Melissa Burek, Ph.D.

Position: College of Health & Human Services Associate Dean and Professor | Director, Center for Justice Research, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost
Phone: 419-372-9542
Email: mwburek@bgsu.edu

Bio

Dr. Melissa Burek started her career here at BGSU in 2003. She earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from the University of Cincinnati. Her research focuses on offender reentry and post-incarceration challenges, institutional and community corrections, substance use and mental health disorders, and public health and social program evaluations. Dr. Burek has worked as a funded investigator on projects for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Ohio Department of Youth Services, and the Ohio Department of Health. She has published papers in The Department Chair, Journal of Crime and Justice, The Prison Journal, Criminal Justice Policy Review, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, and Journal of Interpersonal Violence, co-author of Criminal Justice: The Essentials, now in its 6th edition, and first author of Corrections: The Essentials. She serves the College of Health and Human Services as the Associate Dean of Graduate Education, Research, and Engagement, a member of the Facility Governing Board at the NorthWest Community Corrections Center, and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Trustee-At-Large. Dr. Burek is also Faculty Affiliate of our recently established Criminal Justice Learning Community. She is also the Director of the Center for Justice Research with the Ohio Attorney General's Office.

Selected Publications:

Miller, V. J., Bell, J., Wagner, J., Maziarz, L., Perry, K., Cooke, E., & Burek, M. (2024). “I Like the Feeling of Connecting With People”: A Mixed-Methods Study of Nursing Assistants Experiences Across the Care Continuum. Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, 10, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1177/23337214241249027

Miller, V.J., Maziarz, L., Wagner, J., Bell, J., & Burek, M. (2023). Nursing assistant turnover in nursing homes: A scoping review of the literature. Geriatric Nursing, 51, 360-368. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gerinurse.2023.03.027.

Ojha, M.U., Petra, M., & Burek, M.W. (2023) Accessing Behavioral Health Services and the Justice-Involved: The Significance of Ecological Considerations. Journal of Forensic Social Work, 7(1), 44-61.

Lab, S.P., Williams, M., Holcomb, J., King, W.R, Buerger, M., & Burek, M. (2021). Criminal Justice: The Essentials (6th edition). New York: Oxford University Press.

Burek, M., Lab, S.P., & Buerger, M. (2020) Corrections: The Essentials. New York: Oxford University Press.

Knippen, K.L., LaVenia, K., Burek, M.W.(2021). Changing the Story: Action Evaluation of an Opioid Awareness Teach-In. https://www.mwera.org/MWER/volumes/v33/issue2/MWER-V33n2-Knippen-FEATURE-ARTICLE.pdf. Mid-Western Educational Researcher, 33(2), 148-166.

Burek, M.W., Liederbach, J.C. (2021; first appeared electronically in 2020) Tell Us How You Really Feel: Validating an Inmate Social Climate Survey. American Journal of Criminal Justice 46, 209–231. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-020-09570-0.

Miller, V., Wilfong, J., Burek, M., & Lanson, L. (2020). Identifying the Transportation Needs of a Rural Aging Community: Findings From a Community Assessment. Innovation in Aging, 4(Suppl 1), 702.