Hi I am new to the discussion board and a recently retired Military Officer. I am looking for a legitimate/accredited doctoral program in either International relations or Strategic Intelligence. I would appreciate any assistance from the fellow members. Thank you Keane G. Bartizal Chief Warrant Officer III, (retired)
Mr. Bartizal: Welcome. You've come to the place. Hopefully, people here will help you find what you're looking for. You say "legitimate/accredited." Let's just operate under the assumption that they're the same thing. While there are legitimate, unaccredited schools, it would be wise to follow John Bear's advice: ensure the degree will meet your present and future needs. It is hard to have this assurance with a degree from an unaccredited school. (Again, some people are so assured--or,at least, think they are.) As for doing a doctorate in the area you stated: do you mean by distance (or short-residency) learning? It will be difficult to find one in your area of study. One option is Union Institute and University. You can take the Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies, where you would declare a concentration--and do most of your studies in--your specific field. You can also declare one or more specializations, which are narrower in scope. For example, I took a degree with a concentration in Higher Education and a specialization in Nontraditional Higher Education. Please note that Union is going through some changes in response to a report done by the Ohio Board of Regents, the body that licenses Union. But also know that Union is accredited by its regional association, the North Central Association, and that its accreditation was renewed recently for the full 10 years. But with that said, I'm not sure I can fully recommend Union at this point. But it is an option worth exploring. Hopefully, others will be more helpful with other options. Good luck!
American Military University is expected to offer doctoral programs once it attains regional accreditation. Regional accreditation might come as early as Spring 2004. Or it might be years away. AMU might be perfect for Mr. Bartizal. But they don't offer doctoral programs yet.
The folks at Deakin University in Australia have a small number of offerings that might be of interest to you. Within the Faculty of Arts there are postgrad programs in the following areas: Defense Studies International Relations International Security Studies If none of that fits your needs then I'd suggest you contact some of the staff from these programs, explain what you're looking for and I'll bet that they can suggest more appropriate schools/programs. I'm guessing that there aren't a whole lot of programs in areas such as Strategic Intelligence and I bet they know all about each other. Good luck, Jack
Options available overseas Chief, Most of your options appear to be overseas: 1. In the UK, it appears you have the Open University, University of London, University of Leicester. 2. Jack mentioned Deakin in Australia. I would imagine there are other schools in Australia. 3. In South Africa there would be UNISA and it appears Pretoria has one. There are probably others as well. SA University link: http://www.studysa.co.za/ Australia and South Africa are very distance learning friendly. Cost would be from the UK (highest) to South Africa (lowest). Good Luck, Chris US Army (Ret)
Re: Options available overseas An OT question: Are Chief Warrant Officers addressed as "Chief"? I would think not. They're normally referred to as "Mister" So-and-so. Also, the term "Chief" applies to Navy and Coast Guard personnel serving in the pay grades of E-7 through E-9, as well as Air Force members in the pay grade of E-9. Hence, my referral to him as "Mister." But I could be wrong.
Yes,... In the Army "CWO's" are addressed as chief. We do not have "CPO's" in the Army so there would be no confusion. I don't think I have ever heard anyone address a warrant officer in the Army as Mr. even if it may be the correct term. Maybe the WO1's would be addressed as such but they don't stay at that rank long anyway. It's kind of like all levels of Sergeants being addressed as Sergeant unless they are a First Sergeant (Top or First Sergeant) or Sergeant Major. It is norm to address them as such: "Chief, I'm ruined if you can't get that blankety-blank M-1 off the deadline report before the IG gets here?" or "Chief, what the "H*&^" were you doing when you ran that huey into the ground?" or "Chief, help me out here, I have to get this entire battalion processed through personnel before they deploy." It's a term of endearment.
