The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs (CUPPA) Graduate Program in Public Administration COURSE SYLLABUS

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1 The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs (CUPPA) Graduate Program in Public Administration COURSE SYLLABUS PA 462 PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR PUBLIC MANAGERS Fall Semester 2013 Jeffrey M. Gawel, MPA, PMP, CSM Director of Information Technology Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago 1313 E. 60 th Street Chicago, IL Telephone: (cell) Office Hours: By Appointment COURSE OVERVIEW Strong project management skills play a critical role in today s public sector environment, where public administrators are required to deliver upon time-sensitive, critical projects while also attempting to keep the project scope and costs in check. Unfortunately, studies have shown that a large percentage of projects across various industries often fail, in large part due to the lack of strong project management skills. Furthermore, governmental and non-profit project managers often experience challenges specific to the nature of the public sector. Project Management for Public Managers will discuss the theory, principles, tools, and techniques necessary to build a solid project management foundation. The Project Management Institute s (PMI) standards for project management will be emphasized throughout the course. Specific topics of discussion will include: The fundamentals, lifecycle, and phases of project management; The differences between managing public sector and private sector projects; The project management team and organization; The leadership skills required of a project manager; Scope and change management; Project planning strategies, including the development of Work Breakdown Structures, schedules, budgets, and project documentation; Managing and controlling projects; Risk management; and, Conflict resolution and negotiation strategies. The course will make heavy use of project management books, case studies, team discussions, and assignments, with a specific focus upon project management best practices. Various project management software tools will also be discussed during the course, including Microsoft Project, Mindjet MindManager, and other tools and collaborative platforms.

2 Although this course will focus upon the theory and methods associated with project management, it is also intended to be hand s on. After taking this course, students should be equipped with, among other things, the following: A solid appreciation and understanding of the role that project management plays within the public sector, as well as the role that it can play within the students organizations; An in-depth understanding of the issues, challenges, and opportunities associated with project management (specifically as these pertain to the public sector; A thorough understanding of the Project Management Institute s project management methodology and standards (which forms the basis of the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification exam); and, Insights into various tools and techniques that can be used by project managers to better position their projects for success. In addition to what will be discussed and learned in this course, students will also be provided access to helpful documents, templates, and other materials that can be used in the workplace. COURSE STRUCTURE AND FORMAT This course will be taught completely online and will be asynchronous, meaning that it will not be held in real time and will be largely self-directed. Students will be able to sign on to the course on days and times that are convenient to them (while being sure to conform to the deadline established for lessons, discussions, and assignments). The classroom for this course will be the Blackboard website; this is where lectures will take place as well as class discussion. Students will normally not need to travel to campus unless a special, optional in-person session is scheduled, or if you need to meet with me. Each week throughout the semester, the Weekly Lesson will be uploaded to the Blackboard website on the designated formal class day and time (Thursday). This weekly lesson will consist of: The weekly lecture presentation (a Web-based, narrated PowerPoint file or files); The week s Discussion Questions as well as a link to the Weekly Discussion Forum; Information about any assignments given as part of the lesson; Additional assigned and/or optional reading material; and, Occasional other items (such as video clips) and instructions. Students will be responsible for viewing the weekly lectures; participating in the weekly discussions and answering weekly discussion questions; and completing all assigned readings. Assignments will also be issued throughout the semester. 2

3 This course will be reading intensive. Weekly reading assignments (involving the required textbooks as well as case studies, articles, and other material) will be posted to Blackboard. Students are advised to have completed their textbook readings prior to the beginning of the designated class day and time (any additional readings will be posted on Thursdays as part of the weekly lesson). COURSE PARTICIPATION Online courses depend upon student participation in order to be successful! Therefore, class participation is required and will constitute a large component of the grade for the semester. The primary form of participation will take the form of participating in the weekly discussions (see below). However, students will also be expected to earn up to 50 participation points during the semester. These points can be earned through participation in potential webinars and other events; participation in the development of the course terminology wiki; starting other conversations on the Discussion Board; contributing articles, videos, findings, etc. to the class; and by taking advantage of other opportunities throughout the semester. More information about opportunities for earning participation points will be posted to Blackboard. WEEKLY DISCUSSIONS Every Thursday, a Weekly Discussion Forum related to the week s lesson will be created in the Blackboard site s Discussion Board section. Students will generally be required to answer one weekly Discussion Questions (DQ s) (feel free to answer more questions if they wish, too). Responses to the week s discussion questions will be due on Sunday of that same week in order to potentially receive full credit. In addition to answering one or more questions, students will be expected to also read the responses of their classmates and to post thoughtful, meaningful replies and comments to the discussions by the following Tuesday. (Note: actual days may be adjusted due to holidays, etc.) Students should expect to respond to a minimum of two of the postings from their fellow students (preferably more). The general criteria list below will be used to evaluate weekly discussion postings and responses: 4 points: Responds to the question or posting, displays detailed and insightful knowledge of the topic or material, has excellent substance, and adds a new perspective or insight. In other words, this is an excellent posting that involved a lot of effort and insight. 3 points: Responds to the question or posting, displays specific knowledge of the topic or material, has good substance, and/or adds a new perspective or insight. (This is the maximum number of points available for comments on other students postings.) 2 points: Responds to the question or posting, displays some knowledge of the topic or material, but has only minimal substance or adds no new ideas or perspectives. 1 point: Responds to the question or posting, but lacks substance or merely repeats what someone else has said. 0 points: Does not respond to the question or posting. 3

