Class Overview

Required Components

 

General Class Information

 

   Instructor Name and Contact Information: William Yates, wy7r@virginia.edu

Subject Area and Catalog Number: PSPM 5200

Year and Term: Fall 2016

Class Title: Project Schedule, Cost and Budget Control  

Level (Graduate or Undergraduate): Graduate

Credit Type:  Credit

Class Description (Use the SIS 400 characters from catalog description):

The importance of project scheduling, managing project cost, and maintaining budget control on a project cannot be overstated. The great mantra of successful project management is to be “in scope, on time, and on budget” throughout the project and when it is complete. Yet studies overwhelmingly seem to inform us that schedule delays and cost overruns (often significant) are more the norm than the exception. This course takes aim at reinforcing foundational principles and practice, renewing emphasis on project schedule and cost management, including the approach and process that forms the requisite “firm foundation” for success.

This course introduces students to a variety of project scheduling and cost control techniques that are vital for a project to meet its schedule and cost goals and objectives. This includes a variety of scheduling techniques (Gantt chart, critical path method, and program evaluation review technique or PERT) that can be used to guide and monitor project performance. Activities that are critical in preparing a realistic schedule are explored, discussed and practiced. Students are introduced to a variety of budgeting, cost estimating, and cost control techniques.

 Required Text (Include ISBN, specific edition):

Course materials will consist of:

Text 1 (“Primary course text”): Schwalbe, K. (2013). Information Technology Project Management (7e).(Seventh Edition). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. ISBN: 978-1-285-84709-2

[Please Note: get the seventh edition, not eighth edition. There is significant cost savings and the seventh edition is fine for our needs in this course. The “revised” seventh edition just incorporates MS Project 2013 rather than 2010 at the end of the text.]

Text 2 (Recommended but not required): A guide to the project management body of knowledge, fifth edition. Newtown Square, PA: The Project Management Institute, Inc.  ISBN: 978-1935589-67-9. [Note: the course is based on the fifth edition, published in January 2013.]
 

Learning Outcomes:

The primary objective of this course is to provide participants with a systematic and comprehensive review of the subject matter associated with the topic of project scheduling, cost management and budget control. Each student will bring a different degree of background knowledge and experience on the topic, and building upon that platform, students will progress in their awareness and understanding, knowledge, comprehension, and application capacity and capabilities. At the completion of this course, the successful student will: (a) have enhanced awareness and understanding of generally accepted principles and practices of professional project management on topics associated with schedule and cost management; (b) gain knowledge and comprehension of the associated approach and related processes; (c) understand the critical importance of establishing a value-based foundation for the management, evaluation and control of schedule and cost; and (d) enjoy a “deeper learning” experience of the subject matter having utilized brain-based learning strategies in the process.

Students will have had a comprehensive review of the essential project management subject matter drawn from the primary text, instructional handouts, case study excerpts, and practice worksheet and/or test questions. The learning strategy will involve a multi-modal deployment including an extensive reading component, online collaborative tools (primarily asynchronous), collegial discussion, with exam-taking reinforcement and assessment. A disciplined and timely reading expectation is a requirement for success with this course.

Course material focus will include:

• An overview of relevant  project management models, constructs, and approaches
• Schedule, cost and budget control viewed within a project management framework
• Association with project management knowledge areas including the primary areas of:
  • Project integration management
  • Project scope management
  • Project time management
  • Project cost management
• Select processes within the project process groups (initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing)
• Tools and techniques consistent with successful management and control of scope, schedule and cost: estimating and estimate types; performance evaluation; earned value measurement; scheduling techniques (Gantt chart; critical path technique)
• Project management vocabulary (“language”)
• Case study exercise and/or analysis
• Practice questions
• Brain-based strategies and authentic learning emphasis

 

There is a critically-important reading component with this course. Each student is expected to read the assigned materials associated with the course in a timely fashion. It will not be overwhelming as long as the weekly pacing of assigned work is maintained. It is structured as such for the student’s benefit.

Assessment Components:

The assessment components:

1. Two exams (mid-term and final) that will incorporate multiple-choice questions and narrative response type questions.
2. Completion of all reading assignments; there are reading expectations for each week; whether reading has been completed or not, almost always shows up in the quality of the content provided in the weekly exercises, discussion questions, etc.  
3. Weekly expectations (beyond the reading) include:
   1. Weekly Collab (live/recorded) session: Each student will take the time to review the session that has been recorded/published a specific week. Rather than try to find a time that fits everyone’s schedule, or force-fit this on calendars given the variability in schedules, travel and commuting constraints, home and work obligations, etc., my intended goal is to provide a weekly recorded session for students to watch. Think of it as informed sharing of information rather than a “lecture.” When it is posted for a week, each student will just have a week to view it. After a week has passed, the video will be taken down in order to help maintain the week to week flow of the topic.
   2. Response to a Weekly Exercise (usually taken from the text book unless otherwise noted.) The general rule of thumb is that an exercise is associated with a particular week’s reading assignment and the student’s response must be received within the scope of the same week it is assigned. The exercise response usually requires the student’s response in document form that is submitted to the Drop Box feature on the course site.
   3. Response and interaction to a weekly Discussion Question (usually taken from the text) that will be found on the course website. The discussion question is responded to in a group discussion format on the course site. The question is usually posted by Monday and individuals should make their initial response by Thursday. Follow up responses to another student’s response will occur through the end of the week. Participation is credited only within the framework of a particular week, not beyond, although adding to it may occur beyond the initial week.
   4. Ongoing documented efforts by student associated with handouts provided by the instructor. For example, if there is a template being used related to a particular case study we are following during the course, and a certain action is requested (for example, “brainstorming” or “clustering” of ideas, the Drop Box will provide a repository for the student to organize and leave their work to be reviewed. My intent is not to assess and grade every document; rather, this provides an opportunity to observe as well as ensure participation is taking place.  

Students should remember that this course is treated as a graduate-level course. Course work completed as assigned and in a timely manner is a normal expectation, and from a grading perspective, reflects in a “C” to “B” grade range. To improve upon that basic expectation means that academic work completed will incorporate “above average” work, quality, adding to the academic discourse, and demonstrating mastery in the narrative and/or exam-based exercises.

Evaluation Standards

The course grade will be based on the collective result of: (a) exam outcomes (primary assessment components); and (b) secondary assessment outcomes.

Category                                                 Percentage       Max Points Available

Exam 1                                                         15%                150

Exam 2                                                         15%                150

Weekly* Exercises                                         30%                300

Weekly* Discussion Questions                        20%                200

Weekly* Collab online live/recorded session**    20%                200

                                                       Totals     100%              1000

Note ^(*): Weekly” means within the Sunday to Saturday period for the specific week

Note ^(**): If session is not held, total grading points will be adjusted accordingly

Delivery Mode Expectations (Classroom/Internet and Web-based classes, specify any live (synchronous) meetings, dates, times, and location of delivery): The course is delivered online, primarily in asynchronous mode, utilizing the school’s online course site for access, distribution and reception of resource materials, assignments, weekly discussion forum, and access to the online/live Collab feature associated with the (synchronous) collaborative sessions. Specific times for the collaborative discussions will be determined after the first week in conjunction with student scheduling. (Unless otherwise noted, any weekly session recorded for students must be viewed within the specific week it is assigned, and will not carry over.)  

Required Technical Resources and Technical Components:

Students must be able to have online access sufficient to submit the weekly assignment(s), review what other classmates have submitted, and submit the reaction and integration paper assignments on time. This includes the following:

• Computer with basic audio/video output equipment sufficient for online meetings
• Internet access (broadband recommended)
• Microsoft Word