The opportunity to put in practice the level of support and attention that he received as a PVCC student from his instructors has been extremely rewarding for Sandor Rogoff as an adjunct faculty member at our Black Mountain campus. Sandor is so thankful he followed the advice of his colleagues to give Paradise Valley Community College a try. Upon getting out of the military, he enrolled in PVCC. Sandor worked a variety of part time, odd jobs to get himself through.
Upon completing his first semester at PVCC, he approached the Veteran's Assistance Office. This visit resulted in providing Sandor with a pathway to student employment through the Work Study Program and later an internship when he went on to complete his Bachelor’s degree at ASU. This internship provided Sandor with the opportunity to work in the field he wanted to go into and confirmed his desire to enter a helping profession. Additionally, Sandor found the support and interaction of other Veterans provided a pivot point in his life.
Sandor attributes his participation in Professor Gangadean’s philosophy class as instrumental in shaping his ability to think critically and ask questions. Sandor’s extracurricular engagement included participating in the Social Work Club. In Sandor’s words, "PVCC is the epitome of a community college education" and provided the runway for his successful career in law enforcement and now he is giving back to PVCC as an instructor.
Sandor retired from the Phoenix Police Department December of 2019. He went on to a position with the Arizona Department of Transportation, as a detective doing internal investigations. Sandor is a Trustee with the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 2, in Phoenix. The FOP has many charity events, sponsors law enforcement legislation, both locally and nationally, and serves as a conduit for information about what is happening in criminal justice. Recently, Sandor and another FOP lodge member have started a podcast that can be found on the FOP Lodge 2 website. Sandor recently earned his ACUE certification. Sandor states, “I find teaching at PVCC to be one of the most rewarding things I do.”