Center for Public Technology
UNC-Chapel Hill School of Government Certified Government Chief Information Officer (CGCIO) Certification Program
Public sector CIOs and IT directors are facing increasing challenges and responsibilities in the era of new governance. As the lines between traditional functional services and departments begin to blur, the IT leadership is charged with 1) managing the constantly expanding role for IT within your government, 2) protecting your government against ever-increasing security threats, and 3) keeping up with the feverish pace of new technology.
The CGCIO Certification Program is a ten-month course that lays the foundation for assessing and addressing some of the most critical issues facing IT leadership in local government. The purpose of this program is to equip leaders with the requisite tools to manage and improve their organizational technology assets. During the course of the program, we will address major topics, including IT governance, project management, and risk assessment and management. Each broad topic will examine specific local government issues and draw on participant experience to provide both theoretical and practical applied knowledge to the challenges. Case studies, exercises and guest speakers will be included.
The following table illustrates the course content offered in the CGCIO Certification programs.
Month | Major Topic | Content |
| One | Understanding the Enterprise | Goal Alignment; IT Roles; Value Add of IT; Building a Business case; Measuring & Communicating Success; Organizational Constructs |
| Two | Strategic Technology Planning and Management | Capital / Infrastructure Planning; Unifying Potential; SDLC; IS Scorecard/Metrics; Project Charters; Stakeholder Identification; Relationship/process modeling |
| Three | Communication: Creating a Shared Understanding | Elected Officials; Management; Users |
| Four | Project Management | Developing requirements; Work breakdown structure; Estimating techniques; Schedule and cost plans; Managing Change Requests; Project Organization & Reporting |
| Five | Emerging Issues and Technologies | Best Practices; Integrating Strategic Technology Planning into the Organization; Being the Champion for Departmental IT Requests; E-commerce; E-business; Cross-boundary (Intergovernmental Relations) |
| Six | Risk Management | Tools for risk management plan; Risk identification (financial, technical, budgetary); Risk/opportunity costs; Portfolio management; Risk mitigation techniques; Knowledge transfer |
| Seven | Legal and Regulatory Compliance
| e-Discovery, FOIA/Public Records Laws, Open Meetings Laws, PCI Compliance, other legal/regulatory issues of interest to the class Bid/No-Bid/Piggybacking/RFP Development; Writing a contract; Contract enforceability; Contract Authorities; Contract interpretation |
| Eight | Change Management | Enterprise approaches to IT; Change resistance; Leading change; Opportunity identification; Knowledge management; Outsourcing; Managed competition |
| Leadership in a Change Environment | Roles of CIO; Decision-making; Conflict negotiation; Team building skills; Motivation techniques; Marketing | |
| Nine | Securing the Enterprise: Policies and Procedures | Disaster recovery; Business continuity; Security Awareness & Management Privacy & HIPAA; Security Audits; ITs Role in a Disaster |
| Ten | Financing Technology Initiatives Budgeting; Grants (writing, availability); | TCO, ROI; State Contract Purchasing; Other Legal Issues |
Expectations of Participants: All participants in the program will be expected to complete approximately eight hours of reading and written work prior to each module of the CIO school. Assignments and readings will be posted on the Blackboard website two weeks prior to the beginning of each module. During the course of the program, participants will be expected to complete all readings and learning instruments provided by the instructors. Each person attending the program is expected to attend all sessions.
Applications: The online application window varies for each course. Please visit the appropriate course website for details: Local Government, State Government, National Class, K12 CTO.
Location: Course modules will be held at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Government (Knapp-Sanders Building), with the exception of the National CGCIO program.
Text: Instructional materials will be supplied by the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Government.
Cost: The cost of the program can be found on the course websites: Local Government, State Government, National Class, K12 CTO.
Certificate: Participants who satisfactorily complete the course will receive a special certificate from the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Government. Satisfactory completion means that all assignments have been completed and all sessions attended by the participant. In those instances where a person fails to attend a topic for some unavoidable reason, the person must arrange a one-on-one session with the instructor in order to receive the certificate. Each participant is allowed to miss only one module within the program.
Prerequisites: To qualify for the program, applicants work for the public sector. In addition, they must be directly or have a desire to become, responsible for supervising employees within a public sector information technology department. The class size will be limited to thirty (30) in each of the programs.
Housing Information:
Participants are responsible for their housing arrangements and costs. A list of accommodations will be included in your acceptance package.
Marriott hotel(s) offering your special group rate: Courtyard Chapel Hill for $124 USD per night. Book your group rate for CGCIO Course August 2017
Start date: 8/28/17
End date: 9/1/17
Last day to book: 7/29/17
Holiday Inn Express - CIO August 2017
A block of rooms has been set up at the Holiday Inn Express Chapel Hill with a special rate of $77 per night. The rate includes a full deluxe hot breakfast and Wi-Fi. To reserve a room online please click the link CIO August 2017. To reserve by phone call the hotel at 919 489 7555 and provide the name "CIO August 2017". To receive the special rate reservations must be made no later than August 14, 2017.
Marriott hotel(s) offering your special group rate: Courtyard Chapel Hill for $124 USD per night. Book your group rate for CGCIO Course September 2017
Start date: 9/18/17
End date: 9/22/17
Last day to book: 8/19/17
Holiday Inn Express - CIO September 2017
A block of rooms has been set up at the Holiday Inn Express Chapel Hill with a special rate of $77 per night. The rate includes a full deluxe hot breakfast and Wi-Fi. To reserve a room online please click the link CIO September 2017. To reserve by phone call the hotel at 919 489 7555 and provide the name "CIO September 2017". To receive the special rate reservations must be made no later than September 4, 2017.
Marriott hotel(s) offering your special group rate: Courtyard Chapel Hill for $124 USD per night. Book your group rate for CGCIO November 2017
Start date: 11/27/17
End date: 12/1/17
Last day to book: 11/6/17
Holiday Inn Express - CIO November 2017
A block of rooms has been set up at the Holiday Inn Express Chapel Hill with a special rate of $77 per night. The rate includes a full deluxe hot breakfast and Wi-Fi. To reserve a room online please click the link CIO November 2017. To reserve by phone, call the hotel at 919.489.7555 and provide the name "CIO November 2017". To receive the special rate reservations must be made no later than November 14, 2017.
Marriott hotel(s) offering your special group rate: Courtyard Chapel Hill for $119 USD per night. Book your group rate for CGCIO January 2018
Start date: 1/22/18
End date: 1/25/18
Last day to book: 12/23/17
If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact
Curriculum Questions:
Shannon Tufts at 919.962.5438 or
via email at: tufts@sog.unc.edu
Administrative Questions:
Carla Stowe at 919.843.8176 or
via email at: cstowe@sog.unc.edu
Admission to all UNC-Chapel Hill School of Government programs and conferences is without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability status, veteran status, or sexual orientation.
If you have a disability and need an accommodation to participate in any UNC-Chapel Hill School of Government program, please let us know.
