Municipal and County Administration Moves Online

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After more than 65 years of instruction at the School of Government, Municipal and County Administration will transition to an online format this year. Starting on October 6^th, participants in the course will convene on Zoom for three-hour sessions, spread out across 27 days of instruction over the course of eight months.

Social distance measures dictated by the COVID-19 pandemic meant that lead faculty, Greg Allison, and program manager, Susan Hutchinson, had to rethink the traditional delivery format of the program, which more than 3200 officials have completed since it began in 1954. The course will be designed to “adjust for what is currently the ‘new norm’, yet still provide the critical information that appointed city and county officials need to more effectively execute their responsibilities,” according to Hutchinson. Allison has worked to include synchronous and asynchronous content in the new format, ensuring the course still provides an in-depth understanding of the structure and operations or our state’s local governments.

Alycia Inserra, program director for the Local and State Government group at the School, described the decision to move the course online as one that focused on providing value for participants. “Greg, Susan, and I got on a call and said, ‘How can we do this? Can it look different? Does the value still hold true if we hold it differently?’ The answers are all yes. It’s possible.”

In previous years, 96 participants came to the Knapp-Sanders Building once a month for four days at a time, culminating in approximately 21 days of instruction from 10 different faculty members. This year, the course will allow for additional participants, as space restrictions designated by classrooms are no longer a factor. The planning group also thought creatively about how to ensure participants not only gained knowledge, but also connection and camaraderie with their virtual classmates.

“Even within the event online, you can break people into groups and rotate them around to help people meet others. It might be different than in-person, but they’ll still get to know each other and have a shared experience,” stated Allison.

Despite the unprecedented situation, Inserra said the School’s dedication to serving public officials across the state will persist.

“To be able to offer this, even if the face of everything happening, it speaks to the commitment we’ve made to North Carolina.”

Applications for the 2020-2021 Municipal and County Administration are now open. Information about the course structure, application process, and potential scholarship availability can be found on the course page, here. The deadline for applications is August 14^th, 2020.