Christopher Godwin, Executive Supervisor of Client Services for Johnston County Public Schools has successfully graduated from the 2019-2020 Certified Government Chief Information Officers Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Government.
Godwin is one of the thirty local government, state agency, community college, and K-12 education IT leaders in the state of North Carolina who successfully completed the course this year. Over the course of its existence, the CGCIO program has graduated over 2000 public sector technology leaders across the nation.
“This program expanded my awareness of the critical issues facing IT leadership in the public sector,” said Godwin. “It also also helped me to bridge the gap between the technical side of my job and the administrative side. I was able to gain a better understanding of how to effectively manage and grow our school district.”
The CGCIO program is the first local government specific program for CIOs in the nation and began in 2005. The program is designed for local government Information Technology Directors and Chief Information Officers whose challenging responsibilities require a broad understanding of management, leadership, legal, regulatory, and enterprise topics.
“As school districts continuously juggle the ever changing and evolving technological demands in education, our job is to oversee all of the digital needs of our district,” said Michelle Turnage, Technology Officer for Johnston County Public Schools. “Those needs include ensuring that technology contributes to improved learning environments in and out of the classroom.”
Turnage, a 2017 graduate of the CGCIO program, is Godwin’s supervisor. She commended his dedication to Johnston County Public Schools and his hard work in the completion of the ten-month program.
“Chris has one of the most important skill sets those in our field should have, which is the ability to provide strategic technology leadership,” said Turnage. “That means having technology leaders who can manage tech systems, and most important, set a vision for technology and how it merges with curriculum, professional development, spending, and overall academic goals.”
The course is approximately 240 hours in length and course instruction covers strategic technology planning, communication, emerging technology trends, risk assessment and management, acquisition management, change management, leadership, cybersecurity, and legal issues related to technology.
The program’s director, Dr. Shannon Tufts, has been recognized by Government Technology magazine as one of the 2010 Top 25 Doers, Dreamers, and Drivers for the creation and expansion of this nationally acclaimed program.
The program seeks to elevate the position of the dedicated and talented cadre of public sector technology leaders who work tirelessly to serve the public good through strategic investments in technology.
