Program Overview
The project management certificate program is a structured series of courses that prepare students for careers in the planning and business environment serving many industries such as business services, construction, finance and insurance, information services and IT, manufacturing, oil and gas, utilities, and chemical/pharmaceuticals. Estimates suggest that 65 percent of the work being done in modern organizations is “project-based” and according to research published in the AACSB’s BizEd Magazine and project management is listed as one of the top ten skills that employers prize in their employees.
A Penn State certificate is awarded upon successful completion of the four required courses taken in sequential order. Certified Project Management Professionals can take any of the modules to satisfy recertification requirements. All courses are 21 hours each. Each project management course is approved by the Project Management Institute (PMI) to receive one Professional Development Unit (PDU) for each contact hour (21 PDUs per course).
The four required courses are:
- Project Initiation and Planning
- Project Scheduling and Integration
- Project Risk and Change Management
- Project Costing and Control
This certificate is offered in collaboration with Penn State New Kensington (offered both at the Penn State New Kensington Campus and in Cranberry Township at the Regional Learning Alliance) and will be hybrid in format with classroom, video, and online learning. Two of the courses will have an instructor in the classroom and the other two will be held in a classroom with live broadcast video from New Kensington campus to Penn State Behrend using Polycom technology. Each class meets Tuesday evenings from 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. You will work on a project of your choosing and MS Project will also be incorporated within the courses. Books are suggested but not required and are not included in the price of each course.
Who Should Attend
This program is specifically designed for managers and supervisors involved in projects working in the fields of engineering, research and development, data processing, construction, facilities management, manufacturing, corporate planning, finance, and marketing.