Project Management

Course Syllabus

Instructor Contact Information

Ken Gyure
kgyure@email.arizona.edu
520.621.2748
https://mis.eller.arizona.edu/people/ken-gyure
Office Hours: By Appointment

Global Lecturer
Christian Pangaribuan
cpangaribuan@email.arizona.edu

Course Overview
Numerous surveys suggest that employers increasingly recognize project management as one of the most
important skills that business students should possess. Whether or not you plan to become a project manager,
you will inevitably work on various project teams in different capacities, or your own projects. Understanding
basic principles of project management, and knowing how to use the concepts, tools and methods of this
booming field, can significantly increase the chance that you become successful with these endeavors. In fact,
the methods and principles that you learn in this class can be readily applied to your other classes, the whole MS
in MIS program, your work, and even your personal life. As will soon become clear, “common sense” is essential
in project management, but this field is much more than that: Effective management of projects requires
“applying common sense with uncommon discipline” (Textbook #1, page 3). This course will take you through a
typical process of managing projects, including organizing, planning, and performing projects; and will present to
you a scientific, systematic approach to project management.

Prerequisite Requirements
No prior management information systems knowledge is assumed in this course. However students are
required to download and install Microsoft Project 2016 before class starts, or as soon as possible at the
beginning of the course. Instructions are provided in the D2L course space.

Course Learning Outcomes

At the end of the class, you should be able to:

(1) Define key concepts related to project management;

(2) Describe the process and life cycle of project management, including selecting and initiating, planning,
executing, and closing;
 (3) Describe and apply the major analytical methods or techniques for each stage of project management,
including the creation and refinement of Work-breakdown Structure (WBS); using the two-pass and
enumeration method to develop project schedules; identifying the critical path of a project;
compressing project schedule under budget constraints; using Earned-Value Management techniques to
monitor project progress; conducting basic qualitative and quantitative risk analysis; among others;
(4) Create key documents associated with each stage of project management, such as project charter, risk
register, change request form, lessons-learned report, and so on; and
(5) Use features of Microsoft Project to help plan and monitor a project.

Required Textbooks and Materials:

• (Textbook #1) Contemporary Project Management, 4th edition (ISBN-13: 978-1-3374-0645-1)

• (Textbook #2) New Perspectives – Microsoft Office Project 2010 (ISBN: 978-0-5387-4676-2)

Important: You will access the full version of the electronic textbooks above from the Table of Contents ->
Online Textbook area of D2L through the Inclusive Access program. Important: Access will be activated on the
first day of class, Monday, March 16th.

You automatically have access to the course materials FREE through Sunday, March 22nd. You must take action
(even if you haven’t accessed the materials) to opt-out if you do not wish to pay for the materials, and choose to
source the content independently. The deadline to opt-out is Sunday, March 22nd. Please refer to the Inclusive
Access FAQs at shop.arizona.edu/inclusive for additional information.

Supplemental Readings / References:

• Project Management Tools and Techniques: A Practical Guide [ISBN: 978-1-4665-1562-8]. This book is
not required and will not be discussed in class, however if you are interested in additional reading and
more hands-on practice in preparation for PMP or CAPM exams, it is a good resource.

Course Workload Expectations

This course is structured around 7 weeks. Given this condensed time-frame, you should expect a heavier than
normal workload. The course workload is estimated as follows:

Course Item Estimated Hours

Readings 4 / week
Video Lectures 1.5 / week
Assignments, Exercises 4-6 / week

This averages to approximately 10-15 hours/week. These estimates will vary depending upon your existing
knowledge level and/or time commitment. Preparing for exams will require additional time.

Course Schedule
The expected weekly progress and deliverables are outlined in the course schedule. Please see the course
schedule as posted on D2L.

There is a considerable amount of material covered in this class. It is essential that you stay current with all
reading and homework assignments. Note DUE Dates on course deliverables.

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Working Ahead of Schedule
To maintain the integrity of the group learning environment, this course is not structured to allow students to
work ahead.

Office Hours and Communications

Please use the Ask the Instructor discussion forum on D2L to contact me for content related questions. All
students can then benefit from my response. Either myself or my TA will respond within 24 hours of your post
Monday through Friday and 48 hours on Saturday and Sunday. If you have a question regarding your personal
performance in the course, please email me directly using the address above. I will provide feedback on course
work that needs to be manually graded (e.g., essay papers, projects) within 72 hours of submission. You will be
able to see results for automatically graded course work (online quizzes, simulations, and exams) after the
specified deadline.

Office Hours
Please contact the Global Lecturer for any questions you have about the content or format of this course. If
necessary, the Global Lecturer will contact the instructor to obtain additional information.

Course Time Zone

All dates and times mentioned in this course represent Jakarta time.

