Project Management

Communication is a critical element of successful projects, and project managers must develop the ability to communicate effectively with a wide diversity of stakeholders. Communication 1 is designed to support students' success in both the Project Management program and their future career. Students will learn the core concepts, as well as the tools and practices to be employed for effective project communications management. Specific focus is based on research, analysis, and communicating those findings using standard office technology.

Human Factors in Project Management is a hands-on, experiential learning-based course where students will actively participate in all aspects of the employee lifecycle. Special focus will be given to the areas of recruiting, selecting, training, engaging, coaching, leading, and exiting employees. Students will develop their skills in each area using practical, real-world examples and situations.

This course is broken into two interrelated areas of study. First, the course aims to explore the changing business environment and then understand how these changes will impact an organization and specific projects. The ability to identify and analyze industry trends is a critical skill set for all future leaders and will give successful students a competitive advantage within their career. The course then moves on to help students learn to apply those trends within an organization’s strategic development process. Beginning with the basics of strategic planning, the course moves on to develop business cases for analysis and selection. The goal is to support students in understanding the strategic process to help organizations achieve better-than-average results for the projects students will one day lead.

Leadership is a people activity and is distinct from human resource administration or planning activities. This course will explore the theories of leadership and provide some application through case studies of leadership on a project team. Students will learn the core concepts, as well as tools and practices for effective leadership in project management positions.

PMI Project Management 1 is the baseline course designed to empower students with the knowledge, skills and techniques required to lead projects. This course provides an introduction to the environment in which projects operate and focuses on the five process groups and 10 knowledge areas. An emphasis is placed on project management methods, procedures, rules, tools and techniques, triple constraints and project lifecycle. This course follows the PMI prescribed guidelines.

Practical Application 1 applies basic project management concepts using real-world case studies, situations and projects to help develop students' ability to think like project leaders. Students will progress through each project phase or stage of a project developing not just the skills but also the understanding of how to apply project concepts in new and dynamic ways. The goal of this course is to use examples to encourage student development of key concepts and how these concepts are applied in real-world environments.

Project budgeting and approvals involves formulating, estimating, evaluating, and documenting the project budget plan, using analysis to compare alternative approaches and ultimately selecting the best option. This course will cover a collection of principles, standards, processes and techniques that are required in analyzing and influencing the budget and cost management performance of projects. The key topics covered include the fundamental of project budget planning and accounting, project estimating techniques, activity-based costing (ABC) principles and techniques, project financial feasibility, earned value management, budget reporting, and project authorization approaches and techniques.

Communication 2 is built upon the foundational learnings developed in Communications 1. The course is focused on the in-person and face-to-face communications, which are so critical in today's collaborative work environment. This is a broad-based course where everything from presentation skills to coaching to complex JAD session facilitation will be explored. This is an experiential learning environment where students will get to practice working with others in a comfortable and relaxed (hopefully fun) class environment. Prerequisite: PROJ 1000

The Custom Experience and Business Transformation course is a unique curriculum that prepares students to apply progressive insights related to two critical topics facing today’s organizations. The first part of this course focuses on maximizing customer value through the development of exceptional customer experience at each of the customer touchpoints. The course will introduce key concepts to help students understand how organization can develop stronger and more profitable customer relationships. The second part of this course focuses on business transformation and organizational change and teaches project leaders the key tools, approaches, and skills to implement change within a project framework. Specific focus will be based on given best practices and real-world situations for both tactical and behavioural elements of the change management process. Prerequisite: PROJ 1004

The Innovation and Sustainability course is broken into two distinct parts. Firstly, students will focus on the key concepts, approaches, and tools within innovation. Specific focus will be on developing an innovative mindset and using that approach to successfully develop current ideas for organizations in any industry. Students will explore the importance of an innovation strategy, key terminology and concepts, selection criteria, and how to enhance creativity within complex organizations. The second part of this course will examine how global organizations are integrating the three pillars of sustainability (economic, social, and environmental) throughout the functional areas (e.g., human resources, marketing, operations, accounting, finance) of business to remain competitive in the long term. Students will explore the historical context, the business case, internationally recognized frameworks and respective principles, the role and significance of multiple stakeholders, sustainability assurance, greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.

PMI Project Management 2 builds on the knowledge and skills developed in PMI Project Management 1. Using the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® 7) as a guide to enhance students’ project capabilities within the next iteration of PMI approaches with a focus on the changes in PMI to a principles-based approach vs. the traditional process-based approach in PMBOK 6. All 12 overarching project management principles will be explored in detail, with an emphasis placed on achieving the desired project outcomes. The goal of this course, in combination with PMI Project Management 1, is to prepare students who choose to write their PMI certification. Prerequisite: PROJ 1002

Practical Application 2 builds on the foundational knowledge and skills developed in Practical Application 1. In this course students will use a complex real-world project case to further develop project management skills. Structured and designed to tie in all course learnings and encourage teaming to exchange ideas on how to solve issues within a project environment. This course's applied project is more complex, requiring a more detailed approach to ensure project results are achieved within a dynamic and changing business environment. Prerequisite: PROJ 1006

This course engages students with its hands-on approach and in-depth coverage of currently utilized industry recognized project management software systems. Through the exploration of these systems, students develop an understanding of how technology can support foundational project management knowledge in the areas of project planning, defining scope, priorities, and work breakdown structure, creating scheduling estimates for timing and project costs, developing project networks, and communicating project information, identifying compliance and risk issues, assigning resources, identifying potential efficiencies and tracking progress.

The Project Risk, Quality, and Contracts course is broken into three distinct yet interlinked topic areas. In the first section, risk is explored with a specific focus on the processes and activities necessary to manage risk throughout a project lifecycle. Students will be exposed to practical exercises, tools, and techniques for both qualitative and quantitative analysis and mitigation strategies. Students will then explore the principles and processes regarding quality within both an organizational and project framework. The objective is to help students understand the importance of quality and its practical application within a business environment in preparation for life after college. Lastly, students will gain an understanding of basic principles in contract law with a specific focus on areas of contract formation, terms and conditions, potential liability, vendor accountability, and professional conduct. Students will develop an ability to recognize and respond appropriately to contract situations that can occur in any project-based situation. Prerequisite: PROJ 1003