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Instructor: Dr. Austin.Umezurike [biography]

Email: [email protected] at any time.

Telephone :

Office Hours : 6-9PM EST (M-F)

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This course explores successful project management for information technology projects. The System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) models are defined including the waterfall, spiral, incremental release, and prototyping models. Students will differentiate between these models and apply corresponding project management methods to identify critical checkpoints and reviews. Risk management, as applied to technology projects, is examined. Key project indicators are discussed, and students will explore defining measurement criteria for determining critical success factors on a project. The course defines the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities and includes a tutorial for Microsoft Project. Emphasis is placed on the three dimensions of the information technology project constraints: scope, time, and cost. Students are recommended to have access to Microsoft Project. Course software requirements with the appropriate versions are listed under the Resources.

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This course provides students with the foundations for effective project management in modern organizations. The course begins with a comprehensive introduction to the main components of the project management discipline. Specifically, a comprehensive and thorough examination of the five project management process groups will increase the knowledge and understanding to oversee critical projects. Students will understand the challenges of initiating a project and developing a critical planning strategy to begin the project management cycle. Students will apply the concepts to develop critical project management plans that are used in the business environment. The course culminates with development of a detailed final project including concepts such as scope management, risk management, resource management, and schedule development.

This course explores successful techniques for managing information technology projects. Emphasis will be placed on typical corporate/organizational technology projects such as developing websites, upgrading software and hardware, implementing commercial off the shelf (COTS) software, etc. Several System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) models are examined including the waterfall, spiral, incremental release, and prototyping models. Students will differentiate between these models and apply corresponding project management methods to identify critical checkpoints and reviews. Emphasis will be placed on using templates and other practical methodologies to quickly create reasonable, accurate and appropriately detailed project plans.

Risk management practices, as applied to technology projects, are also examined. Key project indicators are discussed, and students will explore defining and tracking measurement criteria for determining/monitoring critical success factors on a project. The course defines the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities and includes a tutorial for Microsoft Project. Emphasis is placed on managing the three dimensions of information technology project constraints: scope, time, and cost.

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Upon completion of this course of study, the student will be able to:

Course Objectives #1: Analyze foundation principles of project management.

Course Objectives #2: Deconstruct key elements of the project management functions.

Course Objectives #3: Understand the concept of a project phase and the project life cycle and distinguish between project development and product development.

Course Objectives #4: Analyze attributes of IT project management.

Course Objectives #5: Understand key elements of Portfolio Management.

Course Objectives #6: Discuss project stakeholder management.

Course Objectives #7: Deconstruct key element of a project charter.

Course Objectives #8: Discuss key components of a statement of work.

Course Objectives #9: Analyze processes of project risk management.

Course Objectives #10: Discuss Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).

Course Objectives #11: Analyze processes of realistic scheduling.

Course Objectives #12: Discuss fundamentals and techniques of accurate estimating.

Course Objectives #13: Discuss key components of a high performance project team.

Course Objectives #14: Discuss processes of effective project communications.

Course Objectives #15: Understand tools and techniques of project metrics.

Course Objectives #16: Discuss how to achieve project success factors.

Course Objectives #17: Discuss key components of Enterprise Project Management (EPM) and Project Management Offices (PMO).

Course Objectives #18: Understand the key to build the right products – requirement engineering.

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This course delivered via distance learning will enable students to complete academic work in a flexible manner, completely online. Resources and access to an online learning management system will be made available to each student. Assignments are due by the dates listed in the schedule below and include Forums questions (accomplished in groups through a threaded Forums), article reviews, research papers, and individual assignments. Assigned faculty will support the students throughout this eight-week course.

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Required Text

Verzuh, E.(2011). The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management (4 ed.). Wiley. ISBN 978-1118073773 or 1118073770

Optional Text

Project Management Institute (2013). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge: PMBOK® Guide (5 ed.). Project Management Institute. ISBN 978-1935589679 or 1935589679

Software Requirements

· MS Word or any word processor with the ability to export a *.txt file

· Adobe Acrobat Reader

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Your final course grade will be based upon the following:

Introductions

In the Introductions under Forums, provide an introduction about yourself to the class. Include some information about your job and the time zone where you reside. Include your project management experience, if any, and your field of expertise (i.e. IT, Construction, Medical).

All work must be original. Please read and understand the University policy on academic dishonesty. You must credit your sources and provide the appropriate references on your assignments. All submitted work will use the APA citation format.

