ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION ACADEMIC STANDARDS AND ACCREDITATION

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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

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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

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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?

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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

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THINKPIECE 4

• For accreditation
• Balance between descriptive and prescriptive
  include history, current practice, and futures
  approach
• Mix of faculty between theorists and
  practitioners (idealrecruit professors who have
  experience in both, i.e., true scholar-practitione
  rs)
• 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?

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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

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THINKPIECE 6

• Regarding IAFIEs three major vectors
• What do private sector/competitive intelligence
  types need? Certificate only? Bachelors
  degree? MBA?
• What do law enforcement intelligence types need?
• Certificate? Associate degree? Bachelors
  degree?
• What do national security intelligence types
  need?
• Bachelors degree? Masters? 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?

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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 weve talked about in the final
  analysis boil down to culture? If so, how do we
  change the intelligence culture?

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SUMMARY

• Accreditation vs. certification
• Usefulness of competencies as a measuring tool
• Other best practices available
• Role of IAFIE
• The way ahead