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Cassandra Sedelmaier '09, '13 M.S., MAT, an assistant professor of practice in the Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice & Forensic Sciences, arrived at the University of New Haven as a first-year student in 2006. She could not have imagined that nearly 20 years, an MAT from Quinnipiac, and multiple jobs later she would return to the same dorm room as a faculty member to create a mock crime scene for the next generation of investigators.

Prof. Sedelmaier led a week-long Summer Youth Academy Investigation camp for 20 high school students. Modeled after the Principles of Criminal Investigation course she teaches each spring, the camp gave prospective students an opportunity to experience a criminal investigation firsthand.

"I kept thinking, 'I wish a camp like this had existed when I was in high school,'" Prof. Sedelmaier said. "That became the guiding philosophy behind the entire week."

Campers documented crime scenes, photographed and collected evidence, processed fingerprints, tested suspected blood, investigated arson scenes, and ultimately worked to solve a realistic mock crime. They also learned from University of New Haven alumni and professionals from Connecticut State Police and the New Haven Police Department.

The experience culminated in a crime scene set up in Bergami Hall. As Prof. Sedelmaier and teaching assistant Jane Miller, a candidate in the Criminal Justice Ph.D. Program, carried supplies down the hallway, she realized they had arrived at her first-year dorm room.

"At first, I didn't realize it was my room!" Prof. Sedelmaier said. "As Jane and I carried what felt like hundreds of boxes of crime scene supplies down the hallway, I realized we arrived at my exact dorm room from 2006. Twenty years seemed to just disappear."

Prof. Sedelmaier has remained connected to the University for nearly two decades as a student, alum, adjunct instructor, and now full-time faculty member, and a parent of a current student. "The University has been home to me in one way or another for nearly twenty years," she said.

"Standing in that room reminded me exactly why I came back to teach," she said. "You have the opportunity to help students discover careers they may never have considered and hopefully inspire them the same way your professors once inspired you."

Alumni were central to the camp, giving students the opportunity to meet professionals who once sat in classrooms across the University themselves. Among them was Connecticut State Police Detective Kyle Faucher '18, who returned to campus with his accelerant detection K9, Aruba.

New Haven Police Chief David Zannelli '23 MPA also helped connect the program with Detective Chris Boyle '14, Sergeant Cherelle Carr, Detective Douglas Pearse, and Officer Sunny, Detective Boyle's and the department's service dog.

"University of New Haven alums are special, and their success is the true testament to what a great university this is," Prof. Sedelmaier said.

The camp also introduced students to current University students, including Dylan Rapp '27, and Paige Maiorana '27. Rapp, a Fire Science major, helped lead campers through the University's fire investigation burn laboratories and mock arson investigations.

"The Fire Science program provides students with unique hands-on experiences that are hard to find anywhere else," Prof. Sedelmaier said. "Where else can students conduct investigations in real fire scenes other than the University of New Haven?"

Rapp said the experience reinforced why he chose the University. "Coming here as a Fire Science student was one of the best decisions I've made," he said. "The professors genuinely want to see you succeed."

For Prof. Sedelmaier, exposing campers to criminal justice, forensic science, fire investigation, and evidence analysis was about showing them how broad the field can be.

"I hope students left understanding that ‘investigation' is not a single career and that it's a professional field with countless opportunities," she said.

That lesson is personal for Prof. Sedelmaier, who began her own education thinking investigation meant only a small number of law enforcement careers. Her professional experiences include work as a private investigator and intelligence manager in areas such as financial fraud, anti-money laundering, pharmaceutical anti-counterfeiting, and corporate investigations.

"That's what I've always loved about the University," she said. "Students have opportunities to explore those different interests while working alongside faculty who have real-world experience and professionals who remain actively engaged in their fields."

After five days, the campers had experienced the collaborative, evidence-based nature of investigations firsthand.

"In reality, good investigation is about teamwork, careful observation and documentation, asking good questions, and putting together dozens of small pieces until the evidence tells the story," Prof. Sedelmaier said. "That's exactly what our campers learned to do, thinking like investigators."