Project Management Certification Program, Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies

Program Overview:

Project Management

Managing projects successfully in the faced-paced environment of 21st-century business requires a combination of sound project management methodology with strong communication, team building and analytical skills. The School of Continuing Studies offers two tracks of project management certification to meet the varying needs of project managers based on their skill level, industry and desire for Project Management Institute (PMI^®) certification.

Program Goals

In both Project Management for Practitioners and Professionals, Students will learn how to:

Communicate the value of project management
Establish the structure for a successful project
Assemble, motivate and lead the project team
Ensure the project scope delivers the expected business value and desired outcome
Implement the proper mechanisms to prevent, minimize and respond to risks
Develop and use various mechanism to communicate project information
Ensure the project is completed per the agreed-upon project standards, budget and schedule

In Project Management for Professionals students will also learn how to explain concepts expected by the PMP^® exam

PMI Provider

SCS is a Global Provider for the Project Management Institute (PMI), the world's foremost advocate for the project management profession. All of the introductory courses as well as all advanced modules are eligible for professional development units (PDUs) from PMI.

Project Management Certificate Requirements

To earn a certificate of completion from Northwestern University, students must complete one required course and two electives.

To earn a certificate from Project Management Institute, such as PMP^®, you must sit for their exam and meet their eligibility criteria.

Required Courses: Choose One

Project Management for Professionals

Choose this course if you have experience in project management and you want to take the PMP ^® exam.
Course length: 35 hours (11 weeks, once a week at night)

Project Management for Practitioners

Choose this course if you are a career changer or want hands-on training that you can use in your office the very next day.
Course length: 24 hours (5 weeks, once a week at night, or 3 full days)

Note: Both courses offered 4 or more times per year in varying formats, day, evening and weekend.

Electives: Choose Two

These electives are offered on a rotating basis. Check the course schedule for currently scheduled offerings. Courses may meet for 2 to 3 full days, or once a week at night for several weeks.

Core Courses:

PROJ_PMI 401-0 Project Mngmnt Practitioners
Designed for project team members, part-time project managers and professionals, this 3 day course provides a detailed examination of the fundamental processes of project management and meets the 23 contact hour training requirements for PMI®'s Certified Associate Project Manager (CAPM®) exam. Using lectures, case studies, discussions and individual and group exercises, participants will learn how to apply the 5-Process Groups of Project Management to projects which are; initiating, planning, execution, monitor/control, and closeout. This will include an emphasis on determining how to meet customer/client needs, communication and negotiation.

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PROJ_PMI 402-0 Project Mngmnt Professionals

Project management terms, concepts, techniques, and tools are explored to ensure the aspects of a project are organized and managed properly. Integration, scope, time, cost, quality, human resources, communication, risk, and procurement management are topics reviewed. The beginning and the end of a project and the relationships between the major milestones are discussed. Group work is required. Satisfies the 35 hour project management education requirement for the PMP® exam.

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Elective Courses:

PROJ_PMI 204-0 Developing People and Teams
As a project manager, it is part of your job to work with a team to achieve a specified outcome. Whether it is an existing team or a cross-functional team put together for this project, working with teams has its advantages and challenges. How can you best manage the strengths of your team to reach its goals? How can you help prepare a team for the developmental stages they will encounterwhile working together?In Developing People and Teams, students will look at individual development including coaching, mentoring and motivation theory. Team development will be explored through the topics of faciliatation and collaboration. Participants will also have the opportunity to assess their personal style of conflict resolution

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PROJ_PMI 206-0 Tech Planning for Leaders

This course will teach leaders planning, analysis and communication techniques for use in developing strategic plans in increasingly uncertain, dynamic and complex operating environments where quantitative analysis may not work well. Topics include implications of Big Data (and associated analytics), emerging and converging technologies, ecosystem/value chain changes, stakeholder management, and the growing importance of standards management. Students will learn largely through hands-on exercises and by integrating a set of tools including mindmapping, domain mapping, roadmapping and scenario planning.

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PROJ_PMI 211-0 PM Soft Skills

The effective project manager possesses deep interpersonal skills and is able to use their skills to lead their project teams to deliver results. This workshop will help you improve the essential skills needed to be an effective project manager such as communication, relationship-management, conflict resolution, decision-making, and team motivation. Format includes lecture, case studies/group activities, discussions and Q & A.

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PROJ_PMI 215-0 Intro to MS Project

In this course, students learn how to effectively use Microsoft Project to plan, manage and close a project schedule and budget. This course is intended for students with little or no knowledge of Microsoft Project.

Students will complete in class exercises designed to reinforce concepts learned during the course lecture and provide students with practical application of the material presented. The exercises will be both individual and group activities and will be graded. In class quizzes and exams will also be used.

Students will utilize project management software during this course.

Topics include:

The Work Breakdown Structure and the Software Development Life Cycle
Entering tasks, resources and costs
Defining dependencies
Resource leveling
Creating a baseline
Identifying the critical path
Maintaining the project schedule and budget
Reporting
Impact of risks

Learning Objectives:

Understand best practices in planning, managing and closing the project schedule and budget
Master the use of Microsoft Project for scheduling and budgeting
Apply concepts and techniques in a project simulation.

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PROJ_PMI 301-DL Applying PM Principles - IT

This online only course applies project management concepts and techniques to a multi-part IT case study using the Project Life Cycle and a simplified Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC). You are assigned to a self-directed project team usually consisting of 3-4 students. You are the project manager for a several million dollar IT project (each team member is required to be the leader at least once). You are responsible for organizing your team to deliver the case study business objectives. Each week you present to the class your solution to the case component. You learn with your team how to apply PM concepts to develop a response to the case component. You also learn through the responses sharing with the class by each team. At the course end, you evaluate your team members’ participation; this evaluation contributes to each student’s grade. In addition, there are four quizzes delivered via CMS to validate your conceptual learning.

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Northwestern University SCHOOL OF CONTINUING STUDIES