D2L Course Management System

This course uses the Eller D2L course management system. You are required to use D2L with this class and are
encouraged to check our D2L class course space daily.

You are also encouraged to have D2L email forwarded to your primary email account. The instructor will use D2L
for course assignments, quizzes, exams, content distribution, and important announcements. The Eller College
D2L system is available at: https://d2l.arizona.edu.

Assignments and Assessments

In-Class Group Assignments
You will participate in a series of in class group exercises throughout the course. These exercises are a little
more complex than the individual assignments and are intended to give you real world examples of activities
you’d be performing as a project manager. The information provided in the exercises are derived from actual
publicly published materials, and you will be expected to use those materials to create deliverable work
products as if you were an actual project team working on the project. Full details are in the Table of Contents ->
Learning Modules area of D2L.

Tutorial Exercises
The second textbook (New Perspectives on Microsoft Project) is intended to help you get to know how to use
Microsoft Project, the de facto industry standard of project management software. Completing the assignment
requires following every step listed and responding in writing to the questions asked. Please note that
unfortunately there is no Mac version of Microsoft Project available, so you will need to make sure you have
access to a PC or a virtual PC if you use other operating systems. Additional details, including grading rubrics and
submission instructions are available in the Table of Contents -> Learning Modules area of D2L (located on the
left of the screen).

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* Please note: The New Perspective on Microsoft Project textbook is an outstanding resource and step by step
tutorial in MS Project. However, this textbook is based on MS Project 2010 which is no longer supported by
Microsoft, and has been removed from the University servers. We will instead be using MS Project 2016 in this
course. There are slight differences between MS Project 2010 and 2016, but they are mostly placement of menu
items and layout of some dialog screens. These will not prevent you from completing the tutorials. Both the 2010
and 2016 answer keys will be provided after initial submission for you to review and use when you self-grade the
tutorials.

Individual Exercises
There will be some exercises (such as working on schedule compression) that only have one correct answer, and
you must individually know how to complete them correctly. You will need to complete these assignments on
your own. Full details, including grading rubrics and submission instructions are available in the Table of
Contents -> Learning Modules area of D2L (located on the left of the screen.)

Knowledge Check Quizzes

For some modules of the course there will be knowledge-check quizzes available on D2L. You are welcome to
use any materials (textbook, lecture notes or videos) to help you answer them. They will be graded
automatically on D2L, and answers will become available upon submission. These quizzes are designed to ensure
that you have a basic understanding of the contents covered in those modules. These will be multiple choice
questions, so you will choose the most appropriate answer.

Final Exam (proctored)

The final exam will cover the key principles, methods and techniques in the class. There are two types of
questions: Multiple choices, and Open-ended questions. Multiple choices questions will test your understanding
of concepts and principles. Open-ended questions will test you on the “science” part of project management.
Some simple calculations may be involved, such as calculating project duration (basic calculators are allowed),
identifying critical path, and crashing a project schedule: These are the types of questions that are relatively
objective. Study guides for each chapter of the textbook will be made available, and the instructor will also
provide review sessions that summarize the key learning points for both exams.

Exam # Format Time Limit Special Instructions

• The exam is closed book, no notes.
• You are allowed to use the calculator built-in
your computer or a hand-held calculator (except
for the smart phone or tablet ones). A blank Excel
Final Proctored 90 minutes file can be used as a calculator. The Excel file
should only be used for calculations, it should
never be saved and the proctor should verify that
the Excel file is closed without being saved upon
exam completion.

Proctored exams for this course must be taken in the classroom, proctored by the Global Lecturer.

Turning in Assignments
All graded assignments and assessments will be submitted electronically through D2L. Specific submission
instructions are provided for each assignment in the Table of Contents -> Learning Modules area of D2L.

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Late Assignment Policy
Late assignments will not receive points. Please allow yourself time to mitigate any computer glitches. In order
to earn a passing grade in the course you will need to complete and submit every assigned assessment by the
end of the course, even if this implies submitting an assignment late and earning no points toward the final
grade.

