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MANGT 510: PROJECT MANAGEMENT (3 credits)
A problem-based, interdisciplinary course in project management skills and techniques needed to manage projects in a modern business environment. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing.
Note: Students who have completed a master's degree (M.S., M.A., or M.B.A.) are not permitted to transfer credits from that degree into another master's degree at Penn State.
Overview
This course will introduce you to the major techniques for planning the project development process. During your study, it is expected that you will draw on your own work experiences to further enhance your understanding of the subject matter. Therefore, many of the course assignments may be completed by using real situations and instances from your experience. We ask only that you maintain the integrity of private information in these assignments by changing any names such that individuals are not able to be identified.
- The course has an established start and end date and you will interact with other students throughout the course.
- MANGT 510 is sixteen weeks long, beginning with the residential experiences at the PSU Behrend Campus in Erie, PA. All of the material presented at the plenary will be available online. There is a link within this course to the introductory material for new students as well as a link within this course to introductory information about the course MANGT 510. The Project Management Program also has a virtual program office that you will see in your ANGEL profile. This space is designed to provide you with general information about the Project Management Program as well as supplementary materials such as E-Live presentations and pod casts of key note speakers that have presented during plenary sessions.
So how are we going to do this? Our course begins and ends with a two-day plenary session, or, if you are not attending the plenary a virtual orientation E-Live session. At the end of the course, you will have your concluding session, during which you will be able to review any final questions and then take your exam for the course.
MANGT 510 materials include a textbook, a case studies booklet, and SimProject software. The course content contains 12 lessons, or topics of study. There are also readings on Penn State's Electronic Reserve system which you are expected to have read and understood by the time you take the final exam which will be administered online . You may access electronic reserves by clicking on the Resources tab and choosing Library Reserves. If you then click Preview Activated Link, you will access your course readings directly.
You may study this material at your own pace, meaning that you will be able to read and work through this information at a rate that works best for your learning style. A course schedule is posted later in this document to help keep you organized over the course of the semester. This Web site was designed to help facilitate your understanding of the content. It contains a link to discussion forums that you can use to ask questions or discuss content issues with your professor and fellow delegates, e-mail access, a chat room, drop boxes to submit assignments, and other materials to aid you in your study.
What will be expected of you? As a student in this course, you are expected to read the material in the textbook and in the course content, complete your midterm assignment, take any self-assessments, and complete other work as assigned by your instructor. You may work through this course at your own pace, but at each stage, you should:
- Conscientiously read and reflect on the material
- Ask questions (via the Web, e-mail, phone, or in person) of your instructor and fellow classmates on issues you don't understand
- Complete your midterm assignment
- Complete other assignments as required by your instructor
- Prepare for your final exam
Objectives
This course will introduce you to the major techniques for planning the project development process. By the end of this course, you should be able to
- comprehend the basic concepts associated with projects and project management,
- explain the historical context in which the discipline of project management has evolved,
- describe techniques that have become fundamental to the current practice of project management, and
- explain the broader managerial issues that have a bearing on the management of a project.
Materials
Most World Campus courses require that students purchase materials (e.g., textbooks, specific software, etc.). To learn about how to order materials, please see the Course Materials page. You should check LionPATH approximately 3–4 weeks before the course begins for a list of required materials.
Many of the University Libraries resources can be utilized from a distance. Through the Libraries website, you can
- access magazine, journal, and newspaper articles online using library databases;
- borrow materials and have them delivered to your doorstep—or even your desktop;
- get research help via email, chat, or phone using the Ask a Librarian service; and
- much more.
You must have an active Penn State Access Account to take full advantage of the Libraries' resources and service. The Off-Campus Users page has additional information about these free services.
