Mercyhurst University Institute for Intelligence Studies

The Ridge School at Mercyhurst University (IIS-MU), located on the campus of Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania, offers undergraduate and graduate studies programs in intelligence analysis. The program also offers graduate certificates in Applied Intelligence, Counterintelligence and Law Enforcement Intelligence. IIS-MU "promotes the study of Intelligence in higher academic settings, while seeking to identify, promote, and employ best practices in the study and application of intelligence studies throughout its various disciplines (national security, law enforcement, business intelligence and academia)."[1]

History

IIS-MU was founded in February 2004, thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE). For a dozen years before the opening of the institute, Mercyhurst College offered an undergraduate degree in intelligence studies as part of its ground-breaking Research/Intelligence Analyst Program (RIAP, or R/iap). Nestled within Mercyhurst College's Department of History, RIAP was the first non-governmental initiative of its kind in the U.S. The program began in 1992 with only 14 students, but the competence of graduates eventually attracted the attention of the U.S. Intelligence Community.[2][3]

The intense public debate in the U.S. following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, focused on U.S. intelligence analysts and their need for training, which directed attention to Mercyhurst's already-growing program. RIAP's success at the undergraduate level led to the offering of a graduate program by 2004.[2] The Federal Bureau of Investigation instituted a sabbatical program in 2005, through which senior analysts began to attend IIS-MU for advanced training.[4][5]

For many years, no other school in the United States offered a degree designed specifically for intelligence analysts.[2]

Administration

Robert J. Heibel, a retired FBI agent, founded the undergraduate program in 1992 and is now Executive Director of IIS-MU.[2][3]

James G. Breckenridge, a retired US Army officer and former member of the faculty at West Point, chairs the undergraduate Department of Intelligence Studies.[6]

Undergraduate Program in Intelligence Studies

The Bachelor of Arts in Intelligence Studies is a four-year interdisciplinary baccalaureate program which prepares a graduate to become an entry-level analyst for the government or the private sector. The undergraduate program, which continues to be referred to as RIAP, consists of nine core intelligence-related courses, plus 13 interdisciplinary courses.[6]

As of 2014, there are approximately 300 students enrolled in the undergraduate program. This includes students from across the United States as well as international students. The students primarily come from the Ohio-Pennsylvania-NY area.[7]

Certificate in Intelligence Studies

IIS-MU has developed a distance-learning graduate-level certificate program for use by contracting organizations in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. As of 2009, there are approximately 77 certificate students in the program.[7]

Graduate Program in Applied Intelligence

The Masters of Science in Applied Intelligence is a thirty-four or thirty-six-credit two-year program designed to prepare graduates to pursue analyst careers in law enforcement, national security and competitive intelligence. As of 2009, there are approximately 53 graduate students in the Applied Intelligence program.[7]

The graduate program's Strategic Intelligence class participated in a joint research project with the National Intelligence Council in 2006-2007 entitled The Global Disease Threat and Its Implications for the United States. The project involved the development of a Mercyhurst wiki consisting of over 1,000 pages of analysis on the threat of global disease to the United States.[8][9]

Professors

The 2007–2008 school year includes nine faculty and six adjunct faculty. Current professors include retired or former members of the Los Angeles Police Department, the National Drug Intelligence Center, the US State Department, the United States Army, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Center for Information Research Analysis and Training

The Center for Information Research Analysis And Training|Center for Information Research And Training (CIRAT) is a nonprofit arm of Mercyhurst College whose mission is to develop contracts, grants and partnerships that test and enhance the capabilities of IIS-MU students, staff, facilities, and systems.

Examples of research CIRAT has conducted:

Selected achievements

The department enjoys success from both its students, former students and faculty members. Noteworthy achievements include:

Amanda Post, an IIS-MU graduate, joined the ranks of the Federal 100, which recognizes individuals from government, industry and academia who have made significant contributions to the federal informational technology community. The awards, decided by a distinguished panel of judges, are bestowed annually by the 1105 Government Information Group and Federal Computer Week.[11]

In February 2009, Assistant Professor Stephen Marrin presented two papers at international conferences. The first paper, entitled "Reconceptualizing the Relationship Between CIA's Analysis and Decisionmaking: The Case of Pre-9/11 Terrorism Intelligence" was presented at a conference in Dublin, Ireland on The CIA & US Foreign Policy: Reform, Representations and New Approaches to Intelligence. The second, entitled "The Intelligence-Policy Interface and Iraq in Britain and the United States" was given at a workshop on Intelligence, Policy and Comparative Politics in London.[12]

