Project Management

The certificate in Project Management will prepare students to be effective contributors and    leaders in today’s contemporary business world.  Project-oriented work makes up the bulk of managerial activity in today’s organizations with multi-dimensional and increasingly complex projects being the norm.  This certificate program will be of interest/value to students and employees of all business functions as project improvement initiatives are prevalent in all business disciplines (finance, accounting, marketing, operations, MIS, etc.).       

The free-standing Certificate Program is comprised of nine graduate credit hours consisting of MBA 616, MBA 695, and one of two electives: MBA 617 or MBA 665.  Note that the nine credit hours do not include any prerequisites that must be satisfied for specific courses.  Prerequisites have equivalent courses offered at the undergraduate level.  Transfer hours may be used toward prerequisites but not toward any of the nine credit hours required for the Certificate Program.

Curriculum:

MBA 616. Project Management for Professionals. 3 Hours.  Project-oriented work makes up the bulk of managerial activity in organizations and consequently knowledge of project management principles is valued highly. This course offers a broad review of issues and approaches to contemporary professional project management useful for any MBA student and future manager.  By focusing on the “PMBOK”, i.e., the body of knowledge as specified by the Project Management Institute (PMI), it also builds a foundation for students who wish to take the professional certification exam for either the CAPM (Certified Associate in Project Management) or the PMP (Project Management Professional, which requires 4,500 hours of project management experience) certificates.*  Prerequisite(s): MBA 611 and MBA 612.

MBA 665. System Analysis & Design. 3 Hours. Introduction to concepts and techniques for analyzing and designing systems. Appropriate activities will be performed and models created for the analysis and design phases of the development life cycle. Systems development project using a CASE tool. Prerequisite(s): MBA 660.

MBA 617. Business Process Improvement. 3 Hours. Study of the concepts and techniques of business process analysis and improvements as building blocks for all business improvement strategies, using a range of tools from simple process-mapping to computer-based process-modeling. Balancing technical/analytical and organizational/behavioral aspects of business process improvements are highlighted. The class will include a business process analysis/improvement project using a process modeling software. Prerequisite(s): MBA 611, MBA 612.

MBA 695.  Individual Research - Project Management Experiential Application. 3 Hours. This certificate capstone independent study course requires the student to integrate/demonstrate project management theory and best practices with practical application by working on a real-world client project. Student projects are coordinated with the UD Center for Project Excellence.  Students demonstrate through their selected project, their professional application of problem identification (systems analysis/business process analysis), project initiation, planning, execution, monitoring/control and closing.  Students work with CPE teams or a student proposed project if approved by the course/CPE director.