PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN

Transcription

1 IDEAL-NM IS A JOINT PROJECT OF THE NMHED AND NMPED SUPPORTED BY THE NEW MEXICO LEARNING NETWORK AND DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN APRIL 18, 2008 EXECUTIVE SPONSORS: NEW MEXICO HIGHER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT Dr. Reed Dasenbrock, Cabinet Secretary NEW MEXICO PUBLIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT Dr. Veronica Garcia, Cabinet Secretary NEW MEXICO DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Roy Soto, Cabinet Secretary Revision: 12.0 IDEAL-NM Project Management Plan i

2 PROJECT SPONSORS: NEW MEXICO LEARNING NETWORK Dr. Brian Ormand NEW MEXICO PUBLIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT Dr. Jim Holloway REGIONAL EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY ASSISTANCE Dr. Susie Bussmann ALBUQUERQUE PUBLIC SCHOOLS Dr. Tom Ryan NEW MEXICO HIGHER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT Veronica Chavez-Neuman BUSINESS PROGRAM MANAGERS: Dr. Tim Snyder, Executive Director Virginia Padilla Vigil, Academic Services Director Donna Harrington, elearning Technology Director PROJECT MANAGER: NEW MEXICO HIGHER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT Rocky Lira Revision: 12.0 IDEAL-NM Project Management Plan ii

3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 Project Overview INTRODUCTION CURRENT STATE FUTURE STATE NEED Scope PROJECT JUSTIFICATION PROJECT OBJECTIVES BUSINESS OBJECTIVES TECHNICAL OBJECTIVES DELIVERABLES PROJECT MANAGEMENT DELIVERABLES PROJECT CERTIFICATION PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN PROJECT MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION & VALIDATION CONTRACT COMMUNICATIONS DELIVERABLES NM DISTANCE LEARNING PLAN ( ) CYBER ACADEMY PLAN POLICY & PROCEDURE HANDBOOKS ELEARNING SERVICE DELIVERABLES ONLINE COURSES ETEACHERS ELEARNING SERVICE FACILITY ELEARNING SERVICES STAFF HELP DESK SOLUTION WEB PORTAL PROGRAM EVALUATION REPORT CONTRACTS WITH REC S TECHNOLOGY IMPLEMENTATION DELIVERABLES PROCURE LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (LMS) PROCURE WEB CONFERENCING SYSTEM LMS IMPLEMENTATION PLAN LMS IMPLEMENTATION DELIVERABLE APPROVAL AUTHORITY DESIGNATIONS DELIVERABLE ACCEPTANCE PROCEDURE WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE (WBS) Overall Strategy PROJECT MANAGEMENT LIFE CYCLE CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS Revision: 12.0 IDEAL-NM Project Management Plan iii

4 3.3 PROJECT LOGISTICS PROJECT LIFE CYCLE MODEL TECHNICAL STRATEGY Project Structure STAKEHOLDERS CUSTOMERS PROJECT TEAM PROJECT TEAM ORGANIZATIONAL BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE PROJECT TEAM ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES Project Management and Controls STAFFING PLANNING AND ACQUISITION ASSUMPTIONS CONSTRAINTS DEPENDENCIES MANDATORY DEPENDENCIES DISCRETIONARY DEPENDENCIES EXTERNAL DEPENDENCIES RISK MANAGEMENT RISK MANAGEMENT STRATEGY PROJECT RISK IDENTIFICATION PROJECT RISK ANALYSIS PROJECT RISK MITIGATION APPROACH RISK REPORTING AND ESCALATION STRATEGY PROJECT RISK TRACKING APPROACH INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION - IV&V SCOPE MANAGEMENT PLAN ISSUE MANAGEMENT INTERNAL ISSUE ESCALATION AND RESOLUTION PROCESS EXTERNAL ISSUE ESCALATION AND RESOLUTION PROCESS PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT PLAN CHANGE CONTROL CHANGE CONTROL PROCESS PROJECT TIMELINES PROJECT BUDGET COMMUNICATION PLAN COMMUNICATION MATRIX PROJECT STATUS MEETINGS PROJECT STATUS REPORTS PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT (PROJECT METRICS) BASELINES QUALITY OBJECTIVES AND CONTROL CUSTOMER SATISFACTION PROJECT/PRODUCT DELIVERABLE PRESENTATION Revision: 12.0 IDEAL-NM Project Management Plan iv

5 5.16 CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT VERSION CONTROL PROJECT REPOSITORY (PROJECT LIBRARY) Project Close ADMINISTRATIVE CLOSE CONTRACT CLOSE Glossary ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS Appendix A: Deliverable Acceptance Form Appendix B: Project Schedule (Revised March 25, 2008) Appendix C: Department Strategic Priorities and Goals Appendix D: Current State Public Education Appendix E: Future Statewide Distance Learning Map Appendix F: Existing Statewide Pilots Map Appendix G: Statewide Hosting Centers Map Appendix H: Other NM Technology Programs Appendix I: IDEAL-NM Support Letters Appendix J: NACOL Needs Assessment Appendix K: DoIT Project Certification Appendix L: Status Report Appendix M: Change Control Log Appendix N: Change Control Form Appendix O: Issue Escalation Log Appendix P: IDEAL-NM Logo Revision: 12.0 IDEAL-NM Project Management Plan v

