Alumni Profile

My name is Mike McHugh, I graduated from Champlain College with my bachelor’s degree in Professional Studies of Criminal Justice in 2002 after first receiving an associate’s degree in Business in 2000. I had switched majors in 2000 from Business to Criminal Justice in the hopes of finding a career that offered more excitement than the business work environment. What I found was a career path, that offers not only excitement and diversity, but one that I have found to be far more rewarding than a traditional business career path.

Champlain has a strong emphasis on student employment both while attending the College and post graduation. For me, this was one of the most attractive aspects of the college. After all, at the end of the college experience everybody needs the same thing, a JOB. This is something that seems to be lost to some colleges and universities, however this is a strong point of Champlain’s. I gained the practical experience by being able to work in my field of study while in school as well as having to complete two internships as part of my curriculum. This was not only good experience but it also made the curriculum more interesting as I could apply what I was learning to a job.

After graduation my practical experience was the one thing that made me stand out above other candidates who had degrees when I was applying for jobs. Far too many people think that having a degree means that you will automatically get the job you desire. Simply having a degree, even a bachelor, is no longer enough for many employers -- it is the real world experience that they are looking for.

While I was in my senior year at Champlain College I was hired by the State of Vermont to work as a court officer. I worked at the district court part-time while attending classes full-time at Champlain. The Criminal Justice department was able to accommodate my schedule around court hours so that this was possible. I gained a great deal of experience while working in the Vermont court system and was hired on full-time after graduation in 2002. I continued working there until I moved to Arizona in 2003 where I accepted a job in Phoenix as a field training officer for the Arizona Superior Court. I am currently one of two officers in the state conducting basic training for the court officer recruits. We also provide advanced weapons training in conjunction with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, where I am an auxiliary instructor.

As of last week I accepted a promotion within the Superior Court to work for the Adult Probation Department as a Probation Officer. This is a sworn police officer position in the State of Arizona. I will be going through eight weeks of training starting September 15th. The probation department has over 1200 sworn officers in this county alone and has many special divisions such as warrants, domestic abuse, and violent offender. This promotion doubled my pay and I expect it will open up even more doors for me in the future.

Champlain gave me the practical skills needed to go out into the real world and start a career in criminal justice, even in slightly larger area such as Phoenix! I would encourage anyone interested in pursuing a career in criminal justice to attend Champlain College’s program.

- Mike McHugh, Class of 2002