ACC Continuing Education

Project Management is a “team sport”. This eight-week intermediate level certificate course, taught by Bob Futrell and a team of PMP certified instructors, is a process-oriented, practical, foundational project management course emphasizing both knowledge <i>and skill</i>, for any management style or life cycle project, predictive (waterfall) or adaptive (Agile). It builds on the current applicable editions of the Project Management <i>Institute’s Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide)</i>. With examples and team-based case exercises for both INITIATING and PLANNING a case project, plus EXECUTING and MONITORING & CONTROLLING a simulated project to CLOSURE. Considerable out of class coordination with teammates is needed to provide a solid framework and context for managing projects in (small and large) team environments, and preparing the student for professional certifications in project management. This course provides an excellent foundation for students who already have some exposure to managing projects in any industry, or who would like to manage projects but may not have enough documentable work experience hours yet, or who are seeking to pass professional certification exams, but lack expertise and skill in <i>all</i> the knowledge areas covered in the current <i>PMBOK Guides</i>. It helps prepare students to earn and maintain the Project Management Professional (PMP) and Certified Associate of Project Management (CAPM) certifications from the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Project+ certification from CompTIA, which is based on PMI’s PMBOK Guides. This course uses generalized examples and background from various industries to explore how to tailor and apply the general concepts of project management in practice, in both traditional predictive (waterfall) and adaptive (Agile) environments, and may be offered as instructor-led courses synchronously for ONSITE delivery, and in the SCHEDULED ONLINE format (with scheduled day/time ONLINE class meeting sections), and in the FLEXIBLE ONLINE format (using pre-recorded presentations with only <i>optional</i> mutually-scheduled day/time ONLINE class meeting sections for Q&A with the instructor" i.e. there are no pre-determined day/time requirements), or a HYBRID of these, all supported by Blackboard, ACC’s ONLINE courseware environment. All sections and formats use the same materials, presentations, case exercises, quizzes and assignments. Suggested prerequisite: an introductory project management course (like BMGT 1021 Introduction to Managing Projects), or at least 12 months of awareness working around (not necessarily leading or working on) projects in a team-oriented organization to understand the terms and context of project examples used. The follow-on course BMGT 1040 PMP/CAPM Exam Prep is strongly recommended prior to sitting for the certification exams. Students should see the specific professional certification examination requirements at pmi.org for PMP and CAPM, and CompTIA.org for Project+ for further details on professional certification.

This introductory level short course in project management introduces students with little-to-no formal project management training to the professional project management framework applied to run projects in their work environment. The emphasis is on introducing the framework and terminology, teamwork and organization concepts, and basic tools and techniques for starting and running simple projects through in-class examples using a custom workbook (included with the course fee - no other textbooks required). Little to no prior experience with managing projects is expected, so it is an excellent introduction to the subject for new team leaders and participants who need to get started quickly and expect to pursue professional certification later. Students will leave the course with an understanding of professional level project managemenat, and a model project, which can serve as a template for initiating and planning real-world projects in their environments. This course can be taught in 4 separate evening meetings (in one week), or in a 2-day morning/afternoon format, both onsite and online. It is not a prerequisite for, but can serve as an introductory step to ACC’s professional certification program consisting of the deeper and wider team-based experiential 48-hour BMGT 1009 Applied Project Management foundations course, followed by the BMGT 1040 PMP/CAPM Exam Prep course to prepare students for PMI, CompTIA, and other professional certification exams.

This on-campus Saturday format course is an exam prep experience for the PMBOK Guide knowledge base to help students pass the most recent PMP and CAPM exams. The course focuses on the fundamental concepts from an exam perspective that are tested on both exams. Students should see PMI.org for the PMP and CAPM examination requirements. This course is only examination preparation that assumes you have sufficient project management background and/or foundational coursework to learn about the spectrum of Project Management tools, techniques, models, and methods, such as BMGT 1021 Introduction to Managing Projects and/or intermediate-level BMGT 1009 Applied Project Management course offerings.