6 Revision History Revision Number Date Comment /15/06 First draft /20/06 Insert time lines, narratives /08/07 Draft program information, & budget detail /29/07 Prepare draft for LFC review /14/07 Technical team input /28/07 HED edits, details, WBS detail /15/07 Project Manager edits /20/07 HED CIO edits 9.0 9/10/07 Project Manager edits /10/2007 Project Manager edits Schedule as separate document and new timeline /25/2008 Project Manager edits: Plan Update /18/2008 Project Manager update Revision: 12.0 IDEAL-NM Project Management Plan vi

7 1.0 PROJECT OVERVIEW 1.1 INTRODUCTION The IDEAL-NM project will establish an online learning environment that provides elearning services to New Mexico, P-12 schools, higher education institutions and government agencies. IDEAL-NM will reduce geographic and capacity barriers to educational opportunity while increasing the digital literacy skills students need to participate in a global economy. The primary goals of this project include: 1. Collaboration with New Mexico schools in providing online courses that expand educational opportunity for all students. The high-quality courses are taught by New Mexico teachers. 2. Working with Regional Education Cooperatives in facilitating elearning best-practices training for member schools. 3. Implementation of a shared elearning infrastructure using a single statewide Learning Management System (LMS), Web Conferencing System, and Help Desk for P-12 schools, higher education institutions, and government agencies. 4. Providing professional development courses for teachers, and training courses for government agency employees. 5. Promoting statewide sharing o other educational resources, including subject matter expertise, instructional content and support services. 6. Coordination with other statewide technology initiatives. IDEAL-NM will establish a common infrastructure for online learning for the three major components: Higher Education Public Education (P-12) State Agencies P-12 Courses Professional Development Teacher Training Statewide Collaboration Web-Socialization Software Dual Enrollment Common LMS elearning Course Clearinghouse Distance and Extended Learning programs Dual Enrollment Online College Credit Children Youth and Families Professional Development Department of Corrections Inmate Education Program Tele-health programs Workforce Training Opportunities State Personnel Office Employee Training Other State Agencies The services provided through the elearning Service Center will reduce geographic, schedule, and administrative barriers to educational opportunities for New Mexico learners while increasing their technological literacy. Another outcome from the statewide elearning service Revision: 12.0 IDEAL-NM Project Management Plan 7

8 center is to provide technical, instructional, and administrative support to those institutions and agencies using the standard statewide elearning delivery system. Coordinated multi-tiered help desk services and a sophisticated elearning web portal will provide schools, higher education, workforce development, and state government agencies immediate opportunity to take advantage of enterprise elearning tools. In preparation for the implementation of IDEAL-NM, the NMLN sponsored a number of planning activities. Additionally a P-12 elearning Needs Assessment was commissioned from the North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL), a national organization supporting best practices in virtual school development (NACOL, 2007). The IDEAL-NM will provide elearning courses in partnership with local schools in a fair and equitable manner, and will utilize a standard elearning delivery system, train and qualify eteachers, develop NM owned elearning courses (repository), and as a secondary strategy will develop partnerships with online course vendors and other vendors/contractors as needed to provide statewide solutions. It will allow all public middle and high schools to develop and acquire elearning courses for their students, with initial consideration for rural districts. It will scale to be a high quality, cost effective, statewide program for the State of New Mexico by leveraging existing examples nationwide, as well as the experience of a number of existing localized elearning initiatives already in the state such as the Rio Rancho Cyber Academy, SE consortium, Wheeler Peak Academy, Albuquerque Public Schools, and some various other approaches in the state. Courses and content will be made available to all NM school districts. The school district can use its own instructors to teach the students or it can contract with the IDEAL-NM teachers to instruct the course. 1.2 CURRENT STATE The state educational system is structurally disparate. Many educational initiatives are funded separately and lead to districts or institutions operating in silos. P-12 distance education has been inconsistently funded in different areas in the state, creating inequity in educational opportunities for New Mexico s children. New Mexico Public Schools have approximately 114,000 middle and high school students. Not all of those students have access to online learning opportunities that would increase their available courses. Additionally, while there is a consortium of higher education institutions using a standard Learning Management System (LMS), all have separate subscriptions at varying costs and the consortium is failing to leverage enterprise pricing. State agencies also need to enhance training opportunities for their customers and staff, and a statewide LMS system could be used for this purpose. New Mexico colleges, universities, and school districts have continued to improve their individual elearning practices over time with positive inter-district and inter-institutional collaborations. However, the wide-scale synergies apparent in other states have not yet been achieved. Collaboration will help meet the needs of New Mexico learners that currently look out of state for elearning opportunities as well as attract new learners to New Mexico. Fortunately, significant negative scenarios seen in some other states elearning environments (previously mentioned) have largely been averted to this point. Recently, New Mexico has started taking positive steps to create statewide elearning support and coordination that will be sustainable and scalable. During 2006, the New Mexico Learning Revision: 12.0 IDEAL-NM Project Management Plan 8