Course Grading
Course grades will be determined based on 100 points from the following items:

Course Work Points Percentage

Final Exam 100 33%
Quizzes (5 @ 5 pts ea) 25 8%
In-Class Group Assignments (3 @ 20 pts ea) 60 20%
Tutorials (3 @ 15 pts ea) 45 15%
Individual exercises (7 @ 10 pts ea) 70 24%
TOTAL 300 100%

The approximate final course grade breakdown will be as follows:

Points Percentage Letter Grade

270-300 90% and above A
225-269 80%-89% B
180-224 70%-79% C
0-179 Lower than 70% E

Incomplete Policy
If you experience extraordinary circumstances beyond your control, which prevent you from completing the
course within the scheduled 7-week timeframe, you must request an incomplete by emailing the Instructor
before the end of the course. Please clearly explain the reasons for the request and provide relevant
documentation. Please be aware that you must be receiving a passing grade at the time of the request. If
granted an incomplete, you should review the related policy stipulations at
https://www.registrar.arizona.edu/grades/incomplete-i-grade

Academic Policies and Institutional Resources

Academic Policies and Procedures
As a University of Arizona student, you are expected to become familiar with and abide by the university-wide
policies and procedures. You can find complete, up-to-date information at:
https://www.eller.arizona.edu/academic-programs/policies/online-ugrad

Academic Integrity
Upon accepting admission to the University of Arizona, you immediately assumed a commitment to uphold the
Code of Academic Integrity. Complete copies of these policies can be found online at:
• The University of Arizona: https://deanofstudents.arizona.edu/policies/code-academic-integrity

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 • Eller College of Management: https://eller.arizona.edu/programs/undergraduate/advising/policies-
expectations/integrity-guide

Any instances of academic dishonesty will result in a grade of E for the course.
While it is our sincere hope that you will not engage in academic misconduct, it seems prudent to clarify in
advance the policy on dishonest behavior.
Reminder: this course has a zero-tolerance policy on cheating.

Online Collaboration/Netiquette
In Eller SU Online courses, you will primarily communicate with instructors and peers virtually through a variety
of tools such as discussion forums, email, and web conferencing. The following guidelines will enable
everyone in the course to participate and collaborate in a productive, safe environment.

• Be professional, courteous, and respectful as you would in a physical classroom.

• Online communication lacks the nonverbal cues that provide much of the meaning and nuances in
face- to-face conversations. Choose your words carefully, phrase your sentences clearly, and stay on
topic.
• It is expected that students may disagree with the research presented or the opinions of their
fellow classmates. To disagree is fine but, to disparage others’ views is unacceptable. All comments
should be kept civil and thoughtful. Remember that this course abides by university policies regarding
disruptive behavior: https://deanofstudents.arizona.edu/student-rights-responsibilities/disruptive-
behavior. Violations of the instructors’ copyright violate the Code of Academic Integrity and may
result in course sanctions.
• Compose your messages and posts in a word processing tool, and check your spelling and grammar
before submitting your post / email.
• Students who are uncooperative, rude, abusive to a TA, instructor, staff members, or other students,
whether in class or outside class, will be penalized.

UA Eller SU Online Student Support

The instructor is available to assist with content-related issues. You may, at any time, email the instructor. This
course also provides an Ask the Instructor discussion forum. You are encouraged to post content-related
questions to this forum at any time. The instructor monitors this forum on a regular basis and will respond in a
timely fashion. It is common for other students to participate in answering questions posted in the Ask the
Instructor forum. You should feel free to contribute to the solution if you can provide knowledge or guidance
related to the question.
The following are guidelines for requesting support:
• General Course Questions: Use the Ask the Instructor discussion forum for questions regarding course
materials or policy.
• Personal Course Questions: Email the instructor to discuss grades or personal concerns.
• Course Registration & Curriculum Questions: Please refer to the
https://ugrad.eller.arizona.edu/online/contact web site for the appropriate contact information.
• D2L Support Questions: Click on https://help.d2l.arizona.edu/content/contact-d2l-support-1 to submit
your tech support request.

Disability Accommodations
At the University of Arizona, we strive to make learning experiences as accessible as possible. If you anticipate or
experience physical or academic barriers based on disability or pregnancy, you are welcome to let me know so
that we can discuss options. You are also encouraged to contact Disability Resources (520-621-3268) to explore
reasonable accommodation.

If our class meets at a campus location: Please be aware that the accessible table and chairs in this room should
remain available for students who find that standard classroom seating is not usable.

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Library Support
The University of Arizona Libraries is dedicated to providing the research tools you need at any time. For an
abbreviated list of resources directly related to a specific course, select the Library link (located in the Table of
Contents on the left of the screen). If you need any assistance, please contact Jason Dewland at
jasondewland@email.arizona.edu and include your University of Arizona NetID.

Student Resource Center

For the duration of the program, you will have access to the Student Resource Center at
http://ugrad.eller.arizona.edu/online where you can find comprehensive, up-to-date information on a wide
variety of topics, including the Eller Online Undergraduate program learning outcomes, academic advising,
financial aid, and other topics to help you succeed.

Workload and Course Requirements Subject to Change

Workload and Course Requirements are subject to change at the discretion of the instructor with proper
notice to the students.

Errata
The instructor reserves the right to revise the syllabus as necessary to correct typographical errors, factual
errors, omissions, or other material included herein as needed to correctly reflect the requirements of the
course.

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