Inside Ole Miss’ Intelligence and Security Studies Minor

Photo courtesy UM Communications

There is a vast array of major and minors at the University of Mississippi. While of the most popular are English, business and theatre, it’s one you may not hear very often that is one of the most critical, Intelligence and Security Studies.

The ISS program is internationally certified by the International Association for Intelligence Education, an organization that boasts an intense set of 32 certification requirements. A part of the UM School of Applied Sciences, the ISS’s goal is to train students for careers in intelligence analysis and provide educational and scholarly resources to the national intelligence community, and to prepare students for entry-level positions in the United States Intelligence Community.

Unlike most minors, there is a very unique process to get into the program. Students must apply for the minor and undergo a rigorous selection process. If the students are accepted, they must keep a minimum of a 3.0 GPA, finish the six courses, and complete an intelligence analysis internship.

The courses include:

• ISS 125 Introduction to Intelligence Studies

• ISS 351 Advanced Analytics I

• ISS 352 Advanced Analytics II

• ISS 480 National Security Issues of the 21st Century

• ISS 490 Internship

• ISS 499 Senior Project

Not only do the students have relevant coursework, the CISS has a slew of veteran professors, led by director Dr. Carl Jensen, a special agent in the FBI for two decades. For more information about CISS, visit http://ciss.olemiss.edu/. 

Michael Quirk is a HottyToddy.com staff reporter and can be reached at michael.quirk@hottytoddy.com.