9 Network facilitated collaborative elearning planning involving higher education, P-12, and state government. This planning resulted in a framework for two interrelated initiatives. These include Governor Bill Richardson s IDEAL-NM (Innovative Digital Education and Learning in New Mexico) initiative, and the Cyber Academy Act (SB209/HB201), a Legislative initiative (NM Governor, 2006; NM Legislature, 2007). Both rely on a strategy of leveraging the different strengths and abilities of higher education, P-12, and state government. New Mexico has an opportunity to become a national model for multi-sector collaboration in elearning. Many states are struggling to build bridges to greater resource sharing and collaborations for elearning support between their various public sectors because their educational silos have been reinforced through many years of autonomous development. While New Mexico is currently behind the curve in development of many of the elearning support components, the opportunity exists to build a collaborative model. The NMLN is working to strengthen cooperation for more effective resource sharing and collaborative educational programs. Rural Education Cooperatives (RECs) A distance learning initiative being developed in New Mexico on a smaller scale is a consortium between two RECs and their member districts, Alamogordo Public Schools, and five institutions of higher education to developed a distance learning network to serve rural school districts. It is important to note that Inter-Agency Governmental Agreement (IGA) s have been put in place with RECs 3, 8 and 9, whereby IDEAL-NM will use RECs as regional hosts for IDEAL-NM courses. Members of the consortium: REC #8 School Districts Dexter Hagerman Lake Arthur Loving REC #9 School Districts Capitan Carrizozo Cloudcroft Corona Hondo Valley Ruidoso Tularosa Institutions of Higher Education Alamogordo Public Schools New Mexico State University (NMSU)-Alamogordo Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU)-Roswell ENMU-Ruidoso New Mexico Junior College Other distance education programs currently exist in New Mexico, including small start-up cyber schools in rural districts. NM Corrections Department (NMCD) Revision: 12.0 IDEAL-NM Project Management Plan 9

10 Miscellaneous courses were delivered through Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU) at Roswell and Portales to the inmate population at New Mexico Corrections Institutions. The total student participation as of the summer of 2003: 965 Students: 186 Women 779 Men NMCD takes advantage of nearly 50 classes each semester for inmates through ENMU-Roswell. Coordination is through the ENMU-Roswell Center for workforce and Community Development. Classes rotate through a two-year master schedule, similar to the on-campus master rotation plan. The number of inmates participating in these classes has increased by 200%, from 157 students in 15 different classes in the spring of 2002 when the program began to 358 students and 47 different classes in the spring of One key goal of the educational program ENMU-Roswell offers in the prisons is the reduction in the recidivism rate among the state s inmate population. Children Youth and Families Department (CYFD) CYFD Professional Development Bureau utilized elearning for Defensive Driving classes and a pilot program for New Employee Orientation during fiscal year During that time period, approximately 700 employees utilized the system to complete these courses. There are approximately 2500 employees in CYFD. CYFD would like to continue to use elearning for Defensive Driving, and add curriculum for HIPAA compliance training. The department will also develop curriculum to be provided via elearning in various mandatory core classes for Protective Service, Juvenile Probation Officers, and Juvenile Correction Officers training. CYFD anticipates that approximately 1,400 employees will be trained next fiscal year using this tool and as additional curriculum is developed, it is anticipated that the use of distance learning will grow approximately employees per year per course developed. Juvenile Justice Services (JJS) at CYFD is responsible for the rehabilitation of children who have been committed to CYFD facilities or probationary services by a judge. The intent of the program is to provide the tools and curriculum necessary for these children to continue their education in multiple settings focusing on individual learning goals. Student s data will be readily available to teachers and administrators to minimize the loss of educational time when a student transfers between facilities. Educational opportunities are expanded with an online curriculum for students in the juvenile justice program. The flexibility of delivery lends to the support of the juvenile facilities. The mobility issues will become non-existent if in fact the youth are moved into different levels of security or a different location. Professional development would also increase effective and efficient program implementation. There are currently six state supported schools that house juveniles for various reasons from emotional disorders to criminal offenses. These sites are limited in their course offerings by teachers available at the facilities. New Mexico Higher Education The higher education institutions have been offering distance education and supporting secondary schools for several years around the state. The New Mexico Council for Higher Education Computing and Communication Services (CHECS) is a consortium of professional Revision: 12.0 IDEAL-NM Project Management Plan 10

11 members from the computing services divisions in every institution of higher education in the state. CHECS membership also includes professionals from RECs, and P-12 technology directors. CHECS is the telecommunications provider for much of the education network services in the state. (See Statewide Hosting Map in Appendix G) North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL) 2007 Needs Assessment In an effort to seek feedback on how IDEAL-NM can be a valuable resource to district, schools, and students, the NMLN commissioned the NACOL to conduct an online Needs Assessment survey to K-12 Schools. The results of this survey have been utilized in planning the IDEAL- NM project. (See NACOL Needs Assessment in Appendix J) 1.3 FUTURE STATE Through collaboration, the NM Public Education Department (PED), the NM Higher Education Department (HED), the Department of Information Technology (DoIT), the CHECS Education Technology Consortium, and the NMLN have developed a vision for a world-class education system in which all New Mexico students are prepared to succeed in college and career. The passage of the 2007 Cyber Academy Act is an exciting component in education reform and in moving New Mexico forward. IDEAL-NM is the vehicle to carry this vision to reality. The estimated 114,000 middle and high school students in New Mexico Public Schools will have access to online learning opportunities that would increase their available courses. It is anticipated that within five years of the IDEAL-NM project being funded, all students graduating from a NM high school will have had the opportunity to experience at least one elearning course. This estimate is based on the current reported distance education population in New Mexico, the national trend of 20 percent annual increases in online courses for higher education, and to 50 percent annual increases in online courses for secondary education. A support system that allows the New Mexico education community and state agencies to share resources and knowledge, and provide additional resources for small school districts and institutions that may not otherwise be available for their students. IDEAL-NM is aligned with many existing initiatives and gets them moving in the same direction, toward meeting the needs of New Mexico s citizens. An elearning Service Center from where: high quality public school classes are offered online, high quality dual credit classes are offered online, students will graduate from high school with at least one online course completed, partnerships will evolve with local schools to expand course offerings to students, staff training and professional development can be obtained online, New Mexico students are taught by New Mexico highly qualified teachers, elearning environment is collaborative, not competitive, elearning environment is open to public, charter, home, and private school students, local schools work with their students to select online courses, price does not exceed Student Equalization Guarantee (SEG). Revision: 12.0 IDEAL-NM Project Management Plan 11

