field of corrections since 1996. She has extensive experience in cognitive-behavioral treatment as well as program redesign and implementation.  Because she has worked as a practitioner with a variety of correctional populations and an administrator in the field, Ms. Sleyo has a solid understanding of agency needs at multiple levels.  Ms. Sleyo has conducted program evaluations and provided training and technical assistance to agencies interested in improving service delivery.

Kelly Pitocco received her M.S. in Criminal Justice from the University of Cincinnati in 1989.  She earned her Master’s of Social Work from the University of Kentucky in 1992.  She is independently licensed as a social worker and chemical dependency professional in the state of Ohio.  Ms. Pitocco has over 25 years experience working in community corrections.  She has provided direct service with youth and adult offenders in residential treatment and halfway house settings.  She has provided clinical supervision and program management in adult outpatient substance abuse services, Drug Court and jail-based substance abuse and batterers’ intervention program.  Ms. Pitocco has provided staff training at a large social service agency (primarily community corrections) and has provided training, technical assistance and coaching at several probation, parole and pretrial departments.   Ms. Pitocco is a Sr. Research Associate for the Corrections Institute at the University of Cincinnati, Center for Criminal Justice Research.  Ms. Pitocco trains on a variety of topics including cognitive-behavioral interventions, risk assessment and motivational interviewing (MINT member) for the Corrections Institute. She has experience in program implementation and adherence to evidence-based practices.

Maggie Schweitzer has been working for UCCI since 2014.  First as a contract employee in the role of Training Coordinator for 3 years before becoming a staff member in January, 2017 as a Program Manager.  In 2019, Maggie transitioned into her current role as Business Manager.  Maggie now handles the financial aspects of the Corrections Institute, mainly by helping to create and manage the budgets on all of our projects.  As part of a special project, she served as the Project Manager on our Criminogenic Need and Violent Behavior Program curriculum development project for the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AO). Maggie earned her Bachelors of Business in Supply Chain Management from Miami University and, prior to working at UCCI, worked as a Material Coordinator in the automotive manufacturing industry.

Megan Mueller has been working for UCCI as a student worker and a contract employee since September of 2013 before becoming a staff member in July 2017. She has a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Northern Kentucky University and is also a Licensed Social Worker for the state of Ohio. Megan is transitioning to her new role as one of two UCCI Program Managers, specifically focusing her efforts on the Training Coordination aspect of the business side. She assists UCCI by managing the training schedule, coordinating training logistics with partnering agencies, and co-managing the bi-annual UCCI Training Institutes. 

Myrinda Schweitzer Smith received her Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati and is a Sr. Research Associate and Deputy Director at the Corrections Institute in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Schweitzer's research interests include the assessment of correctional programs, the science of implementation and knowledge transfer, and more generally correctional treatment and rehabilitation. She has co-authored several publications, presented nationally and internationally on correctional interventions, and served as a project director for over 200 correctional projects. Specific topics of research and service include a state-wide correctional treatment program evaluation, the development and implementation of cognitive-behavioral programs for general delinquency, criminality, substance abuse, employment, and sexual offending, as well as recent initiatives to implement effective practices for community supervision and support.

Stephanie Spiegel is a PhD Candidate in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. She has research experience in program implementation and evaluation, evidence-based practices in corrections, qualitative analyses, and disproportionate minority contact (DMC). She currently manages the Targeted RECLAIM (TR) project, one of Ohio’s key initiatives to reduce youth recidivism and custodial placement, funded by the Ohio Department of Youth Services (ODYS). As part of this effort, she provides on-going training, coaching, and implementation support to community agencies across the state.  This technical assistance has been especially critical since many corrections professionals continue to experience considerable challenges related to “how to make it work” in their agencies. In addition to her work on TR, Stephanie is working on the Criminogenic Need and Violent Behavior Program curriculum. The goal of this curriculum is to support the Criminal Law Committee and the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AO) efforts to utilize evidence-based practices in the supervision of federal offenders in order to produce the greatest reduction in recidivism.

Tammy Dean is a Research Associate with the University of Cincinnati’s Corrections Institute. Mrs. Dean has a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Massachusetts – Lowell and has worked in the field of corrections since 2006. She is a trainer in the Ohio Risk Assessment System, Ohio Youth Assessment System, and Case Management Trainings.