Capability Profile
Public Services Institute & Joint Center for Policy Research
Shara L. Davis
Director, Public Services Institute & Joint Center for Policy Research
sdavis@lorainccc.edu
Shara L. Davis is Director of the Public Services Institute (PSI) and its Joint Center for Policy Research (JCPR) at Lorain County Community College. She has a Masters degree in Political Science which she earned in 1987. She began her career in marketing and policy research and has extensive experience in research design and application. Ms. Davis has been formerly trained by nationally recognized consultants in civic engagement techniques. She has strong process design and facilitation skills. She has been with the Public Services Institute for 13 years and throughout her 20 year career has provided consultation and services to more than 400 organizations representing a range of policy areas including economic development, education/workforce development, health care, recreation, environment, government, social services, philanthropy, and news media. Much of her work has focused on workforce development and intergovernmental relations.
Shara is founding director of the Joint Center for Policy Research, the information arm of the Institute, which she grew to a full service research center and cost recovery unit of the College in just 4 years. In addition to data, research, and evaluation services, Shara developed a local GIS Partnership, which has become self-sustaining and experienced tremendous growth within a period of 3 years. In her current capacity, she also provides leadership to the Lorain County Community Alliance, which is a local council of governments housed within PSI.
Prior to her tenure with Lorain County Community College, Shara served as Assistant Director for Research for the Center for Urban Studies at the University of Akron. She used her research expertise and experience to create and establish a full-capacity research laboratory for the Center for Urban Studies between 1987 and 1991. During her eight years with the University of Akron, Shara also taught undergraduate courses including Introduction to Government and Politics, Current Policy Issues, and Introductory Research Methods. Some of her clients have included Region 8 School-to-Work, the Regional Workforce Partnership, the EnterpriseOhio Network of the Ohio Board of Regents, the Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Education Center, Auburn Career Center, Polaris Career Center, Westshore Vocational Education District, Higher Education in Economic Development (HEED) Initiative, the Lorain County Employment Network (local one-stop), the City of Brunswick, the City of Oberlin, the Ohio Grant Makers Forum, the Stocker Foundation, the Lorain County Consortium for Child and Family Health Services (CFHS), Lorain County Children Services, Lorain County Metropolitan Housing Authority, Lorain City Schools, Elyria City Schools, Midview Schools, Avon Lake City Schools, the Chronicle Telegram, and many others.
Dr. Jongyun Kim
Jongyun Kim is a full-time Data Services Coordinator for the Joint Center for Policy Research of Lorain County Community college. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Sung Kyun Kwan University in Korea and his master’s and doctoral degrees in Sociology from the State University of New York at Buffalo. His research interests lie primarily in social gerontology, social statistics, minority mental health, and social demography. Prior to joining JCPR, his scholarly work is concerned with the relationships between social support network and psychological distress of older adults. He taught undergraduate and graduate level Social Statistics during his tenure with the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Dr. Kim is primarily responsible for access, management, retrieval, analysis, and dissemination of secondary data for the Joint Center and its clientele. He has extensive experience with Census Data, Labor Market Information, and other secondary data sources and is also often involved in some of JCPR’s primary data collection endeavors as an advanced statistician. In addition to his data analysis and management skills, Jongyun uses his knowledge of Geographic information Systems (GIS) to analyze and display socio-geographic data at standard and user-defined levels of geography. His responsiveness to data and mapping requests contributes heavily to the data service delivery and dissemination function of JCPR.
Among Jongyun Kim’s most recent accomplishments with JCPR is the development of Career Profiles for a local Newspaper that were published over a span of several years. He also recently developed a series of base and thematic maps displaying population demographics, socio-economic characteristics, housing and building conditions, and other attribute data to guide development of a local Community Plan.
Dr. Jeffrey K. Lange
Dr. Lange is Senior Research Project Manager at the Joint Center for Policy Research. He is an experienced researcher and practitioner whose work has linked behavioral science theory and research to public and private sector decision making affecting customer relationship marketing, product and service innovation, and quality improvement.
Jeff holds a doctorate in Sociology from The University of Akron, a master’s degree in Urban Studies from Cleveland State University, and a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Case Western Reserve University. He has published articles in a variety of sociological, urban studies, and transportation planning journals. In addition to teaching at the college level at a several area institutions including Cleveland State, The University of Akron, and John Carroll; Lange has also served on the professional staff of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA), the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company, and Wyse Advertising Agency.
Dr. Lange has also been a self-employed business researcher, and has completed studies for nationally prominent firms such as Meridia Health Systems (now part of Cleveland Clinic), Ross Products, Ernst and Young, PPG, Busch Properties, KFC, Southern California Edison, and Rubbermaid.
Lange heads up JCPR’s external market assessment group, who assist Lorain County Community College in completing academic program reviews. These engage external experts and hiring managers in fields where LCCC grants two-year degrees. Such studies assist the College in continuing to fine tune its academic offerings to the needs of the local economy. In recent years, Jeff has assisted program reviews in Accounting, Computer Information Systems, Applied Electronics, Early Childhood Education, Law Enforcement, Corrections, and Sport and Fitness Management. He also leads projects serving other non-profit and public-sector organizations such as school districts, public health agencies, children services organizations, senior housing advocates, and municipal governments.
Cheri Ryan
Chen Ryan is a full-time Field Coordinator for the Institute. She holds an Associate of Applied Science degree from Lorain County Community College. Ms. Ryan has expertise in data collection techniques, which enables successful coordination of a host of research implementation activities. She coordinates focus group research including logistical arrangements for clients, participant recruitment, and project implementation. Ms. Ryan is herself, a highly skilled focus group moderator. She is also well trained in door-to-door interviewing, intercept surveying, telephone interviewing, and key informant interviewing. She frequently manages implementation of survey research projects involving special populations like individuals served by Child and Human Service organizations, residents of Metropolitan Housing Developments, and others. Ms. Ryan has also developed interest and proficiency in database development, which contributes heavily to overall productivity within our organization. Her impeccable organization skills and keen sense of detail are critical to successful delivery of JCPR client-based research services.
In addition to field coordination, Ms. Ryan provides focus group and interviewer training to interested individuals and organizations. She has exceptional comfort level working with, and facilitating diverse groups of people. Among her most recent accomplishments is coordination of a continuous feedback process involving ten separate research populations spanning more than three consecutive years for a large, public, social service agency. Cheri also assists clients visioning, strategic planning, and other services requiring strong facilitation skills.
Andrew Scheneman
Andrew Scheneman is a part-time Geographic Information System (GL5) Specialist for the Joint Center for Policy Research of Lorain County Community College. He holds a Geographic Information Systems Certificate from Cleveland State University and has extensive experience with Deed Research, Parcel Analysis, and Parcel Mapping. Mr. Scheneman is also employed by the Lorain County Auditor’s Office where he has served as the (MS Manager and has been an integral part of the development of the Auditor’s Digital Mapping System for the past six years.
Mr. Scheneman provides custom mapping services to local governments using state-of-the-art GIS software and equipment to plot and map location of utilities, water and sewer lines, transportation routes, zoning, land use patterns, and other information crucial for informed planning and decision making. His expertise in Digital Mapping, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and Digital Orthophotography contributes heavily to our ability to use technologies in ways that promote more effective and efficient policy management.
Lizette Torres
Lizette Torres is the Administrative Associate for the Institute. She is currently completing her Associate of Arts degree at Lorain County Community College. Ms. Torres has spent the last eight years working in the not-for-profit and education sectors as an administrative assistant. Prior to this she had ten years of experience in the banking industry. Her work at PSI consists of assisting with the coordination and organization of a variety of seminars/workshops and special activities related to specific projects/contracts. She is also responsible for working with various courts for the coordination and delivery of the DUI and Adult/Juvenile Driver Remedial Programs. Ms. Torres manages the entire Institute office and supervises all office interns and student workers.
Visobe Welch
Visobe Welch is a full-time Evaluation Specialist for the information arm of the Institute. Joint Center for She holds a BA in Business Management from the University of Zambia, a MBA from Eastern College in Pennsylvania, and a MPA in Public Administration and Urban Studies from the University of Akron. Ms. Welch has considerable marketing and policy research experience including the Commonwealth Federal Savings Bank (PA), the National Council for Scientific Research (Zambia) where she served as a Senior Administrative Officer, and Nchanga Farms (Zambia) serving as a Senior Marketing Officer.
While in the MPA program at the University of Akron, she worked as a Research Assistant for the Institute for Health and Social Policy. In addition to management of primary data collection efforts involving multiple research approaches for JCPR clientele, Ms. Welch has expertise in outcome-based program evaluation. In this capacity, she develops evaluation systems for JCPR clients and performs comprehensive impact analysis using quantitative and qualitative methods. Her ability to tailor evaluation systems and impact analysis to client programs and services contributes heavily to JCPR’s delivery of customized evaluation services. Some of her accomplishments include the development and implementation of evaluation systems for a Federal Drug Elimination Program administered by a Metropolitan Housing Authority, a Family Resource Center for an Urban School District, and a 21st Century Learning Center for another Urban School District. Ms. Welch has research interest in areas of crime and safety and policy analysis.