Cooperative PhD Program

between the

Joint Military Intelligence College

and the

Center for International Security Studies at Maryland

School of Public Policy

University of Maryland

As members of the Consortium of Universities of the Metropolitan Washington Area, the Joint Military Intelligence College (JMIC) and the Center for International Security Studies at Maryland , the University of Maryland (UM), have established a PhD program involving both institutions. The School of Public Policy , University of Maryland will confer the degree. Students will take courses at both the University of Maryland and the Joint Military Intelligence College . Faculty from both institutions will serve on each Ph.D. candidate's dissertation advisory committee. The program will be inaugurated in the fall of 2006.

Students in the program will be US Government civilian or military service intelligence officers. We anticipate a maximum enrollment of two new entrants annually.

Applicants will first apply to the Joint Military Intelligence College and, if accepted there, will then submit an application to the School of Public Policy , University of Maryland in accordance with UM guidelines. For best consideration, they should apply to JMIC by November 30, 2005 and the University of Maryland by January 15, 2006 . Applicants must possess a master's degree from an accredited institution in a field appropriate to the PhD program. Those with only an undergraduate degree can complete the Master of Science of Strategic Intelligence (MSSI) at the JMIC. Upon completion, they are eligible to apply for the cooperative PhD program.

Once admitted, students successfully complete the basic Ph.D. requirements of the Maryland School of Public Policy, which will award the diploma. These include:

A minimum of 24 semester course credits, six of them from the two-course research methods sequence, PUAF 798R-1 and 798R-2, and a minimum of 12 dissertation research credits (PUAF 899);

Comprehensive examinations in normative, economic, and political analysis and a research paper in quantitative methods;

Specialization examinations as appropriate; and

Defense of a dissertation prospectus, and ultimately the dissertation itself.

Participants in the cooperative program must also complete a minimum of 15 quarter credits at the JMIC selected from appropriate graduate-level courses. At least six JMIC credits may be counted against the 24-credit Maryland requirement.

The dissertation will be unclassified and on an intelligence-related topic, subject to approval by faculty members from both institutions. Two members of the five-person dissertation advisory committee will be members of the JMIC faculty and (in the normal case) holders of Ph.D. degrees; three (including the chair) will be members of University of Maryland graduate faculty.

Upon successful completion of the dissertation, copies will be provided to each institution in accordance with their guidelines.

The University of Maryland will award the diploma. In addition, a joint certificate of achievement will be awarded to recognize the participation of both institutions.

For further information, those interested may wish to consult Professor I. M. (Mac) Destler, Senior Fellow at CISSM and Director of the Ph.D. Program at the Maryland School of Public Policy ( mdestler@umd.edu ), or Richard Mestas, Joint Military Intelligence College (Richard.Mestas@dia.mil).

For more detail on the Maryland Program, go to: http://www.publicpolicy.umd.edu/phd/Program%5B1%5D.html .