UCCS honors police officers who earn masters degrees

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), May 19, 2006 | by BOBBI SANKEY THE GAZETTE

Susan Szpyrka and John Ingram balanced families, homework and late nights in earning master's degrees at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

That's nothing out of the ordinary for most graduate students.

What earned them the honor of being named outstanding students in the Graduate School of Public Affairs is that they were also full- time police officers.

Ingram is a Colorado Springs detective, and Szpyrka is chief of police of her own small city: the UCCS campus.

Szpyrka, named the graduate school's outstanding public administration graduate, is no stranger to the university.

She grew up in the Cragmor neighborhood, began attending undergrad classes in 1976, supervised the college bookstore after graduation and then climbed the ranks of the campus police to become chief.

These days, she can't walk across campus without numerous stops to greet people, always calling them by name.

"That's my job, isn't it?" she said. "There really is a strong sense of community here."

Between getting married and having a son, it took Szpyrka nine years to earn her bachelor's degree in anthropology. But once she decided to pursue law enforcement, it only took her six to go from a recruit to campus police chief.

In November 1993, fresh from the police academy, she became the only woman on the campus's five-person police force.

Today, Szpyrka, who's been police chief since 1999, oversees 14 sworn officers and an $8 million budget.

She began pursuing a master's in public administration in fall 2003, at times taking nine credit hours. Six hours is considered full time.

"It was better for me to just dig in and immerse myself," she said. "It helped me reconnect with being a student."

Colorado Springs police detective John Ingram also reconnected with his alma mater to pursue a master's in criminal justice.

Ingram earned a political science degree from UCCS in 1993. While going for his master's in that field, he decided to become a police officer.

"I just had a sense that public service was an important thing," he said.

He joined the Colorado Springs Police Department in August 2000, worked as a patrol officer and now is a detective in the investigations unit, covering felony theft, identity theft, assaults and burglaries.

"It's one of those jobs that doesn't get a lot of attention, but every case we handle has a major impact on someone," he said.

Ingram began working toward a master's in criminal justice in fall 2002 and said his years of graduate school were a blur of late nights and weekends spent shut in his home office doing schoolwork, instead of spending time with his wife, Lisa, and daughters Ella and Noelle.

But having his capstone project published made it worthwhile.

Ingram was one of two of 27 classmates to have his final research paper published. The 35-page "Globalization, Inner City Crime and the Coming Legitimacy Crisis" was published in the Justice Policy Journal at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.

"Being a police officer, the bottom line is there's no substitute to experience," he said.

"But I think education for education's sake is a good thing, and I think (the degree) will make me a better police officer."

CONTACT THE WRITER: 476-4813 or bobbi.sankey@gazette.com

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT COLORADO SPRINGS COMMENCEMENT 2006

Graduation ceremonies for the class of 2006 begin at 9:30 a.m. for undergraduates and 2 p.m. for graduate students at the Colorado Springs World Arena. About 1,000 students are expected to participate. c There is a record number of graduates this year -- 1,712 (graduates from Summer 2005, Fall 2005 and Spring 2006 semesters are eligible to participate). Last year there were 1,674 graduates.

Degrees being presented

Ph.D. Electrical Engineering: 3 Master of Science, Nursing: 32 Master of Science, Engineering: 18 Master of Public Administration: 28 Master of Engineering: 7 Master of Basic Science: 19 Master of Business Administration: 131 Master of Arts: 268 College of Letters, Arts and Sciences Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science: 758 Bachelor of Science, Nursing, and Health Care Sciences: 136 Bachelor of Arts/ Science, Engineering: 118 Bachelor of Science, Business: 194