Syllabus

IT Resource Planning: IT343, Sections 2 & 3

Fall 2006

Professor James Moody email jmoody@gmu.edu Office Bull Run Hall, Room 122 Office Hours Wednesdays: 3:30 to 4:30 PM

Text:

Course Objectives:

1. Understand the importance of project management in improving the success of information technology projects.
2. Understand the constraints of project management.
3. Learn the project lifecycle, project management knowledge areas and process groups.
4. Learn tools and techniques of project management, such as:
   • Project selection methods,
   • Work breakdown structures,
   • Network diagrams, critical path analysis and critical chain scheduling,
   • Cost estimation,
   • Earned value management,
   • Team building.
5. Appreciate the importance of good project management and share examples of good and bad project management.

Course Structure:

The course will be conducted as a mixture of lecture and discussion. Students are expected to actively participate. Students are expected to research a project management process and present their findings to the class. Students are expected to write a research paper on the management of a real-life project as a whole.

Assignments:

Assigned exercises from the textbook are due as specified below. Late assignments will not be accepted. In some cases the exercise calls for a short paper to be written; length suggestions in the book notwithstanding, such papers should not exceed 700 words.

Research Paper:

Students will research a project of their choosing (not necessarily, at least not required to be, an IT project) and write a paper (between 1500 and 2500 words) describing the management of the project in PMI terms, that is, mapping what was actually done by the project manager to what would have been done had the theoretical PMI project management structure been followed.

Presentations:

Developing presentation skills is important for everyone, plus it's a good way to share information. Each student will prepare and present a presentation on one of the PMI-defined processes. Students should sign up for their preferred process as soon as possible: first come, first served. Presentations should be intended to run 10 to 15 minutes. Deliver your presentation notes, including a bibliography. Presentations will be evaluated based both on content and delivery.

Exams:

There will be two exams: a Midterm and a Final. Both will be closed book, in-class. There will be no makeup exams for any reason.

Grades:

The numerical score is then translated into a letter grade using the following scale:
A: 94-100
A-: 90-93
B+: 86-89
B: 83-85
B-: 80-82
C+: 75-79
C: 70-74
D: 60-69
F: 0-59

Academic Honesty:

Plagiarism and cheating are serious offenses and may be punished by failure on an exam or assignment or failure in the course. They are also violations of the GMU Honor Code and may be reported to the Honor Committee.

Schedule: