CIO Council - The University of North Carolina has 17 individual institutions and each has a Chief Information Officer (CIO).  The Council membership is comprised of one representative from each institution plus the CIO of UNC-GA, and the Chair of the Council is elected annually by the membership. The Council serves as an advisory board for the UNC-GA President on all information technology issues.

The CIOs represent their respective campuses on the Council, meets monthly and offers a forum for discussion, collaboration and cooperation on a wide range of topics of mutual interest. Many of the current system-wide technology initiatives were originally identified by the Council and all on-going technology infrastructure efforts are continually reviewed. 

Many UNC technology efforts could only be addressed in a collaborative model as the cost and/or complexity of the initiative would be too great for any individual institution. In addition, the information sharing is also intended to identify opportunities for one campus to utilize an IT service that has been developed by another campus. Obviously, it is far more efficient to develop something once and share the results with all. Historically, the UNC institutions have been very willing to share intellectual capital and many benefits have accrued from this unselfish willingness to cooperate.

With the current financial restraints, all UNC institutions are having significant difficulty in identifying funds for infrastructure upgrades and replenishment. One urgent initiative being addressed by the Council is an effort identified as the NetStudy work group. The mission of the NetStudy work group is to prepare a comprehensive replenishment plan for the system wide data communications network and application server infrastructure. Upon completion of the study and funding identification, a proposal will be submitted to the UNC-GA President to request financial assistance. 

Shared Services Alliance - The UNC Shared Services Alliance ("Alliance") was officially established in March 2000.  The Alliance's mission established it as a forum for UNC's 17 campuses to explore collaborative opportunities across a broad range of technology development.  The Alliance Advisory Board spearheads a number of projects to bring new applications to UNC's campuses and serves to represent all UNC institutions and Wake Forest University.  The board members are assigned by the Chancellor of each member campus and serve for 2 years.  Annually, the board elects a Vice Chair who will then replace the sitting Chair after one year, and the group meets on a quarterly basis. 

Responding to the need for increased service requirements and operational efficiencies on each campus and across the system as a whole, the Board serves several purposes; one of which is to discuss and decide how to allocate the spending of the state allotment for ERP support systems.  Several information technology initiatives have been started with the capital funding provided by the Alliance Board.  The most notable current initiative is the project to centralize the Banner ERP operation for several of the UNC institutions.  As Banner is a complex, integrated suite of vendor software, it requires the services of well-trained and competent systems administration and database analysis staff.   In addition, the hardware infrastructure to house and operate the ERP software must be installed and maintained in a secure environment supported with high capacity networks, fully redundant power and climate conditioning equipment, and staffed on a 24/7 basis to assure a highly reliable and available user service. 

Rather than each institution being required to fund and operate this ERP environment, the Alliance has initiated central hosting services for the participating schools.  The hosted environment is a cost-effective and resource-efficient method to provide an excellent environment that would otherwise place an onerous funding burden upon the individual UNC institutions if they had to provide their own equivalent technology infrastructure.

To avoid duplication of resources and leverage expertise within the UNC, the Alliance contracts with campuses for products and services when possible and works in conjunction with the Coordinated Technology Management group on projects requiring outside vendors.

Security Council - The IT Security Council (ITSC) is a committee of the UNC CIO Council that serves as an advisory board for the Council on all information technology security issues.  Its membership is comprised of one representative from each of the 17 UNC institutions, led by a Chair who is annually elected by the membership.  Each member represents their respective campus in monthy meetings that offer a forum for discussion, collaboration and cooperation on a wide range of security topics of mutual interest.  The ITSC has several standing subcommittees, including: Security Policy and Governance, Risk Management, ID Management, Information Security Tools and Software, and Security Awareness.

For 2009, the ITSC is comprised of the following representatives:  Oscar Knight (ASU), Chrisie Dillard (ECSU), Margaret Streeter (ECU), Joe Vittorelli (FSU), Vijay Verma (NCA&T), Steve Ornat (NCCU), Richard Alston (NCSSM), Mardecia Bell (NCSU), Jim Kuhlman (UNCA), Carter Heath (UNCC), William Cameron, Chair (UNC-CH), Chuck Curry, Vice Chair (UNCG), David Harrison (UNC-GA), Paul Hudy (UNC-GA), Tom Jackson (UNCP), Lisa Hardin (UNCSA), Mike Ellis (UNCTV), Zachery Mitcham (UNCW), Scott Koger (WCU), and Glenn Knox (WSSU).

UNC Netstudy - The UNC Netstudy is a committee of the UNC CIO Council that serves as an advisory board for the UNC CIO Council on all information technology networking issues.  Its membership is comprised of one representative from each of the 17 UNC institutions, led by a chair who is elected by the membership every two years.  Each member represents their respective campus in monthly meetings that offer a forum for discussion, collaboration and cooperation on a wide range of networking topics of mutual interest.  The Netstudy has been charged with reviewing and updating the networking baseline and standards for the UNC campuses.

For 2009, the Netstudy is comprised of the following representatives: David Hayler (ASU), Tim Barclift (ECSU), Rob Hudson (ECU), Nate Gantt (FSU), Andrew Lazare (NCA&T), Steve Ornat (NCCU), Richard Alston (NCSSM), Greg Sparks, Chair (NCSU), Richard White (UNCA), Tom Lamb (UNCC), John Streck, Vice Chair (UNC-CH), John Williams (UNCG), Paul Hudy (UNC-GA), Kevin Pait (UNCP), David Caston (UNCSA), Mike Ellis (UNCTV), Jeff Hunnicutt (UNCW), Scott Swartzentruber (WCU), and Glen Knox (WSSU).