12 IDEAL-NM Statewide Model Collaborative elearning Model for New Mexico Primary Objective: Learners in New Mexico have access to a wide variety of elearning opportunities within a collaborative educational system with the least amount of geographic, scheduling, or administrative barriers. Providing/Receiving elearning Courses Higher Education Rural & Urban Schools Government Agencies elearning Service Center Online Catalog/Schedule for elearning courses, programs, and workshops provided by existing schools, colleges, universities, govt. agencies, etc. Central Support Desk (technical and administrative) for elearning Liaisons, Instructors, Facilitators, etc. Statewide Virtual School Administration and Support elearning planning for NM Alignment with and support for other educational initiatives Hosting Centers/Services for elearning Technologies Learning Management System Live 2-way Web Conferencing Receiving/Providing elearning Courses Rural & Urban Schools Higher Education Workforce Development 1.4 NEED The NMPED/HED Distance Education Taskforce identified the following priority needs for New Mexico that will be addressed by the implementation of the IDEAL-NM project. To provide all New Mexico students quality courses they are unable to get in a face-to-face setting. While the initial focus will be rural school districts, there is a growing demand for these solutions in all areas. To provide high quality professional development and training to educational staff across New Mexico. To remedy existing educational inequities affecting all New Mexicans by improving access to education, enhancing completion, maximizing workforce preparedness, and empowering participation in lifelong learning opportunities. Revision: 12.0 IDEAL-NM Project Management Plan 12

13 Economic development in New Mexico depends on raising educational levels. New Mexico lags behind the rest of the country in its level of educational attainment. This lower level of education is reflected by New Mexico s 44th ranking ($37,587 compared to $44,473 nationally) on the household median income index in 2004 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2005). New Mexico, which is a largely a rural state, is also challenged by the lower level of education among rural adults compared with urban adults (see Table 1 below). Table 1: Educational Attainment of Rural vs. Urban New Mexican Adults Level of Education Rural New Mexicans Urban New Mexicans Less than high school 25% 17% High school, no college 29% 25% Some college 28% 29% College 17% 27% Many small, rural high schools have a difficult time recruiting and retaining teachers. The principal reason teachers leave rural areas is isolation social, cultural, and professional. Frequent teacher turnover could lead to difficulties in developing and maintaining rigorous, college-preparatory courses. Many of New Mexico s education institutions face significant problems in maintaining information technology infrastructure and enterprise software applications. The number and complexity of enterprise software applications is outgrowing the available technical resources of many individual institutions. Web-based learning management systems also pose significant challenges with their increased functionality and integration requirements. A statewide investment in a learning management system is needed to provide a cost effective approach to expanding access to education, a common platform for improving teaching methods, and improved reporting capability. NACOL 2007 Needs Assessment One purpose of the Needs Assessment was to determine the level of need and interest in Online Learning Options. The level of need expressed for specific student groups was varied, with no single reason standing out but rather consistent need expressed for all categories. The need to upgrade or obtain affordable Learning Management Systems and other web-based instructional technology tools has continued to become more critical for educational institutions across the state (e.g. Higher Education, P-12, and government agencies). The demands of students and instructors for a friendly user interface coupled with growing database requirements and the need for sophisticated back-end interfaces have made obtaining complex LMS platforms unlikely for many educational institutions. The cost and complexity of the LMS software has been matched with growing hardware requirements. While vendors offer smaller schools access to this software service through Application Service Provider (ASP) contracts this solution is often beyond the budgetary constraints of the educational institution. A summary of needs were extracted from the NACOL Needs Assessment and follow: (See Appendix J for the complete NACOL Needs Assessment). 1. Need for online test preparation was highest for ACT exam preparation. Revision: 12.0 IDEAL-NM Project Management Plan 13

14 2. Spanish was identified as the world language course most needed in an online environment. 3. There was consistent need expressed for online math courses. 4. English I, II, III, and IV had nearly equivalent percentages as to which one was deemed most in need for an online environment. 5. New Mexico History was the social studies course that received the most responses as being the highest need. 6. Sixty-four percent (64%) of the responses stated that catch up curriculum (credit recovery) were a high need for virtual schools to offer. 7. The need for online professional development courses for teachers rated consistently high across all subgroups. In summary, the most common requests for online professional development were: Teaching with technology integrating technology into the curriculum Reading and Writing strategies Using Smart Boards Differentiated instruction Content specific training Classroom management strategies Assessment strategies No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Accountability Issues 2.0 SCOPE 2.1 PROJECT JUSTIFICATION In 2005, Governor Richardson announced our comprehensive Making Schools Work initiative that combines strategies for aligning education from pre-k through 20 (P-20), increasing rigor and relevance in curriculum, boosting the number of highly qualified teachers, creating 21 st century classrooms, and closing the achievement gap. Every New Mexican should have access to an affordable higher education, and be prepared to graduate and thrive in a high-wage economy. In 2006, significant statewide planning events and associated state-level support in the 2007 Legislature provided the basis for initiating IDEAL-NM outlined in the Cyber Academy Act (NM Governor, 2006; NM Legislature, 2007). 2.2 PROJECT OBJECTIVES Revision: 12.0 IDEAL-NM Project Management Plan 14

