You have two options: remote Online Training or in-residence Classroom Training (described below). If you're not sure which way you want to go, we suggest you sign-up for the Online Training Module 1: Executive Corporate Politics. After completing that module, you may elect to continue with the Online Training or switch to the Classroom Training and the cost of Module 1 will be credited to your classroom training fee.

The in-residence Classroom Training course of instruction is composed of four Friday & Saturday weekends and 27 weeks of about five hours homework/practical exercises per week. Following the successful completion of course work, the student may sit for a certification exam in order to obtain the “Certified Information Executive” (CIE) certification. This three letter designation is appended after your name on your signature block along with other professional designations such as: Ph.D., CISSP, CPA, etc.

Our standards are high in order to ensure quality graduates and protect the prestigious reputation of the CIE certification.

The faculty of the Institute consists of seven faculty members from the School of Business, the CollegeArts and Sciences, and the Department of Informatics at USC Upstate. Most are senior veterans fo the corporate world representing over 100 years combined business experience—much of it at the executive level. We provide real-world applicable knowledge combined with leading-edge thinking on new and powerful solutions to complex corporate challenges.

Each class focuses on developing specific practical skills needed by today’s CIO’s.  The topics covered through classroom lecture and practical exercises include:

• Historical and future forces and trends behind the ascendancy of the CIO
• How to implement effective IT Alignment
• The advantages, management and politics of IT Governance
• Developing, managing and assessing a modern Information Security strategy
• Effective communication in a political corporate environment
• The Management of Sourcing initiatives (Offshoring, Nearshoring & Outsourcing)
• Developing and communicating the Justification of IT Projects: The Business Case, the ROI analysis, and the Post Project Audit
• Business skill development in the IT management ranks
• Enterprise Risk Management (ERM)
• Leadership skills for an executive
• The case for a Project Management Office (PMO)
• Viewing IT Challenges as Organizational Behavioral Challenges
• Principles of effective e-commerce
• Evaluation of the business potential of new IT technologies  (Gartner Hype Cycle)
• Multicultural issues of the global economy and the role of IT
• International Economics
• Understanding Marketing and its impact and relevance to IT initiatives

The purpose of the Institute for CIO Excellence is to provide our graduates with a useful set of practical skills that will enable them to function effectively as a Chief Information Officer. We have honed and focused our course of instruction to develop business minded CIO’s that can think and function as strategic business executives in a global corporate environment.