Best Professional Development Event For Intel Professionals This Year

That's right, the Institute of Intelligence Studies is sponsoring a professional development conference for its alumni, students and faculty this summer from 8-11 July at Mercyhurst University.

And you can register here!

This is not an alumni "weekend", "retreat" or an "escape".  It is not "homecoming".  This is a premiere opportunity to hone your skills as an intelligence professional at the same place where you all got your start -- Mercyhurst.

We are bringing in top notch speakers (many of which are former classmates!) and are going to offer an extraordinary opportunity to network both inside and outside your chosen field (Quick:  How many Mercyhurst intel alums currently work in the banking industry?  In energy?  In almost any field you can name?  You will be surprised at the number!) and across the generations (We have been doing this for 20 years - I know, I find it hard to believe myself!).

If you need more enticement, the faculty will all be here to bring you up to speed on our current research activities (AKA "What we have learned about intel since you've been gone...") and where we are going in the future.  With over 1000 alumni, 100's of research projects, dozens of full and part time faculty, and the opportunities represented by the new building, these are results you will want to know about.

This isn't just about us, though.  We also want to learn from you, too.  Our program is 20 years old this year and it is time to plot our course for the next 20 years.  What are the problems you are having?  What research do you need done to improve your ability to provide actionable intelligence to the decisionmakers you support?  What skills and abilities do the intelligence analysts of tomorrow need today?  Getting your input at this conference is crucial.

If you are a current student or alum you can register here to attend.  I personally look forward to seeing each and every one of you!

Geospatial Analysis Of Gerrymandering In Pennsylvania (An Advanced Analytic Techniques Project)

One of my students, Karl Gustafson, used an interesting combination of geospatial and political data to create a video (see below) that examines some historic cases of gerrymandering in Pennsylvania.  He used this as background for looking into what appears to be some pretty clear cases of gerrymandering in the making.


While the production quality on the video is none too slick, Karl does a good job of using a series of overlays, a clear, direct script and the features of Google Earth to explain what gerrymandering is and how it has been used ion the past and how it is currently being used to literally re-shape Pennsylvania politics.

You can see Karl's evaluation of the methods and processes he used here.

DC Based CI Courses Now Open For Registration (Shameless Self Promotion)

How would you like to take counterintel courses for graduate credit from some of the most experienced CI professionals in the world?  Now you can...

Mercyhurst University has been teaching counterintelligence courses in the DC area for a number of years.  Traditionally, we have done this in coordination with a government or private partner.  Last year, though, we opened these classes up to qualified students throughout the DC area.

These courses (there are three of them) make up our Graduate Certificate in Counterintelligence.  All of the classes are accredited, of course, and are taught one per quarter for three quarters.  If you want the certificate, you would need to take all three and take them in series.  If you are just interested in learning more about the CI field, then you could opt to take just the first course -- it is entirely your call.

The first course in this series will be offered in early September and run for approximately 10 weeks.  The course is not offered online and will meet once a week in the evening at a location in the vicinity of Tyson's Corner.  There are no pre-requisites other than a bachelors degree from an accredited university.

The courses are taught by Ray Batvinis, Bob Stephan and Tim Almon.  Stephan is the author of Stalin's Secret War and has over 20 years experience with CIA, DIA and the USAF; Batvinis spent 25 years at the FBI working on CI issues at the highest levels, Almon spent 25 years at the FBI before becoming the Director of Counterintelligence and Security Programs on the National Security Council Staff for Presidents Clinton and Bush.

Because of their experience and contacts, one of the unique aspects of these classes are the kinds of guest speakers they can draw.  For example, they have been able to bring together Plato Cacheris and John Martin (the defense attorney and the federal prosecutor in the Robert Hanssen case) for a one-of-a-kind roundtable.

This brief note cannot do either this course or the guys teaching it justice.  If you want more information, please do not hesitate to contact the director of our online and distance learning programs, Linda Bremmer, at 814 824 2170 or lbremmer at mercyhurst dot edu.

Registration is now open!

Entry-level Competitive Intelligence Analyst Jobs Report Out Now!

Here it is!

The 1st Annual Entry-level Hiring Projections For Competitive Intelligence Report!

This final report completes our series which also includes:

• Hiring projections for entry-level intelligence analysts for the national security community
• Hiring projections for entry-level intelligence analysis in law enforcement

All three reports take a look at the market for entry-level analysts for the next 12 months.  The primary source of our information is a survey we conducted of professionals in all three sub-disciplines of intelligence who had direct or significant indirect knowledge of hiring intentions within their firm or organization (Many thanks once again to all who participated!).  We added to that information a variety of secondary sources to help us draw our conclusions.

All three reports were put together by one of our top quality grad students, Whitney Bergendahl (full credit to Whitney for sticking this thing through - None of us knew just how difficult it was going to be...) with an assist from another grad student for editing and packaging and from my colleague Prof. Shelly Freyn.

We intend to conduct the same survey in the fall so keep an eye out for it.  Finally, and as always, send your comments to me or leave one below!

Entry-Level Intel Analysts In Law Enforcement Jobs Report Now Available For Download!

Last fall, we began a quest to capture the hiring prospects over the next 12 months for entry-level intelligence analysts (the kind we produce) in each of the three major sub-disciplines of intel:  National security, law enforcement and business.

Today we are putting out the 2012 Entry-Level  Hiring Projections for Law Enforcement Intelligence report (click on the link to download).

The report was compiled by the same analyst who produced the national security report to rave reviews, Whitney Bergendahl.

This report contains, in addition to Whitney's analysis, the collected wisdom of all the hiring managers and intelligence professionals who took our survey on job prospects.  I would particularly like to thank the International Association of Crime Analysts and the International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts for circulating our survey among their members.

Of course, we welcome your feedback (send it directly to me or leave a comment below).   For those of you interested, in December, 2011, we put out the national security report and you can still find the details here.  We look forward to publishing the last installment on the business market for jobs next week some time.