MS in Project Management (MSPM1-GC)

This course provides a framework for understanding and applying the philosophy, methodologies, principles, practices, and knowledge of structured project management. It focuses on the application of this framework to initiate, plan, execute, and manage projects and to address business problems and opportunities that an organization may face. Gaining both a theoretical and a practical foundation to manage projects, students participate in a simulation activity throughout the course. They can define a business problem, plan the delivery of a solution, execute that plan, and manage the completion of its deliverables. The content and subject matter are aligned with the current edition of the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK).

This course focuses on the project team and the challenges that a project manager may face across the global market place. The course covers topics such as exploring the theories of leadership and team development, identifying an effective leadership style to align with an organization’s culture, differentiating between leadership and management skills, optimizing leadership effectiveness, utilizing leadership capabilities to achieve project objectives, building individual leadership capabilities, and developing leadership skills among team members. Students complete a leadership development plan for their project team, demonstrating the importance of leadership in successful project management.

This is a highly interactive course that takes a critical view of organizational transformation and its importance in the success of project initiatives.It moves students from gaining awareness to knowledge acquisition and progress, to synthesis and application of behavioral practices. The course covers topics such as dimensions of change, organizational development/change models and theories, critical success factors, readiness and assessment tools, organizational culture, actions and behaviors that model best practices, and initiatives to foster positive attitudes among workplace professionals in the change management process. Students master the fundamentals of building proactive and positive teams and coalitions to define the need for change and implement strategic project initiatives to transform organizations.

This course explores the ethical issues that project managers may face as they make business decisions and devise project management strategies. It is designed to raise students’ awareness and interest in the importance of creating and maintaining a solid ethical framework within all types of organizations. The core focus of the course is in defining, discussing, and addressing the unique regulatory, cultural, and personal ethical dilemmas that project managers confront in today’s global economy. Nuances and realities of formal (regulatory), global (cultural), and personal ethical risks are presented for discussion and debate.

This course is designed to examine multiple aspects of cross-cultural communication and cultural differences in the workplace. Students learn that cooperation among team members from diverse backgrounds is essential, and mastering intercultural communication is a necessity. As future practitioners in corporate, academic, non-profit, and governmental organizations, students expand their range of verbal and nonverbal communication skills and become more competent in working with others of diverse backgrounds. Throughout the course, students develop competence in managing and effectively leveraging diverse project teams.

This course explores the fundamentals of the technologies, relationships, systems, processes and possibilities created by this critical managerial competency. The organization is examined as a complex system of interconnected business processes. The role of IT in enabling the organization to operate, collaborate and make decisions to meet strategic and tactical objectives is explored. Recent advances, issues and trends in information systems management will be discussed. The course covers topics such as the sociotechnical view of systems, IT and software development, the importance and challenges of knowledge management within organizations, developing and managing information systems, data analytics, the roles of the Internet and secure communications technologies. Students develop an understanding of the important contribution IT makes to the success of organizations and how it helps management teams to make decisions, manage risk, and achieve strategic objectives.

This course focuses on providing a balanced view of methods, tools, and techniques for managing systems-centric projects across the life cycle continuum from highly predictive life cycles to highly adaptive life cycles. As all organizations are dependent on data processing, electronic communication, and on the deployment of systems and software that drives these capabilities, the manager of information systems and technology projects is faced with the demand for projects’ increased efficiencies, expediency, lower cost, and higher quality. In this course, students acquire an understanding of the framework and models for delivering a systems project with the management style required. The content and subject matter are aligned with the current edition of the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK).

This course focuses on the communications management plan, as a key component to a successful project, and its importance to all team members, sponsors, and stakeholders. Students learn how to ensure all crucial project data such as risks, budget, quality, and schedule are communicated in a timely fashion and throughout all phases of the project lifecycle to meet the customer expectations. Throughout the course, students learn to identify stakeholders, communicate problems effectively, meet stakeholders needs, identify and apply conflict resolution techniques, and communicate project objectives. The content and subject matter are aligned with the current edition of the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK).

This course focuses on the importance of a proactive approach to the management of project risk and the planning for quality. Each project is characterized by uniqueness, complexity, change, assumptions, constraints, dependencies, and people, all introducing a significant risk to the success of every project. In this course, students learn to identify, rank, and monitor risks in the project management environment to manage issues that may adversely impact the success of a project. The course covers the activities that determine quality objectives, policies, and responsibilities and how they integrate to increase the potential for a successful project. The content and subject matter are aligned with the current edition of the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK).

This course focuses on budgeting, scheduling, and procurement practices in the planning, execution, and control of a project. Students learn how to manage a variety of resources, each with its own unique characteristics, technology alignment, and traits, and how the management of these resources (including team, schedule, capital, vendors, and suppliers) is essential to a successful project. They acquire skills in managing resources and their competing constraints when executing a project. At the course completion, students are able to apply the pre-established practices and methodologies that are essential for the success of a project. The content and subject matter are aligned with the current edition of the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK).

This course explores agile project management as a project delivery methodology to help manage projects in the face of rapidly changing conditions. In this course, students learn the core principles of agile project management as well as the theory and processes for managing projects in dynamic settings. The course introduces students to environmental factors, prompting rapid and frequent changes in the project scope, and emphasizes the importance of stakeholder involvement and communications. The course covers factors such as competition, technology, shifts in customer needs, regulatory requirements, and economic conditions and their impacts on projects. The content and subject matter are aligned with the current edition of the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK).

This seminar will enhance the curriculum through the identification, analysis and application of special topics pertinent to this degree. Special topics courses will be developed to address emerging issues or industry-specific demand. Sample topics include Applying Project Management Principles in Health Care, Project Management in the Financial Services Industry, Project Management for Innovation, Project Management in Research and Development, PRINCE2, etc. The specific titles and content of each seminar, along with the course syllabus, will change to reflect the emerging topic areas of interest which can only be determined at the time of offering.

Internships provide students with the opportunity to acquire professional experience and add a real-world perspective to their studies. The course consists of on-site work at a corporation, nonprofit or governmental organization, educational institution, or small- and medium-sized company that provides an educational experience for the student, under faculty supervision. Students apply the knowledge acquired through their coursework to industry practice and explore career options. This course has GPA and credit completion requirements.

This course provides a comprehensive overview of the enterprise's collective efforts to integrate the project planning and decision-support processes, to achieve a level of control, transparency, and accomplishment vital to the organization’s success. It focuses on Enterprise Project Management (EPM), organizing an enterprise's resources in a direct relationship to its mission, strategy, goals, and objectives. In this capstone course, students create a framework to manage, monitor, and assess the status of all projects in an enterprise, through a set of uniform EPM processes, principles, and methodologies. This extends to a holistic view of managing existing and future projects as a portfolio, aligned to the enterprise’s business needs and requires students to demonstrate a comprehension of all prior courses undertaken in the program. The content and subject matter are aligned with the current edition of the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK).