Agile Lean Product Development

Course Information

Course Description: This capstone course provides to students the experience to build a truly comprehensive project management plan using the learning from the entire M.S. Project Management program.

Course Prerequisites: GRAD 695 plus additional 27 credit hours fulfilling the core course and elective requirements of the M.S. Project Management degree.

Course Goals and Learning Objectives

Course Goal:

In this course, students will master with at least 80% accuracy the ability to develop, document, and present a comprehensive project management plan for an applied project.

Course Learning Objectives:

1) Planning a Project: Demonstrate the applied use of the traditional PMBOK Process Groups and Knowledge Areas with industry standard artifacts in the planning of projects to meet stakeholder needs within constraints.

· Develop a Project Charter

· Develop a comprehensive Project Management Plan including comprehensive scope Statement, communication plan and stakeholder register, risk management plan and register, work breakdown structure, schedule management plan with detailed Gantt Chart with resources, costs and dependencies, change management plan

· Generate appropriate status and cost reports

2) Agile Frameworks Other than Scrum for a Team. Demonstrate the applied knowledge and technical expertise in the management of a single team to meet stakeholder needs within constraints and aligned with agile project management frameworks with industry best practices.

· Compare and contrast this plan with Agile project management practices

3) Stakeholder and Communications Management. Demonstrate the use of project management communication strategies and stakeholder management processes.

· Present the project Management Plan in Writing

· Present and defend the Project Plan orally

4) Strategic Enterprise Awareness: Demonstrate strategic financial and organizational contextual awareness and insight by linking key stakeholder objectives to sustainable competitive strategies required to deliver value across operational functions using traditional and agile techniques.

· Use strategic organizational management principles in selecting and managing projects.

Course Materials

Course Text Book:

Project Management Institute, Project Management Body of Knowledge Book, 6th Edition, 2017

Course Grades & Grading Policies

Course Grading

Grading Policies and Range of Grades

Grades: A 95-100; A- 90-94; B+ 87-89; B 84-86; B- 80-83; C+ 77-79; C 74-76; F 73 or lower.

Review the designated Grading Criteria before beginning work on a graded item so that you start on the right track. Additionally, review the Grading Criteria before submitting a graded item to make sure you have fulfilled the expectations. Finally, review the Grading Criteria when you receive the scores to see in what areas you did well and in what areas you need to improve. Your work will be evaluated according to the following general PMGT guidelines:

Excellent: Exceptional effort. Individual was always prepared to discuss, present, and provide feedback. Work reflects consistent participation and engagement in a manner that reflects a deep interest in and understanding of the course content. Regular contributions are consistently thoughtful, constructive, and beneficial to all involved in the course. Assignments and projects are thoroughly and thoughtfully completed, always indicating additional work, insight, and integration of ideas. Assignments and projects are completed on time, according to requirements, and with a thorough understanding of how individual pieces of the course build upon and integrate with each other. (Range of grades: A 95-100)

Above Average: Good effort. Individual was often prepared to discuss, present, and provide feedback. Work reflects consistent participation and engagement in a manner that reflects an advanced interest in and understanding of the course content. The majority of contributions are consistently thoughtful, constructive, and beneficial to all involved in the course. Assignments and projects are thoroughly and thoughtfully completed, often showing some additional work, insight, or integration of ideas. Assignments and projects are completed on time, according to requirements, and with an understanding of how individual pieces of the course build upon and integrate with each other. (Range of grades: A- 90-94, B+ 87-89)

Average: Basic Effort. Individual was sometimes prepared to discuss, present, and provide feedback. Work reflects consistent participation and engagement in a manner that reflects some interest in and understanding of the course content. Some contributions are thoughtful, constructive, and beneficial to all involved in the course. Assignments and projects are completed, occasionally showing some additional work, insight, or integration of ideas. Assignments and projects are completed on time, according to requirements, and with a basic understanding of how individual pieces of the course build upon and integrate with each other. (Range of grades: B 84-86)

Below Average: Lack of Effort. Individual was rarely prepared to discuss, present, and provide feedback. Work reflects some participation and engagement, but in a manner that reflects little interest in and understanding of the course content. A few contributions are thoughtful, constructive, and beneficial to all involved in the course. Assignments and projects are completed, but do not show additional work, insight, or integration of ideas. Assignments and projects are completed on time, but lack requirements and indicate little understanding of how individual pieces of the course build upon and integrate with each other. (Range of grades: B- 80 – 83, C+ 77 – 79, C 74-76)

Unacceptable: No Effort. Individual was never prepared to discuss, present, and provide feedback. Work reflects no participation and engagement and there is no interest in and understanding of the course content. Contributions are nonexistent or contain no thoughtful or constructive elements. Assignments and projects are not completed on time. (Range of grades: F 73 or lower)  

Attendance

Attendance at the Executive Sessions and Weekly Class Sessions is very important at Harrisburg University. It affects your learning and it affects the credit you receive for your courses, for which Harrisburg University is accountable.  The total loss of points due to lack of attendance can be a 20% deduction from your final course grade. There are no “extra points” because you attended, you can only lose points if you do not attend. Calculation is as follows (percentages refer to your total course grade):

Not attending an executive session: Minus 5% per session.  Executive sessions cannot be made up. Attendance points will be deducted if you arrive late or leave early.

