Kate Dreiling, PhD, received her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Science in criminal justice from St. Cloud State University and went on to earn her PhD in sociology from South Dakota State University. A professor of criminal justice at Colorado Mesa University, Dreiling teaches Introduction to Criminal Justice, Orientation to Criminal Justice Inquiry, Corrections, Domestic Violence, Women and Crime, Criminology, Comparative Criminal Justice, Community Corrections, and Capital Punishment.
Dreiling enjoys bridging both the practical side of criminal justice and the theoretical side of sociology in her coursework. Her primary goals in the classroom are to not only prepare students for the criminal justice field, but to also prepare them for a diverse and ever changing world. She believes it is essential for future practitioners to understand how the criminal justice system both influences and is influenced by history, individuals, and society.
Dreiling has prior experience in the corrections field, primarily working with juveniles in a variety of settings from detention to community-based sex offender treatment. She is very active on campus and in the local community with the prevention of violence against women, specifically concerning sexual assault and intimate partner violence.