Article Summaries

Each student will be required to complete four article summaries. Students will find a current article related to the subject of the week, summarize the article in their own words, and then describe how the article relates to course concepts. Each article summary will be a minimum of two pages. Additionally, you must provide the article used as the basis for the summary. Try to find peer-reviewed articles from APUS online library with at least 10 pages.

Risk Management Paper

Write a paper discussing your work experience, observations, and/or outside reading on a topic involving practical risk management (e.g. disaster recovery, changes in project scope, technology risk, etc.). Be sure to relate your experiences to the course concepts. This will be a minimum of four pages.

Project Metrics Paper

Write a paper discussing your work experience, observations, and/or outside reading on the use of practical project metrics, measurements, single value indicators (metric), and/or controlling variances (e.g. what facilities does Microsoft Project provide for Project Managers and Team Leaders to track progress against plan/budget). Be sure to relate your experiences to the course concepts. This will be a minimum of four pages.

Research Proposal and Research Paper

Each student will be required to complete a research paper on an individually selected topic. The research paper should be a minimum of 10 pages and not to exceed 15 pages (including Cover Sheet and References page). The research paper should demonstrate your grasp of the concepts covered in the course. The topic can apply to a project management issue of particular interest to you or your work place. Each student will select and submit their topic for approval including a one-page proposal for approval.

Note that TurnItIn.com originality index report is required. It must be less than 15% and individual items have to be 2% or less. Class id and passcode will be published in the announcement section.

Forums

Classroom interactions are a vital part of the online experience. Valuable knowledge can be gained from understanding the experiences of other class participants. Students are expected to actively participate in the Forums multiple times through the week.

Initial Forum Response (1)

1) You will analyze the premise established in the Forum and provide a substantial input. You should develop well-constructed inputs detailing this analysis and apply the concepts to examples in industry. Your input will include supporting sentences using the terms, concepts, and theories with appropriate references to support your position. Relevant references in APA format are required for the end of each input.

2) Each initial response should be a courteous paragraph containing a topic sentence with good supporting sentences.

3) Post it on or before Friday to give others a chance to respond.

Peer Reviews (2)

1) The peer review will evaluate and challenge the compelling points contained in another student’s initial response. It should add new and relevant information to the discussion. Your peer reviews will demonstrate a substantial understanding the subject by consistently participating in intense Forum dialog. Relevant references in APA format are required for the end of each input.

2) Each peer review should be a courteous paragraph containing a topic sentence with good supporting sentences.

Forum Week 1 – Analyze and describe the elements of the triple constraint in project management. Summarize how the triple constraint impacted management of an IT project from your experience. If you have no IT project management experience, you can search APUS online library for peer-reviewed articles or the Internet sources. Make sure to cite all sources of your information.

Forum Week 2 – Why is it critically important to align IT projects with the business strategy? What would be your plan to align future IT projects with business strategy?

Forum Week 3 – At first, stakeholder identification seems pretty straightforward – name the people who will affect the project or be affected. In fact, all too frequently some very important stakeholders are forgotten. How will you identify stakeholders? How will you keep your stakeholders engaged and informed?

Forum Week 4 – Summarize risk management in a project from your experience or reading. What tools can be used to assist in risk management? Make sure to cite all sources of your information.

Forum Week 5 – Summarize the two most important tools and techniques used in estimating software projects. Provide an example of how these tools were applied in your work environment. Why did you select these as the two most critical tools? Make sure to cite all sources of your information.

Forum Week 6 – Summarize project communications in a project from your experience. What tools and processes were implemented to promote communications? Why were the tools/processes successful or unsuccessful? Make sure to cite all sources of your information.

Forum Week 7 – After completing your assigned readings, summarize Earned Value Management (EVM). Share EVM experiences you have in your projects or organizations with the class. If you don't have EVM experiences, can EVM be applied to your projects or your organization? Make sure to cite all sources of your information.

Forum Week 8 – Summarize Enterprise Project Management (EPM) model and Project Management Office (PMO). Share EPM and PMO experiences you have in your projects or organizations. Make sure to cite all sources of your information.

Student Questions

Please do not hesitate to contact me through the messages in the classroom or call if you have any questions.

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Please see the Student Handbook to reference the University’s Grading Scale.

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Please see the student handbook to reference all University policies. Quick links to frequently question asked about policies are listed below.

Drop/Withdrawal Policy

Plagiarism Policy Extension Process and Policy

WRITING EXPECTATIONS

All written submissions should be submitted in a font and page set-up that is readable and neat. It is recommended that students try to adhere to a consistent format, which is described below.

