Alumni Interview
Q: What is your educational background?
A: I graduated in 1999 from Barry University with a BS in psychology.
In 2004, I received my doctorate in social psychology at the
University of Michigan.
Q: What was your role here at Barry University?
A: I was fortunate to experience Barry as a student and as a
faculty member. As a student I was a MARC scholar. In this capacity
I conducted research on topics ranging from prejudice, to business
language competency, to risky sexual behavior under the direction
of Dr. Muscarella and Dr. Szuchman. As a faculty member I taught
various courses, including introduction to psychology, the psychology
of prejudice, and graduate statistics, as well as supervised
undergraduate and graduate student research projects.
Q: Where are you currently employed and what is your role there?
A: I am currently employed at the FBI as an intelligence Analyst
(IA) in the Counterterrorism Division. My role as an IA is to
provide strategic analyses on the topic of my responsibility.
My goal is to provide, as best as possible, the "big picture" for
my operational counterparts so that they can use the information
to assist in their investigations. I also write intelligence
assessments for the intelligence community and brief numerous
customers (i.e., other intel agencies, the FBI executives, and
Congress) on my topic of expertise.
Q: How does your current work differ from your work
at Barry?
A: I would say that the nature of the work is more fast paced
than that of academia. We don't have the luxury to sit on information
for months at a time, as we sometimes do in our personal research.
We need to assess the information for the threat that it poses
to national
security and disseminate if immediately necessary. Also, the
environment can change rather quickly - One minute I will be
quietly reading
intelligence traffic and the next I am being tasked to write
a response to a question the President or Congress has raised,
which bears on my topic of responsibility.
Q: What do you find most challenging about your job?
A: Providing analytic judgments with incomplete data. In the
intel world, it is always the case that we never have the full
picture of the puzzle we are trying to solve. We get bombarded
with thousands of pieces of information, some of which is reliable
and some of which is garbage. We, as IAs, need to assess what
is relevant from all of that information, make an analytic judgment,
and be prepared to respond to policy makers regarding our conclusions.
It can be quite a nerve wrecking experience.
Q: What do you enjoy most about your job?
A: Two things I enjoy most. First is the challenge the topic
poses. You really have to do some mental gymnastics in order
to understand the complexity of the issues. There is never a
dull moment at the FBI. Second is the fact that how I frame the
issue within my topic of responsibility can have an influence
on the legislative and executive branches of government. The
privilege is quite humbling and I take it very seriously.
Q: Do you have any advice or words of wisdom?
A: No wisdom here but one word of advice. Practice thinking
critically, writing succinctly, and making public presentations.
These are skills you begin developing as an undergrads and continue
to do develop as graduate students. Whenever you have the opportunity
to engage in these activities you should do so and take each
of them seriously. Mastering them will guarantee you success
in whatever career path you follow. So look at your next class
paper or upcoming conference presentation as an opportunity to
secure a piece of your future.
Kendra Francis
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