15 2.2.1 BUSINESS OBJECTIVES NUMBER Bus. Objective 1 Bus. Objective 2 Bus. Objective 3 Bus. Objective 4 Bus. Objective 5 Bus. Objective 6 DESCRIPTION Implement a shared elearning infrastructure for P-12 schools, higher education Institutions, and Government Agencies using a single statewide Learning Management System (LMS), Web Conferencing, and Help Desk. Develop dual credit elearning courses that will help high school students meet higher education entrance requirements. Work with Regional Education Cooperatives in facilitating elearning best-practices training for member schools. Provide professional development courses for teachers, and training courses for government agency employees. Promote statewide sharing of other educational resources, including subject matter expertise, instructional content and support services. Provide elearning Services to New Mexico P-12 schools, Higher Education, & Government Agencies to reduce geographic and capacity barriers to educational opportunity while increasing the digital literacy skills students need to participate in a global economy TECHNICAL OBJECTIVES NUMBER Tech. Objective 1 Tech. Objective 2 Tech. Objective 3 Tech. Objective 4 Tech. Objective 5 Tech. Objective 6 DESCRIPTION Procurement and implementation of one standard statewide LMS that will allow more collaboration between public education, higher education, and state agencies. By implementing one standard statewide LMS, an objective is to consolidate the elearning infrastructure by reducing the number of legacy Learning Management System (LMS) installations at the various Institutions and Public Schools from 22 to 3 or less and facilitate the sharing of methods, systems, processes, and data. Procurement and implementation of one standard statewide Web Conferencing System that interfaces seamlessly with the statewide LMS. To provide helpdesk support for the technical infrastructure and software interface that the learners will be accessing. Establish an elearning Portal of courses, programs, and workshops accessible to everyone. Establish an elearning Service Center in central New Mexico for P-12, Higher Education and State Agencies to support the use of a shared elearning delivery system and the administration of Academic Services. Revision: 12.0 IDEAL-NM Project Management Plan 15

16 2.3 DELIVERABLES PROJECT MANAGEMENT DELIVERABLES PROJECT CERTIFICATION Description DoIT Project Certification (See Appendix K) Deliverable Acceptance Criteria Achieve project certification by advancing through all phases of certification process. Standards for Content and Format PMP, Project Schedule, IV&V Plan, Project Closeout Report, Request for Certification Template and presentation to DoIT Project Certification Committee. Quality Review DoIT Project Certification Committee review and approval PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN Description Project Management Plan (PMP) and Project Schedule PROJECT MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES Description Project Manager Activities include coordinating of project meetings, tracking issues and documenting all aspects of project. Deliverable Acceptance Criteria Completely integrated project plan that meets standards established by the Department of Information Technology (DoIT). Standards for Content and Format MS Word format following the DoIT PMP Template. Quality Review Advisory Board review, and DoIT Project Certification Committee review and approval. Deliverable Acceptance Criteria Periodic updating of Project Management Plan and Schedule, coordination of project team meetings, tracking of issues and risks, exercising PMP change control procedures. Standards for Content and Format MS Word, MS Excel & MS Project Quality Review Advisory Board and IV&V review INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION & VALIDATION CONTRACT Description Definition of IV&V Scope of Work and establishing contract. Deliverable Acceptance Criteria Contract for IV&V services for the Technology portion of the project (e.g. LMS implementation, Web Conferencing implementation and Datacenter). Standards for Content and Format MS Word, MS Excel & MS Project Quality Review Advisory Board review, and DoIT Project Certification Committee review and approval. Revision: 12.0 IDEAL-NM Project Management Plan 16

17 2.3.2 COMMUNICATIONS DELIVERABLES NM DISTANCE LEARNING PLAN ( ) New Mexico Distance Learning Plan ( ) Deliverable Acceptance Criteria A Distance Learning planning requirement from the Cyber Academy Act SB 209. The purpose of this plan is to present a path to sustainable elearning opportunities in New Mexico for students and workforces served by P-12, higher education, and state agencies. Standards for Content and Format MS Word, MS Excel Quality Review Advisory Board review, statewide stakeholder review, NMHED and NMPED sign-off CYBER ACADEMY PLAN Cyber Academy Plan (elearning Services Plan) Deliverable Acceptance Criteria A planning document that addresses short and long-range objectives as required by the Cyber Academy Act SB 209. The purpose of this plan is to document how the New Mexico Cyber Academy will be implemented in a single document and in compliance to Cyber Academy Act SB 209. The NM Cyber Academy Plan will describe a phased approach to course selection, and priority for the delivery of courses for credit to students who have the greatest need because of geographical location or circumstances in which a school district may have difficulty delivering essential course instruction due to financial constraint or lack of highly qualified teachers. Standards for Content and Format MS Word Quality Review Advisory Board review, statewide P-12 stakeholder review, NMHED and NMPED sign-off POLICY & PROCEDURE HANDBOOKS Policy & Procedure Handbooks: District and School Handbook Student Handbook eteacher Handbook Deliverable Acceptance Criteria Policy and procedure handbooks that describes public school, state-supported school, home school, and nonpublic school student enrollment procedures for grades six through twelve, minimum course requirements, qualifications, course costs, and special situations accommodating students detained in a Juvenile Detention Facility. Standards for Content and Format MS Word Quality Review Advisory Board review, statewide stakeholder review, NMHED and NMPED sign-off ELEARNING SERVICE DELIVERABLES Revision: 12.0 IDEAL-NM Project Management Plan 17

