ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION

ACADEMIC STANDARDS AND ACCREDITATION

Legitimizing the Teaching of Intelligence

Bill Spracher

Editor, National Defense Intelligence College

Doctoral Student, George Washington University

Member, IAFIE Educational Practices Committee

June 24, 2008

THINKPIECE #1 What are we teaching?

Intelligence Studies or

Intelligence Education

Accreditation ramifications Certification possibilities Intelligence just one component of National

Security Professional Development (NSPD) effort ongoing at federal level

THINKPIECE #2

How to beat a dead horse to death:

Is Intelligence a profession? If not, is National Security a profession? Is Intelligence Studies a discipline?

Mature? Emerging? Is Intelligence Education

interdisciplinary? Multidisciplinary?

THINKPIECE #3

Current buzzword de jour:

Core Competencies How can we take a competency-based

approach to teaching intelligence? Can a competencies framework serve as a

metric for certification/accreditation? Intelligence competencies under development

by ODNI cross-walked with national security competencies developed by NSPD Integration Office under OPM/OMB

Latter very broad and generic; former more specific and comprehensive

THINKPIECE #4

For accreditation: Balance between descriptive and prescriptive; include

history, current practice, and futures approach Mix of faculty between theorists and practitioners (ideal

—recruit professors who have experience in both, i.e., true scholar-practitioners)

Build on IC CAE foundation (and resources) but think more broadly

Establish a team of experts who have the time to travel

Can IAFIE serve as an accrediting body?

If not, merely a certifying agency?

THINKPIECE #5

Should we take a different approach at each educational level?

One suggestion: Certificate level focused on individual core skills/

homeland security topics BA/BS level focused on intro to intelligence studies/

national security studies/regional specialization/

foreign languages MA/MS level focused on intelligence analysis PhD/EdD level focused on intelligence management/

organizational leadership

THINKPIECE #6Regarding IAFIE’s three major vectors:

What do private sector/competitive intelligence types need? Certificate only? Bachelor’s degree? MBA?

What do law enforcement intelligence types need? Certificate? Associate degree? Bachelor’s degree? What do national security intelligence types need? Bachelor’s degree? Master’s? Doctorate?

How can we better integrate the three vectors? Should we even try?

Can we help close the breach between the higher education and intelligence communities? Or is some separation healthy?

THINKPIECE #7

The first “I” in IAFIE stands for “International”

What can we learn from our international colleagues? How closely linked should we be? How can we link up

more effectively? Are intelligence studies programs accredited/certified

abroad? Is there a similar breach in other countries, or is this a

cultural malady peculiar to the U.S.?

Does everything we’ve talked about in the final analysis boil down to culture? If so, how do we change the intelligence culture?

SUMMARY Accreditation vs. certification

Usefulness of competencies as a measuring tool

Other best practices available

Role of IAFIE

The way ahead