Alumni Success

Lisa Tator

SkillsUSA is a national competition for high school and college teams from across the United States. Thousands of participants travel to Kansas City in June to compete in a variety of skills. Forensic crime scene investigation is part of that experience. For the past few years Prof Partrich has been invited as a judge for the CSI portion. There are approximately 35 high school and college teams that participate in a two day marathon of written tests and mock crime scene analysis. This past June Prof Partrich and a former student, Lisa Tator, participated as judges. Lisa presently works for the Johnson County Crime Lab processing crime scenes. Lisa and Prof Partrich are putting together a team from MNU to compete in this national competition for next year.

Rick Hanson

Rick Hanson graduated in 1988 with a major in Psychology. While at MNU, he was a teaching assistant to Dr. Bob Drummond and a decorated athlete, being named Academic All American in football and track. He was also very involved in student government and residence life.

Rick went on to KU and completed his master's degree in Counseling Psychology. During that time, he served for three years as a Residence Hall Director at MNU. He taught as adjunct professor in Psychology at MNU before leaving the area to pursue his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at Michigan State.

Currently Rick is Assistant Director of the Rockhurst University Counseling Center in Kansas City. He continues to teach as adjunct professor at MNU. He is married and has three children. He is able to express the compassion of Christ by using his educational and counseling skills in his vocational field.

Andrew Secor

My name is Andrew Secor and I attended MNU for my undergrad from 01-05 as well as for my Masters degree 05-07. Throughout my time at MNU I had the opportunity to be involved in many different areas of study. I was a triple major: criminal justice, psychology, and sociology.

The education I received was excellent and has benefited me in my current field. I currently work at TLC for Children and Families as a member of the clinical team. TLC is a psychiatric residential treatment facility that works with children and adolescents in SRS custody as well as Juvenile Justice Authority custody. My education in criminal justice has been very useful in this area of work because so many of the kids I work with have or are involved with the legal system. I have constant contact with case workers, lawyers, judges, and the police.

The understanding I gained during my criminal justice training has given me knowledge that other co-workers in the field lack. Going through the criminal justice program provided the knowledge I needed to be an active and productive member of my field and has really boosted the options I have for what I can do to better serve people in this population.

Heather Dukat

Currently I'm employed at the Johnson County Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center (JIAC) in Olathe, Kansas as an Intake Supervisor. During the assessment, appropriate community-based referrals are given and decisions on placement are determined. Many children are released to their parents with proper referrals to assist them in getting their life "back on track" and deter them from future law enforcement involvement. For others, their placement may consist of a stay in Juvenile Detention until they can see a judge, or temporary foster care.

I will soon be moving to Duluth, Minnesota where I was offered a position as a Drug and Alcohol Case Manager/Counselor-in-training for adolescent juvenile offenders. As for Criminal Justice at MNU, best time of my life! Students are able to attend Criminal Justice Conferences around the country; exposing them to all elements of the criminal justice system. Now I am no longer a college student observing others in the Criminal Justice field, but an employee; practicing my management skills with a specialization in Juvenile Justice.