For this course we recommend the minimum World Campus technical requirements listed below:
| Operating System | Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8*; Mac OS X 10.5 or higher *Windows 8 support excludes the tablet only RT version |
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| Processor | 2 GHz or higher |
| Memory | 1 GB of RAM |
| Hard Drive Space | 20 GB free disk space |
| Browser | We recommend the latest ANGEL-supported version of Firefox or
Internet Explorer. To determine if your browser fits this criterion,
and for advice on downloading a supported version,
please refer to the following ITS knowledge base article: Supported Browsers and Recommended Computers.
Note: Cookies, Java, and JavaScript must be enabled. Pop-up blockers should be configured to permit new windows from Penn State websites. Due to nonstandard handling of CSS, JavaScript and caching, older versions of Internet Explorer (such as IE 6 or earlier) do not work with our courses. |
| Plug-ins | Adobe Reader [Download from Adobe]
Flash Player (v7.0 or later) [Download from Adobe] |
| Additional Software | Microsoft Office (2007 or later) |
| Internet Connection | Broadband (cable or DSL) connection required |
| Printer | Access to graphics-capable printer |
| DVD-ROM | Required |
| Sound Card, Microphone, and Speakers | Required |
| Monitor | Capable of at least 1024 x 768 resolution |
If you need technical assistance at any point during the course, please contact the Service Desk.
For registration, advising, disability services, help with materials, exams, general problem solving, visit World Campus Student Services!
Course Schedule
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Lesson 1: Foundations of Project Management |
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Lesson 2: Project Strategy, Stakeholder Management, and Selection |
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Lesson 3: Life Cycle Management |
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Lesson 4: Bodies of Knowledge and Project Management Maturity |
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Lesson 5: Case Study: Thrust SSC - A Project Against the Odds |
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Lesson 6: Project Planning I: Scope and Risk Management |
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Lesson 7: Introduction to Project Scheduling (Activity Networks) |
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Lesson 8: Commercial Law and Project Procurement Practice |
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Lesson 9: The Human Side of Project Management |
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Lesson 10: Organizations |
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Lesson 11: Cost and Value Management |
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Lesson 12: The Management of Projects |
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| Final Examination | |
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Formal instruction will end on the last day of class. Provided that you have an active Penn State Access Account user ID and password, you will continue to be able to access the course materials for one year, starting from the end date of the academic semester in which the course was offered (with the exception of library reserves and other external resources that may have a shorter archival period). After one year, you might be able to access the course based on the policies of the program or department offering the course material, up to a maximum of three years from the end date of the academic semester in which the course was offered. For more information, please review the University Course Archival Policy.
Note: If you are planning to graduate this semester, please communicate your intent to graduate to your instructor. This will alert your instructor to the need to submit your final grade in time to meet the published graduation deadlines. For more information about graduation policies and deadlines, please go to the Graduation Information on the My Penn State Online Student Portal.Grading
Grading for this course will be based on the coursework assignment (35%), participation in online discussions (15%), and the final examination (50%).
Please refer to the University Grading Policy for Graduate Courses for additional information about University grading policies. If, for reasons beyond the student's control, a student is prevented from completing a course within the prescribed time, the grade in that course may be deferred with the concurrence of the instructor. The symbol DF appears on the student's transcript until the course has been completed. Non-emergency permission for filing a deferred grade must be requested by the student before the beginning of the final examination period. In an emergency situation, an instructor can approve a deferred grade after the final exam period has started. Under emergency conditions during which the instructor is unavailable, authorization is required from one of the following: the dean of the college in which the candidate is enrolled; the executive director of the Division of Undergraduate Studies if the student is enrolled in that division or is a provisional student; or the campus chancellor of the student's associated Penn State campus.
For additional information please refer to the Deferring a Grade page.
Communication Policies
In order to facilitate timely responses to any questions students may direct at the instructor, the following policies will be employed in this course:
- I will log on to the Angel site in order to answer direct questions or comments every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at approximately noon. If you post a question Friday afternoon, it should be answered by midday Monday.
- In cases where students require immediate response, please e-mail me directly at my Penn State email address: jkp4@psu.edu. I will usually get back in touch with you within the day.
