National Defense University (NDU) iCollege Hosts Its First Master’s Degree Information Session

August 1, 2011

On Wednesday, July 20, 2011, the NDU iCollege hosted the Government Information Leadership (GIL) Masters Degree Information Session at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, D.C. Prospective and returning students filled Room 155 in Marshall Hall to learn about the new degree program and the application process, while others attended the session virtually via a live stream on the Internet. Presentations and Q&A sessions on
the GIL MS degree concentrations of Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Chief Information Officer (CIO), Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Cyber Leadership (Cyber-L), Cyber Security (Cyber-S), Enterprise Architecture (EA), Government Strategic Leadership (GSL), Information Operations (IO), and Information Technology Program Management (ITPM) were led by Dr. John Christian, Chair, Information Strategies Department, Mr. Gilliam Duvall, Chair, Cyber Integration and Information Operations Department, Mr. Andrew Gravatt, Chair, Systems and Technology Department, and Dr. Todd Holmes, Chair, Chief Financial Officer Academy. Academic advisors were on hand and worked one-on-one with the students to answer questions and offer guidance in their programs.

Visitors were welcomed to the Information Session by Dr. Mary McCully, Dean of Faculty and Academic Affairs. In her opening speech, Dr. McCully emphasized the College’s mission of preparing military and civilian leaders to direct the information component of national power by leveraging information and information technology
for strategic advantage. She highlighted the educational niche factor of the NDU iCollege, to bring “government information and IT technical and policy leaders together to communicate, share, challenge and learn from each other, then take this new collaborative perspective back to the workplace.”

GIL MS degree students engage in multiple leadership courses that stretch them to consider the global environment; to analyze how their workplace’s culture operates at the strategic level; communicate effectively across federal agencies; examine information technology as a forcing function and as an enabler of the mission; and to develop effective strategies to lead and manage Information Age government organizations.
Specifically successful graduates will be able to:

Employ information and information technology for strategic advantage
Evaluate the role, challenges, and opportunities of their organizations within the context of cyber, homeland, national, and global security
Apply critical, strategic, and innovative thinking to achieve results-oriented organizational goals
Collaborate across boundaries to leverage talent, resources, and opportunities to achieve mission outcomes and stretch vision
Create resilient, adaptable, agile, and productive government organizations focused on national security in the Information Age
Lead Information Age government organizations
Commit to lifelong development of self and others as reflective learners

About the College - The NDU iCollege, a U.S. Department of Defense educational institution, prepares leaders to direct the information component of national power by leveraging information and information technology for strategic advantage. Although most students come from DoD (military and civilians), the school also accepts federal agency, private sector, and international students into its graduate programs. Education is focused around CIO, CFO, Information Assurance/Cyber, Enterprise Architecture, IT Project Management, and other information leadership competencies. The NDU iCollege is also currently working with the U.S. Department of Education to obtain approval for its new Government Information Leader Master of Science Degree. Courses are completed on campus and/or online. For more information about the NDU iCollege’s programs, please contact: Jolly Sienda at jolly.sienda.ctr@ndu.edu ; or for general information about the college, visit www.ndu.edu/icollege.

The National Defense University is the nation’s premier center for joint professional military education. The university is an accredited graduate-level institution that provides an educational and research environment to prepare future leaders of the armed forces and other civilian agencies for high-level policy, command, and staff responsibilities. For more information about the National Defense University, please contact: Dave Thomas, Public Affairs Officer, at 202-685-3140 or ThomasD2@ndu.edu; or visit www.ndu.edu.