COURSE REPORT/CHIEFS OF STATION SEMINAR NO. 10, 17-28 APRIL 1967

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-05795A000400030003-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 15, 2001
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: May 4, 1967
• Content Type: MEMO

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4 May 1967
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Training
SUBJECT Course Report/Chiefs of Station Seminar No. 10,
17 - 28 April 1967
REFERENCE Course Report/Chiefs of Station Seminar No. 9,
dated 27 January 1967
1. The 10th running of the Chiefs of Station Seminar was held from
17 - 28 April 1967 in Room 1A-13 at the Headquarters Building, with the
exception of four days (21 - 24 April, when it was held at
(See Course Schedule, Attachment A.) There were 21 students with
average age of 45 years, average grade of GS-14.4, and average length
of Agency service of 16 years (see Student Roster, Attachment B).
2. Highlights.
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a. We took advantage of the coincidence that the Midcareer Course
was being held at concurrently with the running of the Chiefs of
Station Seminar to move the latter course to over the long week-
end of 21 - 24 April, thus utilizing the same speakers who were already com-
mitted to to speak to the Midcareer Course? Almost all
the students agreed that the portion of the course was extremely
useful in breaking down barriers to intra-class communication and was very
conducive to informal, relaxed, and productive discussion of problems facing
the Chief of Station.
b. The size of the class (21 students) was probably a little too big.
Discussion seems to occur more spontaneously when the class size is about
15. This has something to do with the physical arrangement of the tables in
the classroom. In order to arrange the tables so that each student can see
every other student, the circle becomes so big that students on opposite sides
of the room are too far away from each other for easy exchanges.
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25X1A9a c. Since the report had been completed not long
before the course began, the course served as a useful forum for passing
on the recommendations of that report. This was done by Mr. -9a
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discussion was led by the Chief of the Unit, and was well received by
the students.
e. In this running as in most previous runnings of the course,
the most active participants were almost invariably those officers desig-
rn.ated as Chiefs of Station, and this was so even when the officer was
scheduled to be Chief of Station at a one-man station. It seems reason-
able to suppose that this phenomenon results from the fact that a Chief
of Station-elect has urgent motivation to grasp all the tips that he can
possibly harvest from such a course as this, whereas the Deputy Chief
of Station-elect, even one going out to quite a large station, perhaps
subconsciously is able to relax in the thought that in the end he can turn
to his Chief of Station for the final decision on the different problems
that may arise.
3. Recommendations. The following are several suggested adjust-
ments in the course which the next Chief Instructor may wish to consider
for the June running of the course.
a. If at all possible, a portion of the course should be given
25X1A6b at Most students felt that it would be best if the
course cou start off at Headquarters on a Monday, going to
25X1A6b the following day and spend the period Tuesday
through Friday there, returning to Headquarters Friday evening
and running the second week of the course at Headquarters.
The Midcareer Course will not be held in June 1967 so that this
is a hurdle which will have to be got over in that case. If this
arrangement of using speakers jointly with the Midcareer Course
makes sense in general, then the scheduling of the two courses
starting in the fall of 1967 would have to be worked out now.
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b. Several students recommended that Chief, _be
invited to appear before the class to give the class an insight
into how personnel assignments and promotions work in the
CS.
c. Several students suggested that more free time be made
available in the course for reading, for discussion, and for out-
processing. With reference to the reading problem, the best
solution is probably to distribute the kit of reading materials
to students registered for the course one week in advance. For
the record, when we moved the course to th25X6b
we took along three sets of kit material so that those who wanted
to catch up on their reading would be able to do so. One student
informed the Chief Instructor that he, in fact, sat down on that
Saturday evening and read the complete kit through. He said it
took him three hours to do so. This is perhaps a point which the
Chief Instructor should go into on the first day of the course
pointing out that students are free to take the kits to their own
offices at the close of the school day, and that there should
really be no problem in getting through the material. Admittedly,
the students are normally unable to remain in the classroom
after 5:00 P.M. to do this reading because the room is used
after hours for External Training Program classes.
d. The students recommended that the Chief Instructor
collect the questions for the DDP somewhat later in the course,
possibly as late as the second Monday or Tuesday, since by
then they will have heard more speakers, who would have
raised more significant questions in the minds of the students.
