Professor

School of Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Legal Studies

B.A. University of Windsor

M.A. University of Western Ontario

M.A. Ph.D., SUNY Albany

Office: 239-C DeVos

Phone: (616) 331-7132

E-mail: [email protected]

WINTER 2024 OFFICE HOURS

Expertise

Program & Policy Evaluation, Criminology, Research Methods/Statistics

About

Dr. Kierkus grew up in LaSalle, Ontario, Canada.  He did his undergraduate work at the University of Windsor, where he received his B.A. degree in Criminology.   He then completed an M.A. in Sociology at the University of Western Ontario; and a second M.A., as well as his Ph.D., in Criminal Justice at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany.  His research and teaching career spans more than two decades.

Dr. Kierkus is a statistician and research methodologist who specializes in applied program and policy evaluation research.   He has published on a wide variety of topics including library science, automotive science, firearms policy, drunk driving prevention, drug and sobriety court processes, child protection mediation, crime and delinquency causation, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and applied security issues (including economic espionage and situational crime prevention).     

Dr. Kierkus has taught a variety of courses at GVSU: including justice in society / introduction to criminal justice (CJ 101), qualitative (CJ 400; 600) and quantitative (CJ 300; 606) research methods, advanced data analysis (CJ 608), criminology (at both the undergraduate and graduate levels – CJ 201, 607), graduate program/policy evaluation (CJ 604), youth culture and crime (CJ 355), juvenile justice processes (CJ 350), crime control and justice policy (CJ 470), and the senior capstone (CJ 495).   He has also supervised many undergraduate and graduate independent studies (CJ 399, 499, 699), projects (CJ 693), and theses (CJ 695).

Dr. Kierkus is involved in various faculty governance activities at GVSU.   Most notably, he presently serves on the School of Criminal Justice Graduate Committee and the GVSU Academic Review Committee.  He is also the authorizing officer for School of Criminal Justice research protocols.

Selected Recent Publications

• B. Williams, B. Harvey and C. Kierkus, “Health information use after graduation: Are we preparing our students for professional practice?” Issues in Science & Technology Librarianship, Vol. 93 (Winter), 2019.
• B. R. Johnson, C. A. Kierkus and S. Barton-Bellessa, “The Economic Espionage Act and Trade Secret Theft: The Role of the Insider Threat.” Intellectual Property Quarterly, 2, 152-168, 2017.
• G. Schaub, C. Cadena, P. Bravender and C. Kierkus, “The Language of Information Literacy: Do Students Understand?” College and Research Libraries, Vol. 78 (3), 283-296, 2017.

 

• C. Kierkus and B. Johnson, “Child Protection Mediation in Michigan, 2019.”  April, 2019.
• B. Johnson and C. Kierkus, “Blue Courage in Michigan: Executive Summary.” June, 2018.
• C. Kierkus and B. Johnson, “Michigan DWI/Sobriety Court Ignition Interlock Evaluation: 2016 Report.” February, 2016.

 

• C. A. Kierkus and B. R. Johnson, “Measuring Crime.” Chapter for Justice & Society: An Introduction (Third Edition). Kendall Hunt, Dubuque, IA, 97-114, 2017.
• B. R. Johnson and C. A. Kierkus, “Causes of Crime.” Chapter for Justice & Society: An Introduction (Third Edition). Kendall Hunt, Dubuque, IA, 78-97, 2017.
• N. M. Schmidt, C. A. Kierkus and A. J. Lizotte, “Do Firearms and Other Weapons Increase the Odds of Injury During an Assault? An Offender-Based Analysis.” Gun Violence in American Society.  L. A. Eargle and A. M. Esmail (eds.), University Press of America Inc., Lanham, MD, 134-153, 2016.

 

Recent Sponsored Research

• Primary Investigator for Grant to Evaluate The Effectiveness of Family Court Mediation (Co-PI: Dr. Brian R. Johnson).
• Primary Investigator for Grant to Evaluate Blue Courage Training Program (Co-PIs: Dr. Brian R. Johnson, Mr. Williamson Wallace III).
• Primary Investigator for Grant to Evaluate the Efficacy of Ignition Interlocks as a Means of Preventing Repeat DUI Offending (Co-PI: Dr. Brian R. Johnson).
• Primary Investigator for Grant to Evaluate Ottawa County Drug Court Program (Co-PIs: Dr. Brian R. Johnson, Dr. Christine Yalda).