4 Late postings will receive incur a 1 point penalty for each day that they are late! It s very difficult to give a precise metric for realistically determining if a student has participated enough each week or throughout the course. Suffice it to say that the same criteria that apply to the weekly discussion questions will also apply to any other participation in the form of comments. Simply regurgitating something said by someone else or posting nice job isn t enough. Full participation involves actually making a contribution to the discussion and to the learning experience. Quantity doesn t always trump quality; in some cases, a student might earn more in terms of participation with a couple of insightful, impactful comments than another student who makes non-substantial, two-word comments to everyone s responses! Spelling, grammar, etc. will also be factored in to the evaluation of your responses! The responses to the weekly discussion questions should be treated with the same importance attached to an assignment in any other course. ASSIGNMENTS Assignments will be issued during the semester. Details regarding assignments will be provided on Blackboard. Students are expected to carefully read through the assignment instructions and to ask for clarification, if necessary. All work is due on time. Any late work will automatically will automatically be penalized for each day of tardiness. Again, any student requiring special arrangements because of a disability or personal emergency should contact me to discuss further. Also, keep in mind that the academic honor code applies to all work, under all conditions. All work that is borrowed directly paraphrased or alluded to must be properly cited. The APA format is preferred, where applicable. TEAM PROJECTS A team project will be administered as part of this course. The details regarding this group project will be disclosed during Week 2 or 3 of the semester. QUIZZES AND EXAMS Two (2) quizzes will be administered during the semester. These quizzes will be take home in nature, and students will have one (1) week to complete them. Non-graded, self-assessment quizzes will also be offered at the end of each week s lecture presentation. Although not mandatory, these self-assessment quizzes will be a good way for students to evaluate their skills and their knowledge of the subject matter. A comprehensive Final Exam will also be administered as part of the course. 4

5 GRADING SCALE AND GRADING CATEGORIES The grading scale for this course is as follows: A = B = C = D = F = 65 and below The following items (and their associated weights) will be used to determine the final grades during this course: Class Participation* 30% Assignments 15% Team Project 20% Quizzes 15% Final Exam 20% * Class participation includes participating in weekly discussions (answering weekly DQ s and participating in the weekly discussions) and other opportunities to contribute to the learning environment. Again, overall class participation can make a difference when it comes to your final grade! COURSE CALENDAR A Google Calendar has been set up specifically for this course and can be accessed via the Blackboard website. Be sure to refer to the calendar for the latest schedule, updates, readings, etc. Students are responsible for staying on top of all readings, assignments, milestones, etc.! TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS The primary online forum for this course will be Blackboard, which is a fairly easy to use product and does not require a lot of formal training. There will be a short tutorial available on the course Blackboard site for students to become better versed in Blackboard and its capabilities. In terms of hardware and other requirements, all students will need to have access to a PC or laptop with an Internet connection and a web browser (specific browser requirements are listed on the Blackboard site). Faster Internet connections will enable for a more robust online experience but are not required. Personal experience has shown that Blackboard does tend to work much better with Mozilla Firefox than Google Chrome. Also, a free app entitled Blackboard Mobile Learn is available for mobile devices. Although it doesn t allow for full access to all of the Blackboard site features, it does have a lot of useful capabilities. 5

