University of North Georgia (UNG) President Michael P. Shannon conferred doctoral degrees in criminal justice for the first time at commencement on Dec. 7 to Chris Bakke and Chris Dale.

"Although the university has three existing professional doctoral programs in health and education, this marks a real milestone in the history of the university because it is our first Ph. D. program," Dr. Chaudron Gille, provost, said.

The Ph.D. in criminal justice with a concentration in intelligence launched in fall 2021.

Bakke, an assistant instructional professor of criminal justice at Pittsburgh State University, has a background in law enforcement. He completed his degree in nine semesters while working full time.

"It was a lot. It was very intense, labor-intensive research, time-intensive," he said. "Some positives from the program were the autonomy it provided along with learning how to competently and confidently conduct scholarly research and scientific research. I left with that confidence."

This is Dale's second degree from UNG, having earned an associate degree in psychology in 2000, followed by a bachelor’s degree from Columbus State University and a master’s degree from the University of the Cumberlands. He said he looked at multiple doctoral programs before choosing UNG.

"A doctoral degree never really crossed my mind, particularly as an undergrad, but as I got my master's degree, which is a little more research-intensive, the more I liked doing research and looking into questions that I had," Dale, a career law enforcement officer, said. "Once I completed that degree, I really wanted to keep going and get into a doctoral program to do my own research."

Dale also took three years to complete his degree and worked full time; however, he took time off for the field study samples, piggybacking alcohol labs different agencies in north Georgia used for training purposes.

His research could be used in probation settings, drug courts, "anywhere there's a frequent testing for drugs and alcohol," Dale said.

Both spoke highly of faculty members.

"I really liked the communication with Dr. Timothy Hayes throughout the program. At the end, he was at graduation and met me for lunch afterward," Bakke said.

Dale said instructors were "excellent," "communicated with us really well" and "helped us out."

"My chair, Dr. Brent Paterline, was excellent to work with. My committee was Dr. Hayes and Dr. John 'Stu' Batchelder, and they were all just super," Dale said.

Bakke said he'd like to continue to build his career in academia and research, specifically exploring relationships between the adverse psychological effects of head injuries and then the relation to crime.

Dale, meanwhile, plans to stay in law enforcement.

The two met the morning of commencement, having seen one another only online.  

"I was really excited to meet Chris because he was easy to talk to and it was always interesting to read and talk throughout the program. I loved reading his discussions and learning how he did his research on a discussion board and communicating with him," Bakke said. "So, I was excited to meet him. It was even better in person. He's a great guy."

Bakke said he's still rooting for other members of their cohort and looking forward to seeing them walk across the stage when they earn their Ph.D.

Dr. Douglas Orr, UNG department head of criminal justice, encourages law enforcement officers with "decades of service" who want to teach at the university level or those who are currently serving in law enforcement and believe it would benefit their organization to investigate the program.

"There are police officials who have devoted their lives to public service and then given themselves to graduate studies in the field. Second, we know that elected or appointed police executives rely upon scholars who are devoted to objective research. To this end, UNG intends to serve these two populations," Orr said.