- In addition to my Monday, Wednesday, and Friday log-on schedule, I will routinely monitor class discussion forums and occasionally contribute comments or ask questions as part of the students’ message strings.
Assignment Policies
This course will require a final exam, in addition to a midterm graded assignment based on critical evaluation and analysis. The topic for the graded assignment is included on this Web site and will be discussed further at the plenary (live and virtual) session. Any specific questions regarding the assignment can be addressed directly to the instructor via e-mail.
Late Policy
Late work is not acceptable, except in cases of extreme emergency. Business travel is not considered a reason for late work. Students for whom travel may interfere should make arrangements to submit affected assignments early. Assignments that are late will lose one grade for each day or part of a day they are late. For example, if an assignment is 36 hours late, you will lose two letter grades (e.g., an A will turn into a C).
Academic Integrity
According to Penn State policy G-9: Academic Integrity , an academic integrity violation is “an intentional, unintentional, or attempted violation of course or assessment policies to gain an academic advantage or to advantage or disadvantage another student academically.” Unless your instructor tells you otherwise, you must complete all course work entirely on your own, using only sources that have been permitted by your instructor, and you may not assist other students with papers, quizzes, exams, or other assessments. If your instructor allows you to use ideas, images, or word phrases created by another person (e.g., from Course Hero or Chegg) or by generative technology, such as ChatGPT, you must identify their source. You may not submit false or fabricated information, use the same academic work for credit in multiple courses, or share instructional content. Students with questions about academic integrity should ask their instructor before submitting work.
Students facing allegations of academic misconduct may not drop/withdraw from the affected course unless they are cleared of wrongdoing (see G-9: Academic Integrity ). Attempted drops will be prevented or reversed, and students will be expected to complete course work and meet course deadlines. Students who are found responsible for academic integrity violations face academic outcomes, which can be severe, and put themselves at jeopardy for other outcomes which may include ineligibility for Dean’s List, pass/fail elections, and grade forgiveness. Students may also face consequences from their home/major program and/or The Schreyer Honors College.
How Academic Integrity Violations Are Handled
World Campus students are expected to act with civility and
personal integrity; respect other students' dignity, rights, and
property; and help create and maintain an environment in which all
can succeed through the fruits of their own efforts. An environment
of academic integrity is requisite to respect for oneself and
others, as well as a civil community.
In cases where academic integrity is questioned, the Policy on Academic Integrity indicates that procedure requires an instructor to inform the student of the allegation. Procedures allow a student to accept or contest a charge. If a student chooses to contest a charge, the case will then be managed by the respective college or campus Academic Integrity Committee. If that committee recommends an administrative sanction (Formal Warning, Conduct Probation, Suspension, Expulsion), the claim will be referred to the Office of Student Accountability and Conflict Response.
All Penn State colleges abide by this Penn State policy, but review procedures may vary by college when academic dishonesty is suspected. Information about Penn State's academic integrity policy and college review procedures is included in the information that students receive upon enrolling in a course. To obtain that information in advance of enrolling in a course, please contact us by going to the Contacts & Help page .
University Policies
Accommodating Disabilites
Penn State welcomes students with disabilities into the University's educational programs. Every Penn State campus has resources for students with disabilities. The Student Disability Resources (SDR) website provides contacts for disability services at every Penn State campus. For further information, please visit the SDR website.
In order to apply for reasonable accommodations, you must contact the appropriate disability resources office at the campus where you are officially enrolled, participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation based on the documentation guidelines. If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, your campus's disability resources office will provide you with an accommodation letter. Please share this letter with your instructors and discuss the accommodations with them as early in your courses as possible. You must follow this process for every semester that you request accommodations.
Additional Policies
For information about additional policies regarding Penn State Access Accounts; credit by examination; course tuition, fees, and refund schedules; and drops and withdrawals, please see the World Campus Student Center website.
Disclaimer: Please note that the specifics of this Course Syllabus are subject to change, and you will be responsible for abiding by any such changes. Your instructor will notify you of any changes.