1. Typewritten in double-spaced format with a readable style and font and submitted inside the electronic classroom (unless classroom access is not possible and other arrangements have been approved by the professor).

1. Arial 11 or 12-point font or Times New Roman styles.

1. Page margins Top, Bottom, Left Side and Right Side = 1 inch, with reasonable accommodation being made for special situations and online submission variances.

CITATION AND REFERENCE STYLE

ONLINE LIBRARY RESEARCH CENTER & LEARNING RESOURCES

The Online Library Resource Center is available to enrolled students and faculty from inside the electronic campus. This is your starting point for access to online books, subscription periodicals, and Web resources that are designed to support your classes and generally not available through search engines on the open Web. In addition, the Center provides access to special learning resources, which the University has contracted to assist with your studies. Questions can be directed to [email protected].

1. Charles Town Library and Inter Library Loan: The University maintains a special library with a limited number of supporting volumes, collection of our professors’ publication, and services to search and borrow research books and articles from other libraries.

1. Electronic Books: You can use the online library to uncover and download over 50,000 titles, which have been scanned and made available in electronic format.

1. Electronic Journals: The University provides access to over 12,000 journals, which are available in electronic form and only through limited subscription services.

1. Turnitin.com is a tool to improve student research skills that also detect plagiarism. Turnitin.com provides resources on developing topics and assignments that encourage and guide students in producing papers that are intellectually honest, original in thought, and clear in expression. This tool helps ensure a culture of adherence to the University's standards for intellectual honesty. Turnitin.com also reviews students' papers for matches with Internet materials and with thousands of student papers in its database, and returns an Originality Report to instructors and/or students.

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Additional bibliographic information is provided in Course Resources.

Bates, S. (2010). Running a meeting: Ten rookie mistakes and how to avoid them [Online]. Available: http://www.managementconsultingnews.com/articles/bates_meeting.php

Campbell, C. (2006). The One-Page Project Manager: Communicate and Manage Any Project with a Single Sheet of Paper. Hobeken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons

Chapman, C. & Ward, S. (2003). Project Risk Management: Processes, Techniques and Insights, 2nd Edition. Hobeken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons

Cook, C. (2005). Just Enough Project Management. New York, NY: Mcgraw-Hill

Cusolito, R. (2010). Common challenges project managers face and tips for solving them [Online]. Available: http://www.butrain.com/project-management-training-courses/project-manager.asp

Fleming, Q. & Koppelman, J. (2005). Earned Value Project Management. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute

Mathur, A. (2007). Scope management [Online]. Available: http://www.projectperfect.com.au/info_scope_management.php

Marchewka, J. (2006). Information Technology Project Management: Providing Measurable Organizational Value. Hobeken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons

Morris, P. & Pinto, J. (2007). The Wiley Guide to Project Control. Hobeken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons

Turbit, N. (2004). Creating a communication plan [Online]. Available: http://www.projectperfect.com.au/info_comms_plan.php

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Appendix A – Grading Rubric

All written assignments will be assessed according to this rubric. Note that a score of 0 may be assigned in any category where your work does not meet the criteria for the beginning level.

Student exhibits a defined and clear understanding of the assignment. Thesis is clearly defined and well constructed to help guide the reader throughout the assignment. Student builds upon the thesis of the assignment with well-documented and exceptional supporting facts, figures, and/or statements. 

Establishes a good comprehension of topic and in the building of the thesis. Student demonstrates an effective presentation of thesis, with most support statements helping to support the key focus of assignment. 

Student exhibits above average usage of subject matter in assignment. Student provides above average ability in relating course content in examples given. Details and facts presented provide an adequate presentation of student’s current level of subject matter knowledge.

Student takes a common, conventional approach in guiding the reader through various linkages and connections presented in assignment. However, student presents a limited perspective on key concepts throughout assignment. Student appears to have problems applying information in a problem-solving manner. 

Student explains the majority of points and concepts in the assignment. Learner demonstrates a good skill level in formatting and organizing material in assignment. Student presents an above average level of preparedness, with a few formatting errors. Assignment contains less than 5 resources.

Assignment reflects basic writing and grammar, but more than 5 errors. Key terms and concepts are somewhat vague and not completely explained by student. Student uses a basic vocabulary in assignment. Student’s writing ability is average, but demonstrates a basic understanding of the subject matter.