18 ONLINE COURSES Development of Online Courses Deliverable Acceptance Criteria Develop First Semester Algebra 1 and NM History. Standards for Content and Format A section contained from within the evaluation report coordinated through the Program Assessment and Evaluation process. Quality Review Ann Thompson (Contractor), Advisory Board review, NMHED and NMPED sign-off ETEACHERS 25 eteachers recruited, trained, and available for teaching online courses provided and developed by IDEAL-NM. Deliverable Acceptance Criteria Certificates of completion from 25 eteachers who have successfully passed the eteacher training curriculum and are available to teach online courses. Standards for Content and Format MS Word, MS Excel Quality Review Advisory Board review, NMHED and NMPED sign-off ELEARNING SERVICE FACILITY elearning Service Center Facility (NEW FACILITY) Deliverable Acceptance Criteria Facilities agreement (MOU) coordinated between the State Public Education Department (PED) and the IDEAL-NM facility. Standards for Content and Format MS Word letter with signatures. Quality Review Advisory Board review, NMHED and NMPED sign-off ELEARNING SERVICES STAFF Staffing Deliverable Acceptance Criteria elearning Services Executive Director, Academic Services Director, elearning Technology Director, Student Services Coordinator, elearning Technology Specialist, Administrative Coordinator(s), Project Manager, and Help Desk staff hired and functioning in their jobs. Standards for Content and Format Job acceptance letters from each staff member and personal interviews once on task. Quality Review Interviews and staff selection is conducted by the Advisory Board. Revision: 12.0 IDEAL-NM Project Management Plan 18

19 HELP DESK SOLUTION Implementation of Help Desk Software and Services Deliverable Acceptance Criteria Help Desk Solution acquired and staff, functioning in production. Standards for Content and Format Contract established with vendor. Quality Review Advisory Board review, NMHED and NMPED sign-off WEB PORTAL IDEAL-NM Web Portal to serve P-12 students, instructors, and parents regarding online course registration, catalogs, and course descriptions. Deliverable Acceptance Criteria No Deliverable identified. The Web Portal is not funded by this project and will be facilitated by the NMLN and a separate contract with the UNM. Standards for Content and Format None. Quality Review Advisory Board review PROGRAM EVALUATION REPORT Program Evaluation Report conducted through a Professional Services Contract (Ann Thompson) Deliverable Acceptance Criteria Final Assessment Report. Standards for Content and Format MS Word, MS Excel Quality Review Advisory Board review, NMPED Approval CONTRACTS WITH REC S Contracts established with Regional Education Cooperatives (REC s) to facilitate school implementation of IDEAL-NM elearning courses. Deliverable Acceptance Criteria Contracts established between REC 3, REC 8 and REC 9 and IDEAL-NM. Standards for Content and Format MS Word, MS Excel Quality Review Advisory Board review, NMPED Approval TECHNOLOGY IMPLEMENTATION DELIVERABLES Description Project deliverables to procure and implement a standard Learning Management System (LMS) and Web Conferencing System for the state PROCURE LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (LMS) Deliverable Acceptance Criteria Through a competitive state RFP process, a vendor is Procure LMS System selected for procuring one standard LMS to the state in support of this project. Standards for Content and Format Copy of award letter to the Vendor from State Purchasing Department. Revision: 12.0 IDEAL-NM Project Management Plan 19

20 Quality Review Advisory Board review, NMHED and NMPED sign-off PROCURE WEB CONFERENCING SYSTEM Procure Web Conferencing System Deliverable Acceptance Criteria Procurement of a statewide solution for Web Conferencing. Standards for Content and Format Copy of award letter to the Vendor from State Purchasing Department. Quality Review Advisory Board review, NMHED and NMPED sign-off LMS IMPLEMENTATION PLAN Description Implementation Plan established by a deliverable specified in the NMSELS Contract and provided by LMS Vendor. Deliverable Acceptance Criteria Implementation plan describing how the LMS will be rolled out to 15 Institutions including, priority of participation, course migrations, and accessibility to LMS solution. Implementation plan will include a Migration Plan describing equipment requirements, strategy and budget requirements for transitioning from a Vendor-Hosted environment to an instate hosted environment in fiscal year eleven (FY11). Standards for Content and Format MS Word, MS Excel, MS Visio. Quality Review Advisory Board review, NMHED approval LMS IMPLEMENTATION Description Implementation for 15 Institutions. Deliverable Acceptance Criteria Letter(s) from each Institution indicating successful cut-over to the statewide standard LMS solution. Standards for Content and Format MS Word Quality Review Advisory Board review, NMHED. Revision: 12.0 IDEAL-NM Project Management Plan 20

