Chris Bruzios directs the Center's major long term data collection projects, mostly with state government agencies in the fields of health and education. Current studies with the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (NJ DHSS) involve the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), which researches mothers of new-born children to gather findings related to their experiences and behaviors during pregnancy. PRAMS is funded by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as part of an effort to address the issues of low birth weight and infant mortality and is conducted by numerous states in the country. Dr. Bruzios also works with NJ DHSS in an effort to assist the state in the reporting to its birth defects registry, as well as assisting the New Jersey Department of Human Services in substance abuse treatment agency reporting on the New Jersey Substance Abuse Monitoring System.
Dr. Bruzios has assisted the Department of Education in conducting the Youth Risk Behavior Study (YRBS) and Student Health Survey (SHS), which he has conducted biannually since 1995. The SHS is sponsored by CDC and is administered to a sample of high school students across the state using the YRBS study protocol. The survey is used by the state to assess risk behavior in this age group, including use of alcohol, drugs and cigarettes.
Dr. Bruzios received his Ph.D. in political science at Rutgers University in 1996; an M.A. in survey research from the University of Connecticut; and a B.A. from Clark University. He has been conducting survey research at Rutgers since 1994.
Marc Weiner works collaboratively with the Bloustein School's faculty, center directors, and research staff to direct the survey components of the school's research projects across a number of policy areas including transportation, education, energy, environmental protection, public health, criminal justice, and urban planning. In addition, Dr. Weiner teaches graduate Methods I (Research Design and Data Analysis for Public Policy), Methods II (Advanced Data Analysis for Public Policy), and undergraduate demography (Population Tools and Policies).
Previously, Weiner was the Project Director, at Princeton University's Office of Population Research, for the Campus Life in America Student Survey, a Ford Foundation funded effort to explore diversity in higher education. Prior to that, he served as Assistant Director of the Princeton University Survey Research Center, where he directed or managed surveys collecting data for research in such fields as sociology, psychology, political science, population research, and higher education research.
Dr. Weiner received his Ph.D. in political science at Rutgers University in 2005; a J.D. from Widener University in 1986; and a B.A. in political philosophy from Syracuse University in 1982.
Sonia came to the center in May of 2009 as a research project assistant for the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System. Her daily duties include conducting telephone interviews and data collection. Fluent in Spanish, Sonia also assists on other projects by translating documents and reaching out to Spanish speaking subjects. She has a B.S. in Communication and Culture from Clark University and has several years experience in communication and interviewing as a former reporter at a community newspaper in Connecticut.
Brenda Francis came to Rutgers in 1996 working part-time in the Undergraduate Admissions office and then full-time at the Center for Children and Families at the School of Social Work. She joined BCSR in 2005 as the Center's business assistant and office manager. Ms. Francis is responsible for administering all day-to-day office operations including processing all financial transactions, monitoring grants, ensuring compliance with all applicable Bloustein School and Rutgers University financial and employee policies and procedures, and providing confidential administrative support to the Center's director and associate director. She holds a Rutgers University Business and Accounting Certificate.
Karyn Granholm joined BCSR in January of 2004 as a part-time interviewer for the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS). In the spring of 2004, she went to work for the Veterans' Administration as a research assistant for numerous federal and state funded projects focusing on mental health and behavioral sciences, while continuing to work at part-time at BCSR. In April of 2006, Granholm returned to full-time status at BCSR as a research project assistant for PRAMS. In addition, she conducts interviews and collects data for other center projects sponsored by the Veterans' Administration, the Centers for Disease Control, and the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services and the New Jersey Department of Education. Granholm received a B.S. in environmental policies, institutions, and behavior from Rutgers University, Cook College in 2004.
Helen Koch joined the Center in September of 2007. She assists in coordinating the administration of research surveys to middle and high schools state-wide on behalf of the New Jersey Department of Human Services and the New Jersey Department of Education. Along with the school surveys, Helen also assists with the data collection efforts for many other grant-funded projects for the Center.
Helen comes to us with 18 years of human subjects research background, including six years at the Rutgers University Office of Research and Sponsored Programs as the Administrative Assistant, acting as the liaison between the Institutional Review Board and the Rutgers researchers. Additionally, she has 13 years of social policy research experience working for a privately owned research firm in New Jersey, conducting in-depth research survey interviews on a range of social policy issues for evaluation of state and federal programs.
Orin Puniello joined the Center in 2008 as a Research Project Coordinator. He assists with the design, analysis, and day-to-day management of survey projects in areas including transportation, economics, and social policy analysis.
Prior to joining BCSR, Puniello worked for the Rutgers University Libraries as a Development Assistant where he was responsible for managing fundraising projects. He received a Masters of Public Policy from the Bloustein School at Rutgers University in 2008, and a B.A. in history and political science from Rutgers University in 2004.
Chris Wyce joined the center in 1998 as an interviewer, became Research Project Assistant, then Research Project Coordinator and is now Assistant Director. His research project management responsibilities include training and supervising interview staff, overseeing the cleaning, coding, and entry of data, the development of data management and data analysis files, and the organization and coordination of data output. In addition, Wyce assists in the development of project proposals, survey instruments, and analytic reports. He is a key manager for a number of state and federally-funded projects, including those sponsored by the Veterans' Administration, the Centers for Disease Control, the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, the New Jersey Department of Education, and the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. Wyce received his B.A. in psychology from Rutgers University in 2003.
Cliff Zukin is Professor of Public Policy and Political Science at Rutgers' University's Eagleton Institute of Politics and the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Policy. Zukin received a Ph.D. in political science from The Ohio State University in 1978. He formerly directed the Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers and the quarterly public interest survey, The Star-Ledger/Eagleton-Rutgers Poll.
Professor Zukin teaches graduate courses in survey research, research methods, public opinion and data analysis at Rutgers. His research interests are in the fields of media, public opinion and survey research. His latest research project was a study of citizen engagement among four generational groups. A New Engagement? : Political Participation, Civic Life and the Changing American Citizen was published by Oxford University Press in 2006.
Preofessor Zukin is a former President of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR). AAPOR is the leading professional association comprising some 2,000 members in academics, government, the non-profit and commercial sectors. He also serves on the advisory board of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, and works as a consultant for NBC News during national elections.
