Page 48 - May 2020

2020 EDUCATION GUIDE:
Advancing your career
DUSTING CONTINUED FROM PAGE 47
pects by teaching leadership skills.
During Deborah Pascua’s 28-year career with the Chicago Po-
lice Department, she decided to pursue her master of business administration degree from Saint Xavier University, where she currently works as an instructor. She knew that career advance- ment within the department and beyond would become more achievable with a higher degree.
“When you have a degree behind your name, it adds to the professionalism of the police department,” Pascua noted. “You would be so surprised at how much you enjoy it, and how you might even say, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m going to go for a double mas- ter’s,’ or ‘I’m going to pursue my Ph.D.’ Once you fit that in your life, it becomes almost like a glove.”
For Pascua, the solidarity of sitting in class with other law en- forcement officers was enough to coerce her into continuing with her studies, which eventually propelled her to the rank of lieutenant. When she retired in 2014, Pascua knew that because of her education, life after law enforcement held promise.
“People need to prepare for the second half of their life,” she mentioned. “I think we live in a very different world now, where advanced education is to enhance your second career; addi- tional education gives you two to three career paths.”
Tactical classroom
Continuing education sharpens critical thinking, develops soft skills like communication, enhances technical knowledge and cultivates strong leaders. The trick to pumping out power- house graduates with those varied skills lies in the tactics.
Aside from homework, Danny McGuire’s bachelor’s degree
from Calumet College of St. Joseph, acquired during his 21-year career with the Chicago Police Department, wasn’t intrusive to his lifestyle.
Ask him about obtaining his two master’s degrees and doctor- ate while on the job, and he’ll tell a slightly different story.
“I was tired a lot,” recalled the current program director of public safety programs and department chair of the Public Safe- ty Institute at Calumet. “But it made me a better police officer, better leader, better service person. It brought in my experience and broadened my ability to be a police officer by changing my understanding of a lot of different things.”
The master’s degrees and doctorate came from schools that weren’t geared toward law enforcement. McGuire sat in psy- chology and public administration courses as the only officer, which highlighted the policing-centric education he received at Calumet.
“It’s just set up for police officers,” he affirmed. “[You] have current or former professionals with years of experience teach- ing you. So when you’re reading about theories in a book, that professional that’s teaching can lend their experience and show you what that theory looks like in practicality, because [they’ve] done it.”
Applied learning, or engaging in direct application of skills, is a primary tactic used to bolster the significance of policing- centric education programs. When students learn among oth- er law enforcement officers, the curriculum helps inform the job, and vice versa. Such is the case for Richard Schak, a re- tired sergeant on the job for 32 years who now serves as chair of the criminal justice program at National Louis University. He
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