ADMAG RECOMMENDED OBJECTIVE FOR FY 1977 REGARDING ACCREDITATION FOR SELECTED AGENCY TRAINING COURSES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79-00498A000700110010-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 28, 2000
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: August 20, 1976
• Content Type: MF

ADMINISTRATIVE - INTERNAL USE ONLY OTR Registry
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DD/A Registry
2 0 A!!G 1976
MEMORANDUM FOR: Chief, Management and Assessment Staff, DDA
Acting Director of Training
SUBJECT ADMAG Recommended Objective for FY 1977
Regarding Accreditation for Selected
Agency Training Courses
1. We have reviewed the proposed.ADMAG objective to
seek accreditation for selected Agency training courses and
offer the following in response.
2. Before commenting on the substance of the proposal,
I would like to distinguish between cooperating with specific
colleges and universities who are willing to grant credit
for certain Agency training courses and the seeking of
accreditation for Agency training courses by an accrediting
body such. as the American Council on Education. The first
is already being done. This, we believe, largely obviates
the need for the second course of action which also would
present some real. problems.
3. Accreditation for training courses is awarded by an
accrediting body after a thorough review of the course
content, the method and quality of instruction, and the
qualifications of the instructors. This review often involves
a visit to the locations of the training and always includes
a discussion with. those responsible for course development
and administration. At the. conclusion of the investigation,
the accrediting body certifies that the course of instruction
reviewed merits a certain number of college credits or fails
to pass muster.
4. The Office of Training does not feel that the
intent of the proposed objective is feasible for several
reasons. First, the content of most courses is classified
and to achieve accreditation for any of our courses, we
would have to reveal information not only about the course
itself, but also about the people who teach and administer
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it. This would require either avoiding the classified
elements--an awkward approach--or clearing the accrediting
officers. Second, many OTR courses depend heavily on the
use of guest lecturers rather than the OTR instructors; the
variation which results would make accreditation difficult
if not impossible.
5. When the subject of accreditation was discussed at
a recent meeting of the Civil Service Commission's Interagency
Advisory Group on Training, the Director of the Civil Service
Commission Bureau of Training, Mr. James Beck, cautioned
those present "to go very slowly in this area." He reminded
them that "in-house training is for the benefit of the
Federal Government and not the employee." Mr. Beck went on
to say that equivalency training should be confined to skill
courses which are graded or measured in some way. With this
guidance in mind, we feel that only our language courses
could be recommended for accreditation.
6. The Office of Training does, however, cooperate
with employees who are seeking to have courses accepted for
credit at specific colleges or universities. In such cases,
OTR will provide, where possible, an unclassified descrip-
tion of the course for which credit is being sought and an
indication of its length and method of instruction. Attached
for your information is a copy of a paper outlining OTR's
policy toward providing such information to academic institu-
tions and a listing of approved course descriptions. In
order to minimize the administrative impact on OTR, the
paper was not widely publicized at the time of its approval
in April 1975, although since then approximately 20 employees
have asked that OTR verify to academic institutions their
completion of some 62 training courses. The listing of
approved courses and course descriptions is currently being
updated to bring it in line with OTR's present curriculum.
7. In sum, OTR believes that it is impractical and
unnecessary to pursue a formal program to obtain accredita-
tion of Agency training courses from an accrediting body and
recommends against adopting the objective. We would, however,
continue to follow the existing procedure for seeking credit
for training courses on an individual basis. We hope that
the ADMAG will recognize that this p cedure g9jes far toward
meeting the purpose of the proposed 1jective//
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