Developing Advanced Academic Degree Educational Profiles for Career Fields

This research develops a career field's educational profile through use of the decision analysis approach of value-focused thinking (VFT). VFT is used to solicit the capabilities that the career field manager (CFM) desires its officers obtain from an advanced academic program. This process generates a value hierarchy and a focused set of alternatives (degree programs). The academic programs' content are evaluated against the hierarchy to determine how well it meets the values of the functional area. A rankordered list of degrees is produced and a portfolio of degrees is selected through the use of CFM-approved goal-setting criteria. The specific breakdown of the portfolio into percentages of the force that should attain each degree is then determined through the CFM's specified relative value increments of the goal-setting criteria. The resulting effort creates a guide for CFMs to communicate to their corps on the types of degrees to earn and provides justification for fully-funded degree slots.