Professor awarded $645K by US gov’t

Imagine waking up one morning, turning on the news and learning that your government has fractured.

"That's exactly what it was like for people in Russia," said K. Michael Reynolds, an associate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice.

The 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union changed everything in the country's political and judicial system and the event never left Reynolds' mind.

Now, 20 years after the collapse, Reynolds has a $645,000 grant to put toward a part of Russia that is still feeling the effects.

The grant, which was awarded to Reynolds by the U.S. Department of State, will be used to start three legal clinics throughout southern Russia in Volgograd, Rostov and Krasnodar. The clinics will give legal services to citizens, particularly those who are being prosecuted by the government, so they can gain knowledge on judicial issues from lawyers and local professionals in the field.

"United States citizens are used to knowing their individual rights and expecting them to be upheld, especially in court," Reynolds said. "The legal bar is still maturing in Russia and many citizens don't understand the rights they have."

Reynolds' work began in 2002 when he traveled to Russia with a friend. The trip sparked his interest toward international public service and gave him an appreciation for Russian culture and values.

"There are about 150 million people in Russia and not all of them are corrupt at all," Reynolds said. "In fact, a lot of them are honorable and hospitable people."

Reynolds created key relationships with generals and cadets at the Volgograd Academy Ministry of Internal Affairs, a prestigious university that trains police officers. The American equivalent would be West Point or the U.S. Naval Academy.

These relationships eventually proceeded beyond the professional environment as Reynolds got to know more about his Russian colleagues, their families and their country after receiving a Fulbright scholarship in 2007 and spending six months in Russia. This all set the scene for an important partnership between UCF and Russia.

One way Reynolds has further developed this partnership is by working with UCF students who are in study abroad programs in Russia.

Erica Busard, an interdisciplinary studies graduate, studied abroad in Russia in 2006 where she worked with Reynolds on comparing and contrasting the American legal and criminal justice system with that of the Russians'.

Instead of just gaining insight on Russia, Busard made valuable relationships and she was eventually able to host the same students who hosted her in Russia when they came to study in the U.S.

Busard has seen just how much work the grant recipient has put into this development.

"Dr. Reynolds has given a lot of himself to this project in Russia," Busard said. "He's made it possible for several Russian professors and students to come to the U.S. — on his tab."

In addition to taking American students abroad to experience different cultures, Reynolds, who has also hosted Russians in his home when they study in the U.S., makes sure to give his students background on Russia's judicial system.

Jury trials weren't authorized until 2001 and to older generations this is a foreign system,   Reynolds said. They have depended on the government for so many years that they don't understand their own individual rights.

He said that many of them don't understand that the government was responsible for doing everything and with that gone, many are unprepared for the workings of the legal system.

One example of this was a 74-year-old woman who was evicted from her apartment for minor problems such as small taxes or property regulations. Though this was an easy-to-fix complication, she didn't understand the problem and didn't respond to communications. As a result, the woman was evicted and had no place to go.

Reynolds explained that the legal clinics are meant to serve people like her who are unable to defend themselves effectively in court.

The clinic in Volgograd will be open in about three months, Rostov in July and Krasnodar in October.

Ivan Zamylin, an international graduate student from Russia, has studied at UCF for almost two years and has seen much of Reynolds' work.

Zamylin explained how, like the American court system, the Russian court system is filled with a lot of bureaucracy, just a different kind of bureaucracy. By Reynolds taking so much time to research the system, he's made himself a good candidate to help it.

"I think he has done a good job at doing his research," Zamylin said. "He has spent a lot of time understanding that facts and researching much of Russia's internal corruption."