About the Instructor: Ms. Perfetti

Heather Perfetti is currently Vice President of Instructional Affairs at a college in Western Maryland.  Prior to this role, Ms. Perfetti served as the program coordinator of the criminal justice and the paralegal programs at a college in Southwest Georgia where she taught in the areas of criminal justice, paralegal studies, and business law.  In May of 2006, Ms. Perfetti received a NISOD excellence award for her contributions as an educator. In April of 2005, Ms. Perfetti was awarded the "Teacher of the Year" Award and was nominated for the University System of Georgia Board of Regents’ Teaching Excellence Award. Ms. Perfetti has also served as an Assistant Professor teaching undergraduate and graduate criminal justice courses at a public, four-year institution in Western Kentucky, where she was also nominated for a Board of Regents’ Teaching Excellence Award.  Ms. Perfetti joined the faculty at Barstow Community College in the Fall of 2005 as an online adjunct instructor in the area of business law.

Ms. Perfetti graduated cum laude from the University of Mississippi School of Law where she received the Outstanding Student Award in Criminal Practice and Procedure, was Editor of The Advocate, a Semi-Finalist in the Steen, Reynolds, and Dalehite Trial Competition, the recipient of both the Albert N. Hopkins Scholarship and the Public Interest Law Clinic Scholarship, and winner of the Contract Negotiation Award for Best Overall Contract. As Vice-President of the Women’s Law Association, Ms. Perfetti received the Outstanding Member Award for service dedicated to the local domestic violence shelter. After graduating from law school, Ms. Perfetti then practiced law as a trial attorney for the Missouri State Public Defender System where she represented indigent citizens accused of various levels of criminal offenses. Ms. Perfetti has also completed internships with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Mississippi, the Monroe County Public Defender’s Office in Pennsylvania, and a private law firm in Maryland.  In addition to a law degree, Ms. Perfetti has completed a master degree through Troy University. Ms. Perfetti maintains professional memberships with the State of Missouri Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, the Southern Criminal Justice Association, the American Criminal Justice Association, the Criminal Justice Association of Georgia, and the Southwest Georgia Center for Women.

Ms. Perfetti has served in a number of leadership capacities outside of the classroom and continues to make presentations at various conferences. She was the President for the Criminal Justice Association of Georgia and an active member of the Board of Regents’ Advisory Committee for Criminal Justice. In addition, she was advisor of the local chapter of the American Criminal Justice Association, Lambda Alpha Epsilon, and of the Paralegal Student Association. She has also made numerous presentations including "Service Learning: In the Classroom, On the Campus, In the Community," at the Commission on Colleges - Southern Association of Colleges and Schools conference in Atlanta, Georgia, "You Have the Right to Remain Silent, But Not During Mock Interrogation," at the Southern Criminal Justice Association conference in Raleigh, North Carolina, "Advising the Nibblers at the Feast: Helping the Non-Traditional Student to Achieve Academic Success," at the Council of Post-Secondary Education conference in Hebron, Kentucky, "Violence Against Women and Children: The Criminal Justice System Response," at the Take Back the Night ceremony held in Murray, Kentucky, and "Building a Dream Team: Undergraduate Student Interns in Public Defender Offices" presented at the Southern Criminal Justice Association conference held in Clearwater Beach, Florida. 

Ms. Perfetti has extensive teaching experience, and hopes to make your online learning experience as enjoyable as possible.