Michelle Collver ‘13 Recognized for Work as Crime Analyst
“Everything that you will learn while volunteering or in your internship will somehow help you."
Michelle Collver ‘13, a lead crime analyst at the new $280,000 state-of-the-art Mohawk Valley Crime Analysis Center, was recently recognized for her work in helping identify a suspect in a double homicide.
Collver has spent nearly eight years as a crime analyst associate, working her way up to the title of lead crime analyst, a role that sees her investigating crimes and supervising her team, all while maintaining the flexibility to be ready for anything that is thrown her way.
Collver has been prepared for an opportunity at this position ever since her time at Utica College, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economic crime investigation.
During her time at UC, Collver was able to get her foot in the door through one of UC’s criminal justice internship opportunities. She took on an internship for the Oneida County District Attorney’s Office, where she gained an incredible amount of experience and built relationships that eventually helped her solidify her role as a lead crime analyst.
“From that experience, I was able to meet attorneys and get to know the court system,” she said. “Some of the attorneys that I interacted with were then a part of the interview panel when I applied to be a crime analyst at the Utica Police Department through the John F. Finn Institute for Public Safety.”
On top of UC’s criminal justice curriculum helping Collver find not only an internship but a career, she also credits a handful of professors, such as William Virkler, professor of practice in criminal justice and New Hartford town justice, whom she credits for helping her begin her career and even helped her begin teaching at Utica College.
Collver is one of many who have gone through UC’s criminal justice program, and because of that, she knows what it takes to get the most out of a criminal justice degree at Utica.
“The best advice I can give is to try an internship or volunteer - it all counts in the end,” she said. “Everything that you will learn while volunteering or in your internship will somehow help you as you are trying to get a job in the criminal justice field. You never know who you will meet or what you will do during your experience.”
