A feature interview with Frans Bax

by Jeff Wendt

President, CIA University

November 2005

Tell us about your background.

I have a B.A. from Dartmouth College and a Ph.D from Harvard, both in political science. My undergraduate study was financed by my parents and myself. As a teaching fellow at Harvard my graduate study was financed by a fellowship accompanied by a stipend. From 1975 to 1979 I taught political science at the University of Virginia. In 1980, with some encouragement from a friend of mine already so employed, I applied for an intelligence analyst job at CIA. After a few years as an analyst, I have managed CIA programs and projects for almost 20 years, some of which I couldn’t discuss if you asked about them.

Did that prepare you well for your current job?

One thing CIA University does not do is train spies. CIA’s operations officers recruit foreign individuals to work as spies providing our country with information on key issues like terrorism, but a spy is not an intelligence officer. Spies are not among our students.

The mix of academic and intelligence work experience led to my being appointed Dean of the Sherman Kent School for Intelligence Analysis, an internal training operation within CIA that was created in 1999. In 2002 I became the first president of the newly-created CIA University. As I do my job daily I’m grateful for three sources of experience: 1) years of work as an intelligence professional; 2) training and experience as an adult educator; 3) 20 years of management experience.

Who is CIA University educating?

CIA University provides intelligence professionals many opportunities for continuous learning throughout their careers. Our employees range in age from early 20’s to mid-60’s. They are all U.S. citizens, and almost all of them have college degrees, many with professional and graduate degrees. It begins with several weeks of ‘basic training’ for each new officer. Then, in a professional working environment, continuous learning is essential. The core occupations at CIA are intelligence analyst, intelligence operations officer, and intelligence scientist and engineer. We also provide training to support officers—people who do things like finance, human resources, or logistics—on how to perform those duties in a classified setting. A growing number of our students, now up to 15 percent of our enrollment, are employees of other U.S. intelligence agencies, like the DIA and FBI. One thing CIA University does not do is train spies. CIA’s operations officers recruit foreign individuals to work as spies providing our country with information on key issues like terrorism, but a spy is not an intelligence officer. Spies are not among our students.

What are your courses & outcomes?

After those basic training courses that last several months, most of our training consists of short courses – two weeks duration or less. That said, we have a language institute that provides immersion style instruction in 16 foreign languages via full-time classes that can last 21 to 44 weeks. Foreign language skills are a major priority for CIA today. We cover key intelligence issues like weapons of mass destruction, terrorism and Iraq. Some of our curriculum of 200-300 courses every year are somewhat unique to the intelligence profession. For example, we teach people about the challenges posed by foreign efforts to deceive and deny us knowledge about their activities. We also teach defensive driving strategy and tactics. We provide weapons training for Agency officers preparing for assignments in dangerous places overseas. We do not teach material or build skills that are in violation with U.S. law.

What role, if any, does academic credit have?

CIA University does not issue degrees. We rely upon America’s universities and colleges to provide our people with the best possible academic degrees. We are about building the professional knowledge and skills needed to excel on the job. Our registrar’s office keeps records of course completions for every student and also maintains an internal online course catalog that allows CIA employees to find and register for courses they need. Transcripts are electronically shared with the agency’s human resources people. Many jobs within CIA have some training prerequisites for assignment or promotion.

How do you measure a student’s proficiency?

CIA University does not issue degrees. We rely upon America’s universities and colleges to provide our people with the best possible academic degrees. We are about building the professional knowledge and skills needed to excel on the job.

Some courses have tests, either written or practical. Our instructors observe all students to make sure they can demonstrate and use the knowledge they have been taught. To measure the value we add, we ask supervisors and other leaders how our students are doing back on the job. Have we helped improve them in their jobs? Should we make changes in what we’re teaching?

Where do you get your course material?

CIAU hires Professional educators to work in teams with experts from our intelligence professions to build and deliver curricular material. A main source of case studies and exercises are drawn from the history and experience of CIA. We’re always refreshing our case studies, because being up to date is so important for us as the world keeps changing rapidly. Iraq and Afghanistan are prime topics and sources for learning today, for example. We also teach our students to probe what they don’t know or might not know. A skilled analyst must be able to develop multiple hypotheses, and then analyze and explain each one of them with reasonable explanations -- there is always more than one reasonable explanation. Case studies of our mistakes sometimes play a key role in our curriculum. Every organization can learn the most from situations where it fell short.

Where do you get your faculty?

Some of CIA’s best intelligence officers are assigned to work for two or three years as trainers in their fields—operations or analysis, for example. We augment these people with others who come to our courses to share their expertise or experience in particular cases or exercises. We call them our adjunct faculty. We also employ “intelligent educators,” people with degrees or outside experience as educational professionals, who work hand-in-hand with the intelligence experts to develop and deliver course material. They serve either career-long or on a part time basis.

Has skills training and lifelong learning come recently to the CIA?

CIA created its first training establishment—called the Office of Training and Education—in 1950, shortly after CIA was created in 1947. But in the 1990’s, after the Cold War ended, CIA went through a period of contraction that cut our training office to the bone. Virtually simultaneous with 9/11, then-Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet authorized the creation of CIA University to rebuild and expand CIA’s ability to train a new generation of employees. Literally thousands of people coming from jobs and universities across the U.S. have joined us in the aftermath of 9/11. Our present Director Porter Goss is continuing to emphasize the importance of strong training.