{"id":2054,"date":"2015-05-15T11:00:21","date_gmt":"2015-05-15T16:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/?p=2054"},"modified":"2016-05-31T09:44:34","modified_gmt":"2016-05-31T14:44:34","slug":"from-fbi-investigator-to-assistant-professor-with-online-phd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/from-fbi-investigator-to-assistant-professor-with-online-phd\/","title":{"rendered":"Their Journey to the PhD: Jerry\u2019s Story in Criminal Justice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Name:<\/strong> Gerald \u201cJerry\u201d Clark<\/p>\n

Hometown:<\/strong> Erie, Pa.<\/p>\n

Profession:<\/strong> Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Gannon University<\/p>\n

Degree Earned from Capella University:<\/strong> PhD in Public Safety, Criminal Justice Specialization<\/a><\/p>\n

\"PhD<\/a>
PhD in Public Safety Graduate Jerry Clark<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Q. Why did you pursue a PhD?<\/h4>\n

A. I wanted to take my 27 years in law enforcement [including being the FBI\u2019s lead investigator on the \u201cPizza Bomber\u201d case] and add an academic component. Then I\u2019d have both the practical and the academic side to enhance my career.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Q. Why did you think education was the answer?<\/h4>\n

A. I wanted to go into teaching. With my background working investigative cases, I knew that I had significant experience and knowledge to share with students. But after some research, I learned that to teach in higher education I needed a PhD. Getting it has opened so many doors for me. The combination of my extensive hands-on experience and the PhD really made the difference.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Q. What was the PhD process like for you?<\/h4>\n

A. It was much harder than I ever imagined! In the beginning, I thought, \u201cHow will I ever do this?\u201d I almost quit during the first semester. I thought, \u201cI\u2019m a special agent for the FBI. Why am I doing this?\u201d But I\u2019m so grateful I never gave up.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Q. What was the best part of getting an online PhD?<\/h4>\n

A. The best part was seeing successes in small increments. I took at most two courses at a time and focused on those, not the overall looming PhD. Also, the people were phenomenal. There are people I met in my residencies that I\u2019m still close with today. You make a powerful bond because you\u2019ve all been through this together. Plus, you get access to so many different perspectives. In my career, I only saw the law enforcement side, but in residencies I met people with different backgrounds and experiences that helped shape my thinking.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Q. What was the hardest part of getting a PhD?<\/h4>\n

A. Stress. The dissertation is a grinding wheel. But it\u2019s a necessary process. I\u2019d write something I thought was good and end up with lots of revisions. There are always a lot more perspectives out there.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Q. How has the PhD changed your career?<\/h4>\n

A. All the ads for teaching positions I thought I wanted required a PhD. A master\u2019s wasn\u2019t quite enough in the academic world. Without the PhD, I wouldn\u2019t be where I am today. It\u2019s also given me great credibility for some government contract consulting work and confidence when it came to writing my new book, A History of Heists<\/a>. (Clark\u2019s first book was Pizza Bomber<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Q. What advice do you have for future and current online PhD students?<\/h4>\n

A. Don\u2019t look too far ahead. Look straight at where you are right now. I\u2019m a perfectionist, but it was overwhelming to try to look at the whole journey. Stay in small increments, and become organized. And don\u2019t miss deadlines! Otherwise you\u2019ll always be working on catching up. Just know that the process is hard work, and it does involve personal sacrifice.<\/p>\n

Capella University offers PhD and professional doctorate degree programs ranging from business to education and health to technology. Learn more about Capella\u2019s <\/em>doctoral programs<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wondering what a PhD can do for your career? It gave a Capella University graduate the necessary credentials to transition from FBI investigator to assistant professor and published author.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":2108,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[316,151],"tags":[67,317,7],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2054"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2054"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3952,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2054\/revisions\/3952"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}