Mercyhurst College Institute for Intelligence Studies

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[edit] Mercyhurst College Institute for Intelligence Studies

The Mercyhurst College Institute for Intelligence Studies (MCIIS) [1] located in Erie, Pennsylvania, is described as "a center of excellence which 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)." The Institute was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education (FIPSE) in February 2004.

Once only an undergraduate program known as RIAP (Research/Intelligence Analyst Program), the MCIIS program now offers both an undergraduate (BS) and graduate (MS) degree in intelligence-related fields. The program was the first non-government initiative of its kind, and is now entering its 14th year.

The undergraduate program is a unique multidisciplinary baccalaureate degree in Intelligence Studies, which has as its goal a graduate qualified as an entry-level analyst for government and the private sector. An academically challenging discipline, it combines a liberal arts core with a foreign language requirement, national and international studies, multiple internships, and ten intelligence-related courses to provide its graduates with an advanced level of analytical skills. It has more than 270 graduates, 98 percent of whom are working in their chosen field for national entities. Currently, over 325 students from throughout the United States and abroad are enrolled in this undergraduate program.

The two-year-old Master of Science in Applied Intelligence is a thirty-three-credit program designed to provide a theoretical and practical framework for the study of intelligence and its application in a wide variety of contexts. This is accomplished through a rigorous curriculum that includes a basic core, which exposes students to the fundamental and advanced concepts and analytic techniques related to intelligence, and a set of elective courses that allows the student to pursue study in areas of law enforcement, national security and competitive intelligence.

MCIIS now houses the largest fulltime intelligence studies program in the world, including the Joint Military Intelligence College (JMIC) in Washington, DC. The program continues to expand its already extensive network of alumni.


[edit] Professors

Current professors include retired members of the Los Angeles Police Department, the National Drug Intelligence Center, the US State Department, the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal, the United States Army and a former deputy chief of counter-terrorism for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

MCIIS's distinguished faculty include:


  • Robert J. Heibel

Executive Director of the Institute for Intelligence Studies, he received his MA degree from Georgetown University, and has taken advanced studies at the University at Buffalo. His specialties include intelligence, terrorism, and Latin American history. A retired FBI agent, he served as the Bureau's Deputy Chief of Counter-Terrorism.


  • James G. Breckenridge

Chairman of the Department of Intelligence Studies, he received a MA degree from the University of Virginia and a MBA from Gannon University. His specialties include European, Modern, and Middle Eastern History. He is a retired US Army officer and former member of the faculty at West Point.


  • Kristan J. Wheaton

An Assistant Professor within the Institute, he holds a JD from the University of South Carolina, an MA (Russian and East European Studies) from Florida State University and a BBA (Accounting) from the University of Notre Dame. He is a retired Foreign Area Officer from the US Army who specializes in national security matters.


  • David Grabelski

An Assistant Professor within the Institute, he holds a BA from Pennsylvania State University and an MS from Pepperdine University. He specialized in law enforcement intelligence and is a former instructor with the US Department of Justice National Drug Intelligence Center. He has twenty years of service with the Los Angeles Police Department as a Homicide Detective and Gang Unit Supervisor.


  • Arthur Mills

An Assistant Professor at the Institute, he holds a BA from Gannon University and an MA from Vanderbilt University. His specialties include the history of intelligence, diplomatic history, and national security issues, and he is a retired US Foreign Service Officer with extensive experience in Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.




  • William Welch
    • BA Point Park University; MS, Mercyhurst College (pending)
    • Lecturer in Intelligence Studies and Communication, and Associate Director of Grants and Communication for CIRAT
    • Specialties include communication and journalism.


  • Dawn Wozneak
    • BA, State University of New York at Fredonia; MS, Mercyhurst College
    • Instructor in Intelligence Studies and Administrator of Grants for MCIIS
    • Current research interests include investigative and operations analysis for law enforcement, intelligence-led policing, terrorism, women in policing, strain theory, and police culture.


[edit] Adjunct Faculty



  • David W. Lamm





[edit] Recent Awards and News

MCIIS was mentioned in a statement by Robert S. Mueller III, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation before the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Science, The Departments of State, Justice, and Commerce, and Related Agencies on 28 March 2006: "Additionally, this Committee provided for the establishment of our Sabbatical Program. Last year, the FBI sent participants to the St. Andrews Program for International Security Studies and to Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. This year, we added several new partners to our Sabbatical Program and are able to provide opportunities for FBI employees to attend Mercyhurst College; the George C. Marshall Center; the National Defense University; the Naval Postgraduate School; the Marine Corps University; and the Naval War College. Students will benefit from receiving various certificates and degrees ranging from Applied Intelligence to National Resource Strategy." [2]

A team of five Mercyhurst College intelligence studies students took first place in a national competition by showing the FBI ways to change the working relationships between its agents and intelligence analysts.The five students presented their recommendations to a panel of FBI judges Friday January 13 2006, at the FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. The competition, organized by EdVenture Partners on behalf of the FBI, called for teams of college students to take on a semester-long project to developing strategic solutions for the FBI's new role in intelligence and counterterrorism. The team recommended a revamping of the training process at the FBI Academy so that in the beginning agent and analyst cadets would train together. They would then split up to get their specialized training for each area. At the end of the process, they would come back together and work together on a project. They also called for the addition of a separate directorate of field offices and establishing parallel career paths for agents and analysts that would ensure more analysts could reach senior positions in the FBI structure. Ross credits the team's thorough research, using techniques and sources they learned in the intelligence studies program, for their success. Once they passed the scrutiny of the Mercyhurst professors, the team's 10-page report was entered into the competition. The Mercyhurst team joined DeSales University [3] of Center Valley, Pa., and University of St. Thomas from St. Paul, Minnesota, for the final presentations on Jan. 13. Following the 20-minute presentation, the Mercyhurst team faced 30 minutes of questions, 10 minutes more than scheduled. "The judges said that the depth of research and overall knowledge our students showed was very impressive it was evident that their grasp of the topic was there; that they knew the FBI structure and its needs for intelligence." As winners, the Mercyhurst team secured a $3,000 donation to the college, a plaque for each team member and a significant addition to the list of qualifications they take to any future employer. [3]


[edit] Intelligence-Related Affiliations

MCIIS is one of only two student chapters, internationally, of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management [4], and also the largest.

Further, MCIIS associates with:

  • The Association For Intelligence Officers [5]
  • The International Association for Intelligence Education [6]
  • The International Association for Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts [7]
  • The Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals [8].


The Center for Information Research And Training (CIRAT) is a nonprofit arm of Mercyhurst College. CIRAT's mission is to develop contracts, grants and partnerships that enhance the intelligence-related skills of Research and Information Analysis Program (RIAP) and Applied Intelligence students at the Mercyhurst College Institute for Intelligence Studies (MCIIS), while utilizing the experience of its staff and the capability of its knowledge management laboratory.

[edit] Post Graduation

Graduates of MCIIS work for organizations including:


Graduates also work for many other intelligence agencies, law enforcement agencies, and Fortune 500 companies. Please visit the web site for a further list of organizations [11]


[edit] External Links


Expressed permission from MCIIS to use copyrighted materials on this page was received. If you have any questions, please email the author or contact the institute at 814.824.2131.

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