Living in rural Wyoming all his life, Eric Wodahl, PhD, spent a lot of time working on farms and in the fields. He knew a thing or two about farming. One of those things — it was not the career for him.
Growing up, he thought he’d rather be one of those people he saw on TV fighting the bad guys. So, when Torrington High School graduation rolled around, he decided to go into the criminal justice program at Eastern Wyoming College (EWC). It was a perfect fit.
“Once I got there, it became clear pretty quick that I had made the right choice,” he said.
One of his biggest influences throughout the program was criminal justice instructor Glen Schleve. Schleve was the sponsor of the EWC chapter of the American Criminal Justice Association Lambda Alpha Epsilon, and it was through competitions hosted by this organization that Wodhahl really began feeling at home in this field.
“We would travel to these regional and national competitions where there would be an academic portion of it, a crime scene investigation competition, firearms competition and things like that,” he said. “It was a really great experience — a part of that being the travel, but then also being exposed to so many other people in the field. … And we were very successful in those competitions during (Schleve’s) time period.”
Wodahl’s time at EWC proved to be a turning point for him. Originally, he felt he didn’t have a ton of direction during high school. He only found his way to EWC since so many of his classmates planned to attend the college.
Turns out, EWC was exactly what he needed.
“I wasn't a great student in high school. (Eastern Wyoming College) is really where I kind of learned to be a good student,” he said.
Following his two years at EWC, he went on to get his bachelor’s in justice studies at Chadron State College in 1994. From there, he got his first job in the field working for the Wyoming Boys School in Worland, Wyoming. After a little over a year, he took on a position as a probation and parole officer for the Wyoming Department of Corrections in Cheyenne.
Wodahl enjoyed his job, but in 2008, something about academia was calling him back. He decided to pursue his master’s degree at the University of Wyoming, and then got accepted into a PhD program at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.
He said the seeds for a career in academia were planted first by his parents, both of whom were teachers, and second, by professors like those he had at Eastern Wyoming College.
“At the undergrad level I was exposed to great professors like Glenn Schleve and people that I had at Chadron State (College),” he said. “And then, at the University of Wyoming, I saw more of the research aspect of things and the impact that you can have on the criminal justice system in a positive way, but in a different way, through doing research and in teaching.”
Following the completion of his PhD in 2007, he joined the University of Wyoming faculty as a criminal justice professor. Here, Wodahl has been able to impact the future of criminal justice through his published research on topics like prisoner reentry, community corrections and criminal justice policy.
One of his current projects analyzes the use of incentives by probation officers in community supervision to help probationers be more successful and promote social behavioral change as they transition back into society.
But Wodahl’s contributions to the future of criminal justice doesn’t stop there. He also impacts it through his instruction of future generations of probation and parole officers, forensic psychologists, public safety officers, and investigators.
“This is year 17 that I'm finishing here, so I've had a chance to see a lot of my former students go on to successful careers and watch them grow over the years,” he said. “That's always been gratifying to see that.
“It's not the easiest profession, without a doubt, but you feel like you do make a positive difference.”
Wodahl attributes much of his successes today to the educational foundation he built during his time at EWC. It was thanks to small classes, faculty connections and high-quality education that he was able to go from a high schooler with little direction to a researcher and instructor doing meaningful work in the field.
And, while lots of things have changed in higher education since Wodhahl was a student, he’s confident that EWC is still a great place to begin any educational journey.
“I think all of those things really created (the best learning) environment for me,” he said. “I think the qualities (of EWC) that helped make me successful haven't changed.”