This is a good plan, and the mechanics of editing the questions
and getting them typed in the proper format in time for them to
be reviewed by the DDP should present no great problem. Mr.
advises that there would be no objection if our questions
reach the office of the DDP as late as Wednesday of the second
week.
e. There was general agreement among the students of this
class as to the value of hearing such case histories as that related
25X1A9a by and that more should
be included in the course. This should be a continuing concern
of the Chief Instructor.
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f. Although in previous runnings we have usually invited an
ambassador to speak to this course, this was not done this time.
This lack was noted by the students and most of them recom-
mended that the unit be restored to the course.
g. Several students recommended that successful station
chiefs of large, middle-size, and small stations be invited to
give their views to the class on how to organize a station,.
This, indeed, is a need which the Chief Instructor should try
to fill.
h. One student suggested the possibility of inviting a
limited number of CS officers to audit selected presentations
at the course where it would not interfere with scheduled
class activities. This idea has merit. Possibly each division
could be invited to send one officer to any given presentation
as an auditor. As a matter of curiosity be it noted that one
CS officer audited the DDP presentation (the last hour of the
course) not only because he wanted to hear the views of the
DDP but because he had never seen the DDP,
i. Another student suggestion which makes sense is that
we set up a panel of branch chiefs in order to engage in a dis-
cussion with the class concerning problems of Headquarters/
Field relationships. Probably a good solution to this would
be to have to
do this for us. Both have performed very well in the Head-
quarters Desk Course for CTs.
j. While the Chief Instructor was calling on his speakers
in advance of this running of the course, one of them pointed
out that we have not been consistent in noting the previous
assignments of speakers as Chiefs of Station. This is a valid
criticism, and future Chief Instructors should be sure to verify
with each speaker if he has been a Chief of Station in the past.
k. Several students suggested this time that there ought to be
more in-house discussion in the seminar. One way to accom-
plish this would be to schedule only two presentations in the
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morning and two in the afternoon, reserving the last hour
in the morning and the last hour in the afternoon for class
discussion of the points raised in the two preceding pre-
sentations. This idea appears to have merit and the Chief
Instructor will incorporate it in his draft for the June run-
ning of the course.
In general, our experience suggests that all discussion periods, as
distinguished from lectures plus question and answers, need to be carefully
structured in advance, and rehearsed (in the case of panels) so that the class
at all times has a clear understanding of the agenda. The discussion leader
should be sure to take brief notes in the course of the discussion so as to be
able to sum up at the end of the session the points which have been made and
conclusions which the class has collectively arrived at. Whenever this aspect
of discussion leading is neglected, the subsequent student evaluations almost
invariably complain that the period lacked focus. It is a continuing problem
for the Chief Instructor to arrive at a good balance between lectures /question
and answers and class discussion periods. Students often differ sharply on
the value of class participation and the following four comments taken from
the final critiques of this seminar are cited below to point this up;
(1)
(2)
(3)
"Class participation seemed just about right in most
cases. The session on the medical responsibilities
of the Chief of Station was a good example of class
participation in what might otherwise have turned
out to be a dry lecture. The more class participation,
the better. "
"I would recommend less class participation, i.e.,
drop the case-problem approach to pregnant and
drinking secretaries in personnel presentations.
This should not exclude discussion of these sub-
jects of course."
"Class participation could be a mixed blessing.
When participants have applicable experience,
their comments are useful, but mere opinion-
sounding can waste time. "
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(4) "Given limited time and great deal of information
and experience most lecturers have to impart,
the amount of class participation should not be
increased."
4. The Chief Instructor is submitting separately a suggested
syllabus of this course for the possible benefit of his successor, giving
an hour-by-hour statement of the learning objectives of each unit.
Chief Instructor
Attachments: (w/orig. only)
A. Course Schedule
B. Student Roster
HT / OS / TR / :meh
Distribution.
Orig - DTR
1 - C/OS/TR
1 - DDP / TR O
1 - R/TR
2 - HT/OS/TR
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 FROM:
25X1IA9a Chief Instructor
COS Seminar No. 10
0
,May 1967
TO: (Officer designation, room number, and
building)
FORM
3-62
COMMENTS (Number each comment to show from whom
to whom. Draw a line across column after each comment.)
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ROUTING AND RECORD SHEET
Course Report/COS Seminar No. 10
17 - 28 April 1967
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