Missed Online Class Policy: Students are expected to attend the weekly sessions and if absent to watch the live recording within 7 days of the missed session. An email must be sent to the professor notifying them of the missed class session. A summary of the session must be posted in the designated area on the Moodle course page within 7 days to receive full credit for attending the session. It should include the following:

· Title and date of missed class in topic line

· A 250-word summary of the session

· Up to 4 key learning points noted while watching the session

· At least 1 “take away” or “lessons learned” that you can apply to your professional or personal life

Excused Absences. F-1 visa Federal Regulations indicate that for an absence to be excused, a student must provide a note from a US Licensed Medical Doctor stating that you are unable to attend class for the specific date(s) of absence due to illness.  All other absences will be marked as unexcused. Academic consequences for an absence from an executive weekend class are decided by each individual professor per Harrisburg University policy and usually involve significant point loss. Visa/F-1 Student Status will not be impacted by absence from one unexcused absence of an executive format class but more than one per semester would need to be reported to a DSO and puts both academic and visa status at risk.

Student Engagement

Student Engagement. Students are expected to spend a minimum of 126 hours of student engagement (for a three-credit course) led by a faculty member. These hours are delivered through a variety of instructor-led activities; and may include: Adobe Connect sessions, audio and/or video lecture with Q & A, online discussion boards, one-on-one dialogue, problem solving scenarios, projects, research papers, and so on to ensure all course outcomes are met. For a graduate level course, this averages to 9 hours of individual work per each 3-credit class.

Class Participation. Students must have a working laptop for all meetings along with a working microphone to participate in group discussions. Cell phones and other electronic devices must be turned off or silenced during all course meetings. Students unable to fully participate in class may be considered absent at the professor’s discretion.

STANDARDS OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Honor Code. All students are required to abide by the Student Honor Code of Conduct described in the Student Handbook, which includes academic integrity and responsibility for learning.  Students are responsible for understanding the requirements for each course, for complying with the rules, and for reading, understanding, and complying with the Student Honor Code of Conduct.  The Student Handbook is located on MyHU under the home tab. 

Standards of Academic Integrity. Harrisburg University expects a student to act honorably and in accordance with the standards of academic integrity. Academic integrity is grounded in mutual trust and respect. Therefore, it is expected that a student will respect the rights of others and will only submit work that is their own, refraining from all forms of lying, cheating and plagiarism. Lack of academic integrity includes:

Plagiarism: Plagiarism is using the ideas of others and/or words without clearly acknowledging the source of that information. It is assumed that all work submitted for a grade will be the product of the student's own understanding, and thus expressed in the student's own words, calculations, computer language, etc. This means all writing assignments, in class or outside of class, are assumed to be composed entirely of words written (not simply found) by the student, except where words written by someone else are specifically marked as such with proper citation. There is zero tolerance for plagiarism at Harrisburg University. Faculty may use Turnitin or other originality checking software as a tool to detect plagiarism in student work.  Any student wishing to challenge the faculty decision may follow the Disciplinary Process for Student Incidents of Misconduct described in the Student Handbook available on MyHU.  

Cheating: All examinations and other assignments are to be completed by the student alone, without inappropriate assistance of any kind. That means no help is to be given to or received from other persons during tests; no books, notes, cellphones, iPods, calculators, or other materials or devices of any kind are to be consulted, unless the professor instructs otherwise.

Fabrication, alteration of documents, lying, etc.: It is wrong to lie to an instructor to get an excused absence, an extension on a due date, a makeup examination, an Incomplete, admission to a class or program, etc. It is wrong to forge an instructor's signature on any document, or anywhere else for academic advantage. It is wrong to falsify transcripts and diplomas. It is wrong to falsify data, for example, in an assigned lab project, or fabricate quotations or sources for a paper.

Assisting others in academic misconduct: Helping someone else cheat is a violation of the academic integrity standards. In other words, providing another student with a paper or homework, or any other form of help, where the student knows, or reasonably should know, that the other student will use it to cheat is considered a violation.

Academic Dishonesty – Plagiarism Policy. When an incident of academic dishonesty is suspected, the faculty member responsible for that course shall notify the accused student of the incident. If the faculty member determines that an incident of academic dishonesty has occurred, the faculty member may assign an appropriate consequence including (a) assignment of a grade of zero percent (0%) for the assignment in question; (b) referral of the student for remedial plagiarism education; (c) assignment of a grade of “F” for the course in question; or a combination of those consequences. Additional information about the HU Plagiarism Policy can be found in the Student Handbook available on MyHU.

Disciplinary Process. A violation of the Standards of Academic Integrity could result in academic consequences. Please see the Student Handbook for details of procedures in the event of a violation of the Standards of Academic Integrity.