Derick Cole, the campus director of the University of Phoenix Reno campus, is the quintessential UOP alum. No one could say he doesn’t have a unique perspective into the product line. To wit: He holds both undergraduate and graduate degrees from the institution.

Almost 14 years after he started his college career, Cole finally finished with a master’s degree in organizational management in 2004. When the position of campus director opened up last year, it seemed the perfect fit for the former sales and marketing executive to put his education to work.

“It’s not that big of leap when you are so committed to the vision of your employer,” says Cole, who has been at the helm for more than a year. During that time, he has helped the institution meet enrollment goals and focus on growth and new products, putting career-minded students back into the work force or in more responsible positions with their current employers.

The typical UOP student is close to 35 and has spent a decade or more in the work force before deciding to complete, or add, a college degree. For many years, Cole, now 36, had picked away at a bachelor of science degree in business management, taking the occasional credit course. “Obviously, it’s something I hold in high regard,” Cole says of higher education. His father, a retired military officer, has a master’s degree in engineering from Georgia Tech. Indeed, “He was a great dad to have around to help with homework,” Cole adds with a grin.

During his five years as a UOP student, Cole’s commitment to his education and real-world insights clearly made an impression on his teachers and classmates. Polished, articulate and self-confident, he was asked to be one of the commencement speakers when his class graduated. “I talked about the dedication, all the hard work we’d accomplished … and thanked the folks who supported us in reaching and balancing our goals.”

Cole grew up in Alaska and spent one memorable summer employed in his dream job: fishing. “I worked every day for a Fish and Game Commission rainbow tagging project,” he says wistfully. “The outdoors and fishing in particular have been a great influence on me as a person,” says Cole, who made half-hearted stabs at finishing his degree before a great professional opportunity presented itself: working as an account executive for the world’s largest outdoor sporting goods distributor.

A degree wasn’t a requirement for his job with Maurice Sporting Goods, and Cole moved up the ranks during the next decade. “It was an exciting time, a great experience, but I decided after 10 years I wanted to move into a new venture,” says Cole, who was “100 percent accountable for bottom line profitability” as general manager for 13 western states. By the time he left, the division was generating $55 million in revenue. While he began as a sales rep, he left with an executive’s insights into distribution and logistics to support sales, merchandising and dealing with international vendors and customers.

Indeed, he has a strong commitment to his current product line. As campus director, Cole oversees academic affairs, admissions, operations and finance, reporting to the regional vice president of the northwest division.

Away from work, he enjoys family time with his wife, Meghan, and two young children. Of course, fishing still is his avocation, hands down. Cole just returned from a week-long fishing trip in the Sierras. In fact, he has a wooden fish carving on his office door and a set of vintage casting rods on display in his office.

They are apt symbols these days as Cole casts a wide net for future UOP students.