This is a survey course introducing project management as a profession and an academic field of study. It provides the foundation for more advanced project management courses. It is a prerequisite to other courses in the degree program unless permission is granted. The student is introduced to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide), as well as other international standards. Students will examine key tools and methodologies in use to manage large, complex projects and explore how these tools and techniques can be used to assess the project’s overall status, its variance from the project plan and evaluate alternative recovery scenarios. Students will be introduced to the roles of project and program managers in today’s enterprise and the tradeoffs they make among triple constraints of scope, time and cost.

Studies have shown that nearly 75% of commercial projects are deemed to have not met the expectations of their funding sponsors. As professionals committed to effective project management, how do we change this paradigm? In this course, students start by learning how a project charter refines a project idea in a more concrete project narrative. Students develop a project’s work breakdown structure and establish a realistic project schedule and budget. Students conduct project risk identification and assessment sessions to evaluate the overall risk posture of the project. Students will define the communications and change control plans.

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1. Articulate the key purpose and components of a project charter;
2. Decompose a scope statement into a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) in support of development of a resource-loaded project schedule and budget;
3. Develop project estimates and forecast and update budgets, accounting for the factors which influence project cost and cause cost variances;
4. Explain the relationship between project schedule duration and the influence of the time value of money;
5. Analyze the dependencies available to influence a project’s critical path and modify one or more dependencies to optimize a project schedule;
6. Assess the impacts associated with project risks and determine which of four risk responses is appropriate in particular circumstances or sample cases.

This course provides students insight into the techniques and tools that can be applied to evaluate a project and the project’s true status. Students will apply the earned value methodology to determine a project’s true status for both schedule and cost in terms of the dollar value of work performed. Students will explore risk management and other techniques used to ensure project success. Within this course, students will have the opportunity to apply the various methods and tools used in a successful project to classroom assignments, in preparation for doing the same within their capstone projects. Students consider how projects can be accomplished within an agile or adaptive project management methodology.

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1. Develop project estimates, forecasts and updated budgets, monitor overall project status, and relay appropriate project status information to project sponsor and other stakeholders.
2. Analyze and apply the factors which influence project cost and cost variances, including the relationship of project cost to other project elements: project scope, schedule, quality and risk.
3. Calculate the various performance indices embodied with Earned Value management, their application, and their use in today's enterprise.
4. Associate the impact of those accounting practices used to categorize costs and write-down assets to practices associated with project financial decision-making and performance.
5. Evaluate and initiate action on change requests in accordance with the processes documented in the Change Management Plan.
6. Apply current risk management methodologies in risk assessment sessions with the project team and adjust contingency reserves as needed to be responsive to a risk.

Outsourcing is becoming more and more critical in today’s economic environment making it essential that a project manager in the multi-national marketplace have a firm understanding of the negotiating, contracting and procurement environment and potential pitfalls. This course will address the interdependence of the make-or-buy decision-making process and the success of many projects in terms of risk management as well as achieving acceptable financial goals. Students will explore contracting pitfalls by addressing and proving an understanding of the key factors, regulations, and vocabulary which are critical for the project manager to be able to employ in their business dealings with contracting and legal departments.

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1. Contract elements, basic contracting terms and their application to the negotiating process.
2. Common Law vs. Statutory Law
3. Common contract types and their application to the real world: a. Risk exposure b. Control factors c. Financial considerations
4. The importance of contract negotiation, monitoring and communication
5. The broad application of federal regulations, limitations placed on contractors, and eBusiness accommodations.

This course addresses the processes and techniques used in the strategic management of project portfolios. Students examine the decision-making tools, techniques, and rationale used to reach consensus for funding specific programs and projects and to bring them into the tactical layer for execution. Students will study various objective methodologies, benefit measurement techniques as well as market analytics, competitive analysis, and market driven approaches. Strategic planning and management, and its link to Project Portfolio Management, will also be discussed during this course. Students identify their capstone project and create the associated Proposal/Business Case and Project Charter.

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1. Develop a project manager's level of knowledge and understanding of the need for project portfolio management (PPM).
2. Describe the PPM Reconciliation process and need to translate and track customer and market requirements through to project feature verification and delivery.
3. Integrate a working knowledge of strategic planning and management with project portfolio management.
4. Select and prioritize projects to be included in the project portfolio with a focus on meeting organizational long-term strategic goals.

A sound quality management strategy and plan are critical in today’s complex business organizations and projects. Students in this course will review the history of quality efforts from Deming, Juran and Crosby in the setting of the original quality efforts, international competition, and the concept of Six-Sigma as initiated by the Motorola Corporation in response to that competition. The use of the Baldrige Excellence Framework for designing, implementing, and improving project and organizational practices that influence quality will be explored. Students will examine multiple specific process improvement approaches they could apply within their organizational / project quality plans, approaches such as preventions over Inspection and continuous Improvement of processes.

A knowledge of lean management and how it enhances business operations is required for today's project managers and operational managers. In this introductory course, students will explore the concepts and principles associated with lean management approaches. Through the study of actual lean implementations, students will develop an understanding of the relationship between lean management and agile management.

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1. Demonstrate the ability to discern when and which lean management approach might be viable in a particular given scenario.
2. Explain how lean principles support agile project management practices.
3. Demonstrate the use of specific strategies to anticipate and address the change resistance that often accompanies lean implementations.

In this 2-credit introductory course, students will develop an undertanding of the concepts and priniciples associated with the Theory of Constraints and Critical Chain thinking. We will explore the proposition that project managers should focus on those activities that are resource-constrained as opposed to the project’s critical path when monitoring project progress. We will analyse case studies that test and extend these ideas in real-world scenarios. Through the review of these case studies, students will develop an understanding of the principles associated with the theory of constraints, critical chain approaches, and how they might be used within project management.

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1. Articulate criteria for determining when Critical Chain Project Management might be applicable.
2. Explain how the principles associated with the Theory of Constraints are applicable to project management.
3. Demonstrate the application of the Theory of Constraints within a schedule developed using the Critical Chain approach.
4. Analyze the use of the Critical Chain approach within the context of specific case studies in the field.

This integrative capstone is the final course in the Master of Science in Project Management program. All other required coursework must have been completed prior to receiving approval to register for this course. Students in this course will have the opportunity to apply the principles learned to the entire program of study and will demonstrate competence by integrating and applying those skills to a real-world scenario. Students will apply knowledge in a group case study setting while documenting the decision-making process, and will analyze methodologies and rationale for selecting those methodologies in a project log including templates designed and used, case study analytical results, and decision outcome analysis/results. PREREQUISITE: All required coursework must be completed.

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1. Document experiences in a formal portfolio of exhibits including a discussion/defense of:
2. Requirements gathering methodology and results.
3. Review of analysis techniques and rationale for tools chosen.
4. Document confidence level in analytical results including the definition and defense of the process steps required to do so.
5. Analyze methodologies applied and assess process strengths and weaknesses.