Courses

Leading and Managing with Respect

This course will be held in-person at UNC School of Government, Knapp-Sanders Building from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Building and sustaining mutual respect is a hallmark of an influential and effective leader. How can public professionals feel and convey genuine respect for their colleagues, supervisors, and direct reports –...

May 7, 2026

UNC School of Government | Knapp-Sanders Building
Chapel Hill, NC

There are additional offerings of this course available.

A Closer Look at Termination of Parental Rights

This new 2-day course focuses exclusively on termination of parental rights proceedings, both when there is and is not an underlying abuse, neglect, or dependency proceeding. The course will highlight procedural and substantive issues that often present in termination of parental rights cases and requirements for the court orders that are...

There are additional offerings of this course available.

Regional Magistrate Training (West)

NOTE: This course is now cancelled for 2025

Registration is now open for the 2025 Regional Magistrate Training (West), sponsored by the North Carolina Judicial College. These regional schools, offered through the North Carolina Judicial College, are intended for magistrates who may have trouble attending in-person training because of time...

There are additional offerings of this course available.

Regional Magistrate Training (East)

NOTE: This course is now cancelled for 2025

Registration is now open for the 2025 Regional Magistrate Training (East), sponsored by the North Carolina Judicial College. These regional schools, offered through the North Carolina Judicial College, are intended for magistrates who may have trouble attending in-person training because of time...

There are additional offerings of this course available.

Special Topics in Small Claims for Magistrates

This seminar is intended for magistrates who hold Small Claims court, and focuses on a different topic each year allowing a “deep dive” into skill-building and substantive law for small claims magistrates at various stages in their careers. The 2025 Special Topics class will cover the same material as the 2024 offering, focusing on...

June 8, 2026

UNC School of Government
Chapel Hill, NC

There are additional offerings of this course available.

Conducting Hearings and Entering Judgment for Magistrates

This two-day course is offered through the North Carolina Judicial College. It is intended for magistrates who would like to become more comfortable conducting hearings and entering judgments in small claims court. Topics will include courtroom decorum, legal research, judicial decision-making, procedural fairness, common evidence problems, and...

June 10, 2026

UNC School of Government
Chapel Hill, NC

There are additional offerings of this course available.

Strategic Planning Framework for Public Organizations

Atlantic Beach, NCJuly 12, 20221:00 PM- 5:00 PM Strategic planning is one of the most effective tools in local government to improve organizational performance and sustainability. Strategic plans help public managers develop a detailed course of action to take an organization from its current state to the desired future state while ensuring its...

There are additional offerings of this course available.

Using Social Workers as Part of a Holistic Public Defense Practice

This one-and-a-half-day workshop is a partnership between the UNC School of Government Criminal Justice Innovation Lab and the Office of Indigent Defense Services. It will focus on integrating social workers into public defender offices as part of a holistic defense practice. Sessions will address, among other topics, an overview of holistic...

There are additional offerings of this course available.

Felony Defender Training

This course is co-sponsored by the UNC School of Government and the Office of Indigent Defense Services.

Topics will include discovery and investigation, suppression and other superior court motions, lab reports, preserving the record, sentencing, and trial skills—including conducting voir dire—necessary to handle felony cases from start...

There are additional offerings of this course available.

Top 10 Primer: What Local Elected Officials Need to Know about Public Health and Social Services

This is a free online course from 10–11:15 AM on October 19, 2022.

Being an effective local elected official requires a basic understanding of what your local government agencies do. The public health and social services agencies are two public agencies that are touch points for many of the people in your communities. Their services...

There are additional offerings of this course available.

Intermediate Purchasing Seminar

The next offering will be held on November 19-21, 2024.

This course is intended for officials with two or more years of experience in local governmental purchasing, and will cover bidding and property disposal, capital leasing, performance management and benchmarking, insurance and risk management, electronic bidding and contract...

There are additional offerings of this course available.

2025 Summer Criminal Law Webinar

The 2025 Summer Criminal Law Webinar will cover recent criminal law decisions issued by the North Carolina appellate courts and highlight significant criminal law legislation enacted by the North Carolina General Assembly. School of Government faculty Phil Dixon and Daniel Spiegel will discuss a wide range of issues affecting felony and...

There are additional offerings of this course available.

The Clerk's Initial Estate Intake

This session will cover topics that frequently arise at the outset of the administration of an estate, including legal information vs. legal advice, determining questions related to venue, confirmation of date and fact of death, determining whether there is a will, decedent’s family history, and opening and inventorying safe deposit boxes.

There are additional offerings of this course available.

Performance Management in Fire Service

This class is part of the Performance Management Course Series. To see the full list of courses offered please click HERE

This course will take place online via Zoom from 1pm - 5pm and will include around 4 hours...

There are additional offerings of this course available.

Introduction to Program Evaluation

This online workshop is for local governments, providing a broad overview of program evaluation facilitated by the School of Government's Dr. Maureen Berner. This course is a primer on evaluating proposed and existing programs for local governments and discerning their efficacy and viability within a community.

Note: This course fulfills...

There are additional offerings of this course available.

Child Support Enforcement

This program provides training for attorneys who represent alleged contemnors in child support enforcement proceedings. Sessions will focus on civil contempt, advocacy in-and-out of the courtroom, evidence, and other issues relevant to respondent representation.

For information about other public defense education courses, visit...

There are additional offerings of this course available.

Advanced Americans with Disabilities Act Course

The Advanced Americans with Disabilities Act class is an intensive, two-day program taking an in-depth look at ADA issues of particular concern to government and community college employers. The class is limited to 65.

Prerequisite: You must have completed Introduction...

There are additional offerings of this course available.

Legislative Changes Impacting Aging and Adult Services, including Adult Guardianship and Adult Protective Services

This webinar will cover changes affecting the area of aging and adult services from the 2025-2026 legislative session of the North Carolina General Assembly, including changes to the area of adult guardianship and adult protective services law.

There are additional offerings of this course available.

US Supreme Court Seminar for District Court and Superior Court Judges

This seminar offers a small group of district court and superior court judges the opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C. to visit the institution at the fore of the nation’s judicial system: the United States Supreme Court. Participants will hear oral arguments at the court, and some will have an opportunity to be sworn in to the Supreme...

There are additional offerings of this course available.

Advanced Sentencing: Probation

There are over 80,000 people on probation in North Carolina. As a result, probationary sentences and probation violations are a big part of the daily work of the state court system. This one-day program is designed to help judges manage that workload by crafting probationary sentences that are lawful and effective in achieving...