21 2.3.6 DELIVERABLE APPROVAL AUTHORITY DESIGNATIONS DELIVERABLE NUMBER DELIVERABLE APPROVERS (WHO CAN APPROVE) Project Deliverables DATE COMPLETED & APPROVED PRJ-DEL-001a Project Certification ($2,370,000) DoIT Project Certification Committee PRJ-DEL-001b Project Certification ($5,200,000) DoIT Project Certification PRJ-DEL-002 PRJ-DEL-003 Project Management Plan (PMP) and Project Schedule Project Management Activities (PMP updates, schedule updates, project team meetings, issue tracking, risk mitigation, change control, etc.) Committee DoIT Project Certification Committee DoIT Project Certification Committee PRJ-DEL-004 IV&V Contract DoIT Project Certification Committee Product Deliverables PRD-DEL-001 January 1, 2008 Advisory Board, Legislative NMHED, NMPED Reporting June 30, 2008 Advisory Board, NMHED, NMPED PRD-DEL-002 New Mexico Distance Learning Plan Advisory Board, NMHED, NMPED October 9, 2007 December 27, 2007 December 27, 2007 Ongoing January, 2008 January 11, 2008 PRD-DEL-003 Cyber Academy Plan (elearning Services Plan) REVISED Advisory Board, NMHED, NMPED March 14, 2008 PRD-DEL-004 PRD-DEL-005 Policy and Procedures Handbooks District and School Handbook Student Handbook eteacher Handbook Online Courses (NM History and First Semester Algebra 1) Note: additional courses have been developed e.g. Nanoscience and Fractal Math) Advisory Board, NMHED, NMPED Advisory Board, NMHED, NMPED Revision: 12.0 IDEAL-NM Project Management Plan 21 March 14, 2008 March, 2008 but ongoing

22 DELIVERABLE NUMBER DELIVERABLE APPROVERS (WHO CAN APPROVE) PRD-DEL-006 eteachers Advisory Board, NMHED, NMPED PRD-DEL-007 elearning Service Facility Advisory Board, NMHED, NMPED PRD-DEL-008 elearning Services Staff Advisory Board, NMHED, NMPED PRD-DEL-009 Help Desk Solution Advisory Board, NMHED, NMPED PRD-DEL-010 Web Portal Advisory Board, NMHED, NMPED PRD-DEL-011 Program Assessment Report Advisory Board, NMHED, NMPED PRD-DEL-012 Contracts with REC s Advisory Board, NMHED, NMPED PRD-DEL-013 Procure Learning Management Advisory Board, System (LMS) NMHED, NMPED PRD-DEL-014 Procure Web Conferencing System Advisory Board, NMHED, NMPED PRD-DEL-015 LMS Implementation Plan Advisory Board, NMHED, NMPED PRD-DEL-016 LMS Implementation in 15 Advisory Board, Institutions NMHED, NMPED DATE COMPLETED & APPROVED January 18, 2008 April 1, 2008 February, 2008 In Contract Negotiations Waiting for LMS Waiting for LMS DELIVERABLE ACCEPTANCE PROCEDURE The procedure established for acceptance of each deliverable in this project is based on the business requirements. Each requirement will be assigned a number and when the requirement is completed (i.e., developed, tested, and then accepted by the Technical Lead and the designated Project Steering Team representative); it is logged and tracked on the Deliverable Acceptance Form (see Appendix A Acceptance Management). This procedure and form allows the Project Manager and the Project Team to view all completed deliverables and to adjust the project schedule, as needed, to meet project deadlines. 2.4 WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE (WBS) The work breakdown structure will be expanded upon after a Cyber Academy Plan and the selection of a Learning Management System is established. A facilitated session to complete the WBS will be run by the Project Manager and the Advisory Board. The WBS work session will further establish a work plan. These will be broken down into tasks to meet the business and technical objectives. The WBS will then be expanded into task assignments, estimating, and creating a complete project schedule. Following is a very high level WBS breaking out the major components of this project. Revision: 12.0 IDEAL-NM Project Management Plan 22

23 Revision: 12.0 IDEAL-NM Project Management Plan 23

24 3.0 OVERALL STRATEGY IDEAL-NM Courses See recent documentation, brochures, website, etc The project goal is to establish two High School level courses (e.g. NM History and First Semester Algebra 1) by opening day of the Cyber Academy on August 1, The approach to achieving this goal will be phased but aggressive. The strategy is as follows: Fall 07 semester online courses, August 31, NM Public Education Department (PED) will extend and modify currently active contracts with vendors in order to purchase online courses and enroll students. The NMLN will provide funding for these initial courses. These purchased courses include trained instructors provided by the vendor and will quickly enable enrollment of approximately 300 students. This exercise will reveal dos and don ts in providing online courses. It will also serve as orientation for Public School teachers planning to be trained for online course offerings in spring (January, 2008). Online course development, August 31, 2007 to January, Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) has offered to provide 500 licenses of their LMS in order to initiate course development beginning August, Two course sections of First Semester Algebra 1 and NM History will undergo a 5-month development cycle and be ready for spring enrollment in January, During this same timeframe, 25 teachers and facilitators from REC 3, 8 and 9 will be trained and prepared for spring semester. Spring 08 semester online courses, January, Two course sections of NM History and Algebra will have been developed with APS licenses and offered for spring semester. Program Evaluation, April, A contract will be established for an independent Program Evaluator (Ann Thompson) who will provide an assessment in regards to how well the program is following the NACOL needs assessment, the Distance Learning Plan, and the elearning Services (Cyber Academy) plan. Data Center fully Implemented, June 2, By June 2, 2008 at minimum, one (1) Data Center will have the statewide LMS and Web Conferencing software fully implemented and ready for course integration. Course Integration to statewide LMS, June 2, After a fully functional Data Center is in place, integration of courses can begin. Integration of previously developed high school level NM History and Algebra courses as well as other courses developed (e.g. Nanoscience and Fractal Math) can be integrated to the statewide online learning environment. It is projected that by opening day of the Cyber Academy, courses will be offered utilizing the newly implemented Data Center. It is anticipated that course integration will continue over the next 2 to 5 years. Continued online course development, June, 2008 to August 1, Two sections of First Semester Algebra 1 and NM History online courses will be fully integrated into the statewide LMS. Opening Day for NM Cyber Academy, August 1, Revision: 12.0 IDEAL-NM Project Management Plan 24