Students in a class led by Assistant Professor Kristan Wheaton earned certificates of appreciation from coalition forces and the Iraqis for a 1,000-page WIKI-based analysis product they completed for intelligence authorities in Baghdad. The project, which examined Middle Eastern governments in the region and their reaction to events unfolding in Iraq, was provided to authorities in Iraq by another intelligence studies faculty member, U.S. Army Maj. Daniel Mulligan, who returned to Mercyhurst in early February after a year's tour of duty in Iraq. Mulligan presented the certificates on Monday, February 16, 2009 at the intelligence studies building on campus.[13]

Six IIS-MU students won the first-ever ODNI-sponsored 2008 Open Source Challenge which gave the students one week to thoroughly research, document and convincingly answer the question: "Is Al Qaeda a cohesive organization with strong and centralized control, intent and direction?" The team's answer surpassed those of more than 20 other competitors, some veterans of the U.S. intelligence community. Another team shared the first prize with Mercyhurst after it answered the second question option in the contest. That team, from iJET Intelligent Risk Systems, had two members who graduated from IIS-MU's graduate program.[14]

Mercyhurst University Institute for Intelligence Studies Press

IIS-MU Press opened as a publishing house in 2005. IIS-MU cited the need for additional textbooks in the field as its reason for getting into publishing. Four books have been published as of February 2009 and others are in the works.[15][16][17]

Great Lakes Intelligence Initiative

IIS-MU founded the Great Lakes Intelligence Initiative (GLII) in 2006 to promote the development and utilization of knowledge worker skills in the schools and businesses of northwestern Pennsylvania.[18][19][20]

Global Intelligence Forum

IIS-MU founded and sponsors the Global Intelligence Forum each year in Dungarvan, Ireland. The conference seeks to find the best practices in intelligence analysis and see how they can be applied to other industries and companies.

Affiliations

References

  1. ↑ Mercyhurst College Institute for Intelligence Studies
  2. 1 2 3 4 Breckenridge, James, radio interview about IIS-MU on "We Question and Learn", a public interest show on FM 91.3 WQLN in Erie, Pennsylvania on 2 July 2006
  3. 1 2 Heibel, Robert J., Catalyst and Enabler, "Liberal Studies At Georgetown", Vol. 3 No. 2 pp 13-15
  4. ↑ Statement of Robert S. Mueller, III, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Before the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, April 5, 2006
  5. ↑ Statement of Robert S. Mueller, III, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Science, State, Justice, Commerce, and Related Agencies, March 28, 2006
  6. 1 2 Mercyhurst Undergraduate Course Catalog 2006-2007
  7. 1 2 3 http://intel.mercyhurst.edu/content/staff_history
  8. ↑ Mercyhurst College Wiki on Global Disease, National Intelligence Council
  9. ↑ NIC Sponsors Wiki on Global Disease, Government Computer News (GCN), 31 May 2007
  10. ↑ Smith, Brent L., et al., Pre-Incident Indicators of Terrorist Incidents: The Identification of Behavioral, Geographic, and Temporal Patterns of Preparatory Conduct, NIJ, March 2006, pp 26, 92
  11. ↑ "Intel Grad Named to Federal 100"
  12. ↑ "Professor Marrin presents two papers"
  13. ↑ "Intel project earns kudos" http://intel.mercyhurst.edu/intel_project_earns_kudos
  14. ↑ "Mercyhurst Intelligence team presents findings during ODNI Conference in Washington D.C." http://intel.mercyhurst.edu/content/09192008
  15. ↑ Black Family Foundation Makes Gift to Mercyhurst Institute for Intelligence Studies, College News, Mercyhurst College, 4 August 2005
  16. ↑ Wheaton, Kristan J., et al., Structured Analysis of Competing Hypotheses: Improving a Tested Intelligence Methodology, Competitive Intelligence Magazine, vol. 9 no. 6, November–December 2006, pp 12-15
  17. ↑ MCIIS Press Publications http://mciis.org/publications
  18. ↑ CIRAT
  19. ↑ Young Erie Professionals
  20. ↑ Manufacturers Association of Northwest Pennsylvania

External links

Coordinates: 42°06′25″N 80°02′55″W / 42.1069°N 80.0487°W / 42.1069; -80.0487

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