Government Information Leadership Master of Science Degree Program
The Master of Science in Government Information Leadership (GIL) Degree Program is a selective program that addresses the educational needs of defense and government leaders who seek to lead complex and diverse 21st Century organizations. Participants from across defense and other federal, state, and local government organizations create a learning community hallmarked by partnerships, information sharing, and network synergies.
Successful graduates of the Master of Science in Government Information Leadership will be able to:
Degree Concentration
National Security and Cyberspace Studies
The NDU CIC provides a curriculum that produces national security leaders and advisors who develop the strategies and the necessary doctrine to successfully leverage information and cyberspace operations within the broader national security framework.
The curriculum focuses on the information/cyberspace instrument of national security. It provides graduate-level education to senior military and civilian leaders with an emphasis on the military, government, and private sector dimensions of information/cyberspace as a critical component of national security strategy. The CIC program concentrates on developing the habits of mind, conceptual foundations, and cognitive faculties graduates will need at their highest level of strategic responsibility.
Students in the National Security and Cyberspace Studies Program will be able to:
Chief Financial Officer
The U.S. Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Council, in conjunction with the DOD Comptroller, launched the CFO Academy in the summer of 2008 at the NDU iCollege. The CFO Academy offers graduate-level courses and services for middle- to senior- level personnel in the government financial management community to prepare them to create and lead 21st Century government organizations. All CFO Academy programs support and comply with DoD Comptroller’s Financial Management Competencies. The CFO Leadership program is noted for a strategic leadership curriculum that is dynamic and relevant to the evolving needs of the government financial management community, including personnel who work in accounting and finance, budget formulation and execution, cost analysis, auditing, and resource management. It focuses on current and future challenges and opportunities facing government financial professionals. The program highlights the changing role of CFOs as organizational leaders of 21st century government. Successful CFO Graduates will be able to:
Chief Information Officer
The NDU CIC CIO Program is the recognized leader in graduate education for Federal leaders and agency personnel. It directly aligns with the Federal CIO Council-defined CIO competencies and addresses the Clinger-Cohen Act and other relevant legislation mandates as well as the current administration’s interpretations and implementations of these legislative actions. Successful CIO graduates will be able to:
Lead within and across federal organizational boundaries by leveraging information, information technology, human, and financial resources to link critical decisions regarding resources, people, processes, and technologies to mission performance and information assurance
Cyber Leadership
The NDU CIC Cyber Leadership (Cyber-L) program focuses on developing the skills and desired leadership attributes necessary to be an effective strategic leader in the cyberspace domain. The program achieves this through a rigorous curriculum that enhances the understanding of all aspects of cyberspace and how to best integrate cyberspace with the other elements of national power to achieve the nation’s strategic objective.
The Cyber Leadership (Cyber-L) program prepares graduates to:
Cyber Security
The Cyber-S program is a source of graduate-level information security education for those serving as the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Senior Agency Information Security Officers (SAISO), their staffs, and cyber security managers. This program provides advanced education to respond to the requirements set forth in the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) and requirements for secure use of national security information systems set by the Committee for National Security Systems (CNSS).
The Cyber Security (Cyber-S) program prepares graduates to:
Information Technology Program Management
The ITPM program is designed to meet the ever-increasing call for program managers across the federal government. The ITPM certificate is designed to assist agencies in complying with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) direction. The OMB requires that project managers qualified in accordance with CIO Council guidance manage all major information technology projects. The ITPM certificate requires successful completion of a graduate level curriculum to satisfy competencies established by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Interpretive Guidance for Project Management Positions and the CIO Council Clinger-Cohen Core Competencies. The certificate complements general project management training and the ANSI-recognized Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. It also provides formal educational credit, one of the qualifications required for award of the PMI Project Management Professional (PMP) certificate.
Successful ITPM graduates will be able to:
The NDU CIC provides a JPME Phase II curriculum that produces national security leaders and advisors who develop the strategies and the necessary doctrine to successfully leverage information and cyberspace operations within the broader national security framework.
The NDU CIC’s JPME curriculum focuses on the information/cyberspace instrument of national security. It provides graduate-level education to senior military and civilian leaders with an emphasis on the military, government, and private sector dimensions of information/cyberspace as a critical component of national security strategy. The CIC program concentrates on developing the habits of mind, conceptual foundations, and cognitive faculties graduates will need at their highest level of strategic responsibility.
Students in the JPME II will receive a Master of Science in Government Information Leadership, with a concentration in National Security and Cyberspace Studies and JPME phase II credit.
Students in the National Security Cyberspace Studies Program will be able to:
Student Criteria:
Selection for this program is highly competitive and is done through a potential student's Senior Service College (SSC) selection process.
Students for the NDU CIC JPME pilot must be in the grade of 0-5 and 0-6 who have already received credit for completing a CJCS-accredited program of JPME Phase I or received equivalent JPME Phase I credit as articulated in CJCSI 1800.01E. Civilian students are equivalent to GS-15 and SES-1. The desired mix of seminar students includes military officers from all three Military Departments, the U.S. Coast Guard, international officers, DoD civilians, Federal Agency civilians, and the private sector. The curriculum is designed for students who currently serve in, have an interest in, or may have the need to develop strategy with those who serve in the information/cyberspace domain. A successful student does not need technical expertise, but must possess the intellectual curiosity that makes them receptive to new ideas and new approaches to understanding national security.
Accreditation The National Defense University is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), 3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104, (267) 284-5000. MSCHE is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
Disclaimer
Every effort has been made to ensure this NDU CIC Catalog and Student Handbook is accurate. However, all policies, procedures, and academic schedules are subject to change at any time and without prior notification by the CIC Chancellor or the University administration. The NDU CIC reserves the right to publish and revise an electronic version of the Handbook. This updated version is posted on the CIC website at: http://cic.ndu.edu. The online version will take precedence over the printed copy. The Handbook published for the current academic year supersedes all previous versions. Any corrections or suggestions for improvement of the CIC Student Handbook should be directly communicated to the Office of the Dean at CICdean@ndu.edu.