Why Your Students Need a Project Management

Course

Dr. Michael MoormanSaint Leo University

For our graduates to be successful in the 21st Century, it

is essential to give them the knowledge and skills they need

to face the challenges of the century.

Once it was enough to give our computer program graduates

technical skills.

But the successful graduate can expect to serve in more and

more responsible positions as they progress in their careers.

Many of the responsible positions will involve projects and, with time, our graduates may well be involved in more

and more complicated projects, possibly becoming a project

manager.

To that end, we would be remiss not to consider Project

Management as a part of our computer curriculum.

So What Makes Project Management Important?

Statistics

• In 2005 U.S. spent almost $700 billion on IT and a large part of that was on projects.

• This increased through 2007.• With economy slowing down, it means

that more care has to be taken in spending, putting more emphasis on project management to ensure success.

• Salaries are still high for project managers.

IT projects have had a terrible success rate

>1995 study -16 percent of IT projects were successful in meeting goals.

>More recent study (2006) showed better results

>But success still less than 50%

Project Management –Important to Organizations

>Improved capability to successfully manage projects has resulted in more successful projects.

>Improvements in computer hardware and software have enhanced ability to manage projects.

>Use of the Internet in business requires better planning and coordination

How would our computer graduates become involved in

project management?

The typical graduate could be expected to become involved at some level in a systems analysis

and design.

So how does participating in a systems analysis and design

process result in being involved with project management?

Projects are usually the implementation of a systems

analysis and design.

How to integrate a project management course into your

curriculum.

The ideal place to put a project management course in your

curriculum would be as a follow-on to your systems analysis and design

course, with the systems analysis and design course as a prerequisite.

The systems analysis and design course provides the foundation

material for the project management course, making the concepts in the project management course more

easily understood.

Programming Course

Systems Analysis & Design Course

Project ManagementCourse

A typical project management course would cover the following material.

(Data from Schwalbe, K. (2007). Information Technology Project Management, 5th Ed. Cambridge, MA: Cengage Course Technology.)

• Introduction to Project Management• Project Management and Information

Technology Context• Project Management Process Groups

• Project Integration Management• Project Scope Management• Project Time Management

• Project Cost Management• Project Quality Management• Project Human Resource Management

Project Communications ManagementProject Risk ManagementProject Procurement Management

In addition, the Schwalbe book includes an extensive appendix on

Microsoft Project 2007 and the capability of downloading a free trial

copy of MS Project 2007.

The appendix is organized into sections that mirror the chapters in the book from Scope Management

through Communications Management.

The integration of MS Project with the course can be done by various

methods, but from my personal experience the best time to start is

immediately after the Project Integration Management chapter.

At this point you should have the students run through the Introduction

and Overview of Project, using the example in the appendix.

There is a Running Case that can be used for a student assignment that is

placed at the end of each chapter, covering the material in that chapter and continuing with each subsequent

chapter.

There is an additional case in Appendix C at the end of the text, and

two more cases are available at the book Web site online.

These cases can be assigned to individuals or teams in your class to accomplish their major assignment

for the class.

As you go through each chapter in the text, have the students do their assigned project using Project,

following the instructions in the applicable section in the appendix.

The 6th edition of Schwalbe’s book is coming later this year. You can get a copy by logging on to the course.com site and searching for the book.

Questions?