Rate My Professor Sandra Pavelka

Dr. Sandra Pavelka serves as Professor in the Department of Political Science, Public Administration, and History at Florida Gulf Coast University, where she has held faculty positions since December 2001, progressing from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor in June 2006 and to full Professor in June 2017. She is designated as Graduate Faculty and Honors Faculty Fellow. Pavelka earned her Ph.D. in Public Administration with a specialization in Justice Policy from Florida Atlantic University in August 2000, completing a dissertation titled "Practice to Policy to Management: A Restorative Justice Framework." Prior to her doctorate, she received an MPA from Florida International University in April 1989 and a BA in Political Science from the University of Florida in August 1985. Before joining FGCU, she worked as an Instructor in the School of Public Administration and Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida Atlantic University from January 1999 to December 2001, Associate Director at the Center for the Study of Youth Policy at Nova Southeastern University from April 1994 to April 1998, and Associate Director at the Institute of Government at Florida International University from December 1990 to April 1994. Since January 2000, she has served as President and CEO of Pavelka Consulting Group, specializing in community justice, restorative justice, juvenile justice, and community engagement.

Pavelka's research specializations include restorative justice, juvenile justice policy, public policy, and program evaluation. At FGCU, she founded and directed the Institute for Youth and Justice Studies from February 2005 to May 2017, directing research grants, technical assistance projects on youth development, juvenile justice, education, and community restorative justice, coordinating public policy forums, supervising personnel, and conducting data collection and analysis. She also directed the Center for Public and Social Policy from December 2001 to January 2005. Her major publications encompass co-edited books such as "The Legacy of Community Justice" (2013) and "International Perspectives on Restorative Justice in Education" (2011), as well as peer-reviewed articles including "A Restorative Justice Intervention in United States Prisons: Implications of Intervention Timing, Age, and Gender on Recidivism" with K.A. Richner and D. McChargue (International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 2022), "The Evolution of Balanced and Restorative Justice" with D. Thomas (Juvenile and Family Court Journal, 2019), and "Restorative Justice in the States: An Analysis of Statutory Legislation and Policy" (Justice Policy Journal, 2016). Pavelka has received key awards such as the Distinguished Service Award and Leadership and Service Award from the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (2021), National Points of Light Award (2016), and FGCU Student Government McTarnaghan Teaching Award (2015).