I am thinking about taking classes for a Project Management Certificate and I have it down to 2 schools. Any thoughs or experience with these two? Villanova University or Western Carolina University I do not want to take a 12 or 15 credit program because this is just something I want to complete between finishing my MS and starting my PhD. The time line and cost for these two programs is what I like. Any thoughts?
I'm currently completing the last class in the Villanova University Master Certificate in Applied Project Management program. In all, I have been reasonably pleased with this program. There is a lot of material to learn if you plan on going for the PMP certification and the program's content covers it very well. Be forewarned about the PMP exam though, it requires about 4,000 hours of project management experience before you can be eligible to sit for the exam. I didn't know that before starting the program and I'm having trouble scraping together enough pm experience to satisfy this requirement. I'm totally baffled by the extreme ease of earning an "A" in this program. There are no homework requirements in this program and all unproctored exams are multiple-choice and online. After you take an exam you are allowed to go back and review your answers. Villanova openly encourages you to take exams as many times as you need. So, you can literally finish each class with a solid "A" without breaking a sweat. After completing the certificate you're almost certainly going to be able to put a 4.0 GPA from Villanova University on your resume. In this program you are given two options for course completion....self-study and instructor-lead. Go with the self-study. The instructors really don't do much of anything in these courses except post an occasional project management-related tidbit on the message board. The self-study courses are also MUCH cheaper. Cy
I originally learned about this program via the University Alliance... www.universityalliance.com More detailed information about the program is available on the web site. Cy
Randell, If you have reasonably strong PM experience, you might consider doing self study or a several day intensive review course to prepare for the exam. If you are eligible to set for the exam (4,500+ continuous hours), I expect that you have a good understanding of PM concepts and perhaps the PMBOK. Andy Crowe has an excellent book that will help you to review the PMBOK and prepare for the exam. He also has a three day intensive review course that is quite effective. I passed on the first attempt. Considering the normal pass rate is 53% on the first round, I believe Andy's study material made a big difference for me. Here are a few URLs to some information: http://www.it-literature-portal.com/itl_content.php/Author/Andy%20Crowe/Content.html http://www.velociteach.com/ You could complete the PMP cert in relatively short time, while not diverting extensive cycles away from pursuing your Ph.D. Tom
There are many more options, have you looked on the Project Management Institute site for providers? and particularly Graduate Schhols? and Florida Institute of Technology and Univeristy of Central Florida?
I am not really looking for the PMP certification. I am only looking for a basic PM education and certificate from a school.
Randell, Did you take a look at Stanford Project Management program? I guess its even cheaper than Villanova if you take it online. And of course you can add Stanford University on your resume... Take a look if you haven't considered it yet... http://scpd.stanford.edu/SCPD/js/brandingFrame/externalURL.htm Good luck MFH MBA Candidate Touro
Re: Re: Project Management Certificate question- The Stanford program is focused on advanced project management as well as program and portfolio management. The program complements PMI and the PMBOK and is a good follow on to the PMP however I would not recommend it to those who are just learning the fundamentals of project management.
The following schools offer PM program(me)s from certificate on up (some even doctoral level) most fully by DL. Pick one. American Graduate University Capella University City University Colorado Technical University Desales University Florida Institute of Technology George Washington University Isim University (International School of Information Management) Keller Graduate School of Management Jones International University Naval Postgraduate School Northwestern University Regis University Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Stevens Institute of Technology Thomas Edison State College University of Alaska, Anchorage University of California - Berkeley University of California - Davis University of California - Los Angeles University of Central Florida University of Houston University of Management And Technology University of Maryland University of Phoenix University of Scranton The University of Texas At Dallas The University of Wisconsin-Madison The University of Wisconsin- Platteville Western Carolina University Wright State University Aberdeen University Athabasca University Australian Defense Force Academy Cranfield University Cranfield School of Management Curtin University of Technology ISGI- LILLE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT- ISO 9001 Vers. 2000 Certified Lancaster University Linköping University, Sweden National University of Singapore Queensland University of Technology Rmit University Universidad Para La Cooperacion Internacional/University For International Cooperation Universite Du Quebec En Abitibi-Temiscamingue Universite Du Quebec A' Chicoutimi Universite Du Quebec A’ Hull Universite Du Quebec A' Montreal Universite Du Quebec A' Rimouski Universite Du Quebec A' Trois-Rivieres University of Bradford University of Calgary University of Leeds University of Limerick University of Manchester Institute of Science And Technology University of Portsmouth The University of Queensland University of Southern Queensland University of Sydney University of Technology, Sydney