28 February 2018

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) kicked-off its Signature School Program with a ceremony at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), a public university with more than 30,500 students, 15 colleges, and a hospital and health sciences system. The program will further the partnership between CIA and UIC by creating more opportunities for students and faculty to engage with CIA officers to learn about employment opportunities. UIC is the fourth university to join CIA’s Signature School Program.

In prior discussions with UIC Chancellor Michael Amiridis, CIA’s Associate Director for Talent, Maja Lehnus, highlighted the importance of building a talented and diverse workforce to ensure mission success and improve CIA’s ability to keep Americans safe. “CIA is committed to building a diverse workforce that has a broad range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds, language expertise, and educational and life experiences to ensure diversity of thought and the ability to operate effectively worldwide,” Lehnus said.

CIA’s Midwest Regional Recruiter, Senior Champion to UIC, and UIC Campus Ambassadors attended the 15 February 2018 ceremonial launch. In addition, CIA recruiters participated in a career fair that day hosted by UIC. UIC’s press release about the partnership is available at: https://today.uic.edu/uic-forms-partnership-with-central-intelligence-agency.

Signature School Program

As part of CIA’s recruitment strategy to attract qualified, diverse applicants, CIA selects universities to serve as Signature Schools. These schools host a range of recruitment activities to build sustainable relationships between CIA personnel and university staff and students, ensuring CIA maintains contact with skilled applicants from a range of cultures and backgrounds. UIC joins The City University of New York - Baruch College, Florida International University, and the University of New Mexico in the Signature School Program.

University of Illinois at Chicago

The University of Illinois at Chicago is a major research university located in the heart of Chicago. Ranked among the top 25 best public universities in the nation by the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education, UIC has 15 academic colleges where students can explore their interests in fields ranging from business and engineering to education, liberal arts and sciences, urban planning, and social work, as well as architecture, design, and the arts. UIC is also the state’s principal educator of health professionals with its seven health sciences colleges of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, public health, nursing, social work, and applied health sciences.

Central Intelligence Agency

CIA is an independent agency responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior US policymakers. CIA’s mission is to preempt threats and further US national security objectives by collecting intelligence that matters, producing objective all-source analysis, conducting effective covert action as directed by the President, and safeguarding the secrets that help keep our nation safe.

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