6 SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS There are no specific software programs required for this course. However, various software applications will be discussed during the course, including: Microsoft Project Mindjet MindManager Students are not required to have access to either of these applications (although access is certainly very helpful). Special online and/or live tutorial sessions may be created to allow students to get more of a feel for these products and their capabilities. Level of interest and time available will determine whether or not these types of sessions (which will be strictly optional in nature) will take place. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AND PLAGIARISM As indicated above, the academic honor code applies to all work. Plagiarism of any kind will not be tolerated. The UIC Graduate College s statement on Academic Integrity can be found at: It reads as follows: The University of Illinois is dedicated to learning and research, and hence is committed to truth and accuracy. Integrity and intellectual honesty in scholarship and scientific investigation are, therefore, of paramount importance. These standards require intellectual honesty in conducting research, writing of research results, and relations with colleagues. Graduate students may be faced with difficult choices regarding academic integrity in their various roles as student, teacher, and researcher. If this is the case, they should seek the advice and experience of their faculty advisors and the Graduate College staff. The University publishes two documents that contain specific definitions of misconduct (such as plagiarism, falsification of data, etc.), procedures used for investigation of charges, and the consequences of that conduct. Students are governed by the Student Disciplinary Procedures (October 1993) and faculty are governed by the Policies and Procedures for Academic Integrity (June 1989). INSTRUCTOR AVAILABILITY In that this course is completely online, I am rarely on campus. However, I am open to making appointments if necessary. Please feel free to contact me regarding any courserelated matters during the semester. The best way to reach me is via at jeffrey.gawel@gmail.com (I make it my goal to try and respond to s within 24 hours). You can also call me on my cell phone at Also, although I do not use it often, I am available for conversation via Skype. Although my schedule tends to be extremely busy, I m usually pretty flexible and also willing to meet with students online (through Blackboard or some other mechanism) or, if necessary, in person. In that we will be covering a lot of material this semester, it is critical that you do not fall behind! Therefore, do not hesitate to ask for assistance if any is required. 6

7 COURSE MATERIALS The following books are required for this course: Berkun, Scott. Making Things Happen: Mastering Project Management (former title: The Art of Project Management). O Reilly, Kassel, David. Managing Public Sector Projects: A Strategic Framework of Success in an Era of Downsized Government. ASPA Series in Public Administration and Policy, 2010 (1 st Edition). Project Management Institute. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Project Management Institute, 2013 (5 th Edition). In addition, the following books are optional but recommended: Chatfield, Carl, and Johnson, Timothy. Microsoft Project 2010 (or 2013) Step by Step. Microsoft Press, 2010 (or 2013). Haugan, Gregory T. Effective Work Breakdown Structures. Management Concepts, 2001 (1 st Edition). All of the above books can be found on Amazon and through other online book sellers (and, in most cases, at discounted rates). Articles and Readings Additional articles, case studies, and readings will be made available throughout the semester. 7

8 COURSE SCHEDULE TOPICS AND READINGS Please note that reading assignments should ideally be completed prior to viewing the weekly lecture presentation in order to get the maximum benefit. Be aware that this is only meant to serve as a high-level guide, and readings may change as the course progresses, so please consult the Weekly Lessons on Blackboard for the most updated list of assigned readings. Week #1 (August 29, 2013) Introduction to Project Management Chapter 1 Success in an Era of Downsized Government. Chapter 1 of Knowledge (PMBOK). Chapter 1 Week #2 (September 5, 2013) Project Management Concepts and the Role of the Project Manager Chapters 12, 16 Success in an Era of Downsized Government. Chapter 2 of Knowledge (PMBOK). Chapter 2 3 Week #3 (September 12, 2013) Project Integration Management, Stakeholders, and Initiation of Knowledge (PMBOK). Chapter 4, 13 Week #4 (September 19, 2013) Introduction to Project Planning and Project Scope Management Chapters 3-4 Success in an Era of Downsized Government. Chapter 3 of Knowledge (PMBOK). Chapter 5 8

9 Week #5 (September 26, 2013) Scope Definition and Work Breakdown Structures Chapters 5-7 Success in an Era of Downsized Government. Chapter 4 o Haugan, Gregory. Effective Work Breakdown Structures. (recommended) Week #6 (October 3, 2013) Project Time Management and Project Schedules Quiz 1 Issued (due October 9, 2013) Chapter 2 Success in an Era of Downsized Government. Chapter 5 of Knowledge (PMBOK). Chapter 6 Week #7 (October 10, 2013) Project Cost Management and Project Budgets of Knowledge (PMBOK). Chapter 7 Week #8 (October 17, 2013) Project Quality Management of Knowledge (PMBOK). Chapter 8 Week #9 (October 24, 2013) Project Human Resource Management and Project Teams Success in an Era of Downsized Government. Chapter 6 of Knowledge (PMBOK). Chapter 9 9

10 Week #10 (October 31, 2013) Project Procurement Management Success in an Era of Downsized Government. Chapter 7-8 of Knowledge (PMBOK). Chapter 12 Week #11 (November 7, 2013) Project Communications Management Quiz 2 Issued (due November 13, 2013) Chapter 9-10 of Knowledge (PMBOK). Chapter 10 Week #12 (November 14, 2013) Project Risk Management of Knowledge (PMBOK). Chapter 11 Week #13 (November 21, 2013) Project Execution: Making Things Happen Chapter 8, Week #14 (November 27, 2013) Project Monitoring, Control, and Close Out Chapter 11 Success in an Era of Downsized Government. Chapter 9-10 Week #15 (December 4, 2013) Program Management and Other Topics Final Exams Issued (due December 13, 2013) o TBD 10

11 Week #16 (December 12, 2013) FINAL EXAMS DUE DECEMBER 13,