Intelligence Studies At US Universities: Who Does It? Who Does It Well? Where Is It Headed? (Dissertation)

One of the questions that seems to pop up with increasing frequency on the fora, blogs and email lists I frequent/subscribe to is "I am interested in a career in intelligence; where can I get a degree?"

William Spracher's recent dissertation, National Security Intelligence Professional Education:   A Map of U.S. Civilian University Programs and Competencies, not only answers this important question but also provides the first comprehensive snapshot of intelligence studies programs in the US.

NOTE:  The full text of the dissertation is embedded below or you can download the dissertation here.

Of particular interest to potential students will be Bill's descriptions of 14 of the most fully developed intel studies programs (beginning on page 136 with a handy summary chart on page 137) and the results of his survey of young intelligence professionals (beginning on page 76). 

Senior leaders within the intel community are probably going to be interested in the entire dissertation but I found the "crosswalk" of course offerings with ICD 610's intel core competencies (at Appendix C on page 235) to be particularly interesting.

Once caveat, though.  This dissertation, as useful as it is, is, in my opinion, just a snapshot of a quickly evolving target.  The dissertation was finalized in 2009 and I am sure that some of the info Bill uses was collected even earlier.  Bill recommends that the DNI stay on top of the trends in this field and, given the changes I have seen in just the last year or two, it is a recommendation with which I heartily concur.

National Security Intelligence Professional Education: A Map of U.S. Civilian University Programs and Com...

10 Reasons You Want To Teach At Mercyhurst (We Are Hiring!)

The Department of Intelligence Studies at Mercyhurst College is looking to hire a new professor for the department. Here are the official details:

Mercyhurst College in Erie, PA invites applications for a one-year visiting assistant professorship in the Department of Intelligence Studies for the 2010-2011 academic year. The position begins August 26, 2010 and has the possibility of renewal as a full-time tenure-track faculty position. The successful candidate will teach undergraduate courses in intelligence and national security and an elective course at the graduate level. Applicants should possess a J.D. or Ph.D. in a discipline related to intelligence studies (ABDs are encouraged to apply). Special attention will be given to those applicants with practitioner experience and the ability to manage applied analytic projects. Instructional duties include curriculum development, service to the profession, and participation in college and department activities.

And here is what to do next:

Applicants must send a letter of interest, teaching philosophy, curriculum vitae, and transcripts to: Department of Intelligence Studies, Mercyhurst College, 501 East 38^th Street, Erie, PA 16546, Fax: 814-824-2008 or e-mail mhenderson@mercyhurst.edu

So, in reverse order, here are the top ten reasons you want to work at Mercyhurst College in general and within the Mercyhurst College Institute of Intelligence Studies in particular:

10. Low cost of living. If you were moving from DC, your groceries would be 9% less, your healthcare 11% less and your housing 62% less (That's right: You can actually afford a house on a professor's salary).

9. Great location. Its not DC. Really. Think about it. Yeah, if you want to be hip-deep in PDBs and NIEs, stay in DC but if you are going to teach, to research, to think, don't you deserve a little breathing room? Besides, Erie is in the center of things regionally (You are only a couple of hours away from Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Toronto), DC is only 6.5 hours away and you can take the train to NY or Chicago.

8. Winter activities. Lots of people comment on "all the snow" in Erie. If you like skiing or hockey or tubing or any of a bunch of other winter activities, however, that makes this a great place. As for how much "all the snow" bothers us? My kids did not miss a day of school this year and have missed only one day in last seven years.

7. Summer activities. Sandy beaches, boating, tall ships, hiking, soccer, scuba diving, baseball, golf, top 100 spot in the US for hunting and fishing. The list goes on...

6. Good schools, good healthcare. The days of Erie being a heavy industry town are long gone. The top exports today are the students from the four local colleges and universities. The second largest group of employers is the collection of very good hospitals (including one of the top 100 hospitals in the country). The elementary, middle and high schools in our area are very good as well, producing some of the best students in the country (See #7).

5. Commute. Mine is 10 minutes door to door. The average for the area is 16.3 minutes.

4. Excellent facilities. The college has launched a campaign to build a new building to house intel studies because we have outgrown our current digs. We will be bringing all of our current capabilities and adding new ones in the next few years.

3. Exciting opportunities for growth. Professors here can pursue opportunities in almost whatever direction their interest takes them. If you want to do research, we actively pursue grants for that; if you want to do analysis, agencies and companies routinely come to us to do custom analysis; and if you want to do more teaching, we teach a wide variety of courses in locations all over the world.

2. Great colleagues, strong alumni community. Whatever intelligence community you belong to (business, law enforcement or national security), you have an unparalleled opportunity here to work with colleagues from the other communities (including growing international and non-governmental communities). In addition, our alumni network is large and always ready to help.

1. Great students. This is really the best thing about Mercyhurst. We have about 350 here on campus (300 undergrad and 50 graduate students) and another 100 or so in our graduate certificate program at any given time. These students have all self-selected to become intelligence analysts. They work incredibly hard in what we consider a challenging program. They are all genuinely eager to learn and each one is a real pleasure to teach.

What Employers Want (AACU)

The American Association of Colleges and Universities recently released a report titled "The Quality Imperative." Central to this report is the chart below on what employers want from colleges (and, by extension, from college graduates):

(Sorry for the poor quality of the graphic. Click on the chart or the link in the first paragraph to get the full report)

What struck me (and what also struck the authors of the report) is the duality of the data: Employers want more emphasis on science and technology and on global issues. They want more emphasis on complex problem solving and on ethical decision making.

The authors of the report seem to be making the case that we no longer live in a world with an ivory tower at one end of the spectrum and a trade union at the other. We now live in a world where theory and application are inextricably bound together.

It is difficult, sometimes, for students to understand this -- that it is a broad appreciation of the world combined with concrete skills that will serve them best in a future where it is difficult to know what is important now, much less what will be important next. It is good to see that employers are well-aware of the way the world has changed and of the broad range of skills necessary to deal with it.