25 elearning Services Center The elearning Services Center will house the Director(s), helpdesk staff, and Project Manager for the project. The elearning Services Center will provide students with a support phone number and one-stop for a multi-level tiered help desk service center. The strategy is as follows: Establish facility, August, The Rio Rancho Cyber Academy (RRCA) in Rio Rancho, NM has been established as the elearning Services Center and is operational today. Move to a NEW facility, June, The RRCA facility conflicts with the requirements of the IDEAL-NM elearning Services Center. A new facility located in northeast Albuquerque is expected to be ready for move-in by June, 2008 and before opening day (August 1, 2008). Executive Staffing, April, Staffing the elearning Services Executive Director, elearning Technology Director and Academic Services Director will be completed by April, Helpdesk Staffing, June, Legislature did not approve funding for helpdesk staff. Therefore alternative contract services for helpdesk staff will have to be established along with helpdesk software in a complete helpdesk service package initially. Helpdesk Software, June, Helpdesk software will be the responsibility of the elearning Technology Director. It is expected that a full helpdesk service will be procured and operational by June, Software Delivery (LMS & Web Conferencing) Software delivery begins with procurement of the LMS and Web Conferencing software. However, procurement requires a completed project plan (PMP), IV&V plan, and advancing through the Initiation and Planning Phases of project certification with the DoIT. The strategy is as follows: Project Certification, December, Beginning July 1, 2007, the project manager will begin developing the project management plan (PMP) and IV&V plan for achieving project certification from where DFA will release funding for this project. Funding was released from DFA in February, LMS Software Procurement, May, Beginning July 1, 2007, the project manager will finalize the LMS RFP, establish an evaluation committee, and through a state RFP process, procure a statewide LMS. The process for establishing an RFP, selecting finalists through the state procurement process and establishing a contract have taken a considerable amount of time unexpectedly. A project-saving strategy now is to establish a contract with the LMS vendor who can provide hosting services for the state for the first 2-years, with a migration plan in place for the third-year whereby hosting will be migrated back to an in-state hosted environment. This will save the original 6-months that it would have taken to establish an in-state hosting center to host the LMS. The vendor-hosted environment can be provided to the state within 30-days notice. Web Conferencing Software Procurement, August, A new strategy for Web Conferencing is now being considered. IDEAL-NM funding allowances were greatly Revision: 12.0 IDEAL-NM Project Management Plan 25

26 reduced from the original request. Therefore, funding for a statewide Web Conferencing Software is not there. However, since hiring the elearning Technology Director, a consideration for establishing a state contract for Web Conferencing is being considered as well as a possible Open-Source solution whereby the LMS vendor might be able to establish the necessary links from the statewide LMS to the Web Conferencing software system such as is required. It is expected that we will have a Web Conferencing solution before opening day on August 1, 2008, assuming the LMS is procured in May, Enhance elearning Web Portal, March, Enhancement s to the statewide elearning Web Portal is not a defined deliverable in the IDEAL-NM project. However, an enhanced Web Portal is a dependency to ensure Business Objectives 4, 5 and 6 are met. Beginning September, 2007 the NMLN will contract with the University of New Mexico to enhance the Portal from which there will be a one-stop-shop for enrolling in NM History and Algebra courses before Fall 08 opening day of the Cyber Academy. Expectations for February, 2008 are to improve visual design, navigation, and site searching, with further development of information pages, and allow for linking to Cyber Academy programs, schedules, and information. Students will be able to contact their appropriate counselor for help with registration for courses. Improvements to content provider functionality will include improving course/program upload & maintenance capability and extending this capability to P-12 and Government Agencies. Although the portal will allow for limited functionality in regards to registration and enrollment for advisors, additional How to documents, useful links, and documentation will be made available to teachers and students. Updates to the Role Management and Security functions will be made to support Advisor logins. Implement LMS, June Beginning when a contract is established with the statewide LMS vendor, the elearning Technology Director together with the LMS vendor will establish an implementation plan for fifteen (15) Institutions to convert over to the new statewide solution. This will be the first contracted deliverable required from the LMS vendor. The contract will specify hosting of the LMS to be in a vendor-hosted environment for the first 2-years of their contract. The implementation plan will also establish a migration plan to transition from a vendor-hosted environment to a New Mexico in-state hosted environment. Until the LMS software has been acquired, it is undetermined what the implementation plan will be. However, given the two (2) LMS finalists have been selected from the procurement process, institutions should be able to determine timelines for converting over to each of them independently that would greatly help in resolving expectations now. Compliance to IT Service Delivery Model. The LMS strategy complies with the DoIT Service Delivery Model. For the first 2-years of hosting the LMS, hosting services will be provided in a vendor-hosted environment whereby minimal impact on the state s network infrastructure will be experienced. However, in year-3 the vendor-hosted LMS environment will migrate to an in-state hosted environment and the DoIT will have to be prepared to provide necessary bandwidth, 24x7 support, and service level agreements as required from an in-state hosting center. Revision: 12.0 IDEAL-NM Project Management Plan 26