Project Management Certificate - Credential As You Go

New Playbook: Incremental Credentialing in Graduate Education

Case Study

Project Management Certificate

University of North Carolina at Pembroke

CREDENTIAL TITLE

Project Management Certificate

CREDENTIAL LEVEL

Undergraduate

ACADEMIC PROGRAM

CREDIT/NON-CREDIT # OF CREDITS (IF CREDIT BEARING)

Non-credit

INCREMENTAL CREDENTIALING FRAMEWORK APPROACHES

Learn As You Go

Stack As You Go

Partner As You Go

Specialize As You Go

Transfer As You Go

Retro As You Go

Why the Credential Was Developed

We identified a state-wide workforce need
In addition to other requirements, a student must earn at least 36 hours of instruction to sit for the Project Management exam offered through the Project Management Institute (PMI)
Most institutions that offer the credits offer them face-to-face; we knew that offering this course in an online, self-paced format would be an excellent option for some learners
By earning the Project Management Certificate, students fulfill the instructional requirement for the PMI exam
Opportunities for certified project managers are available across the professional spectrum, from white-collar jobs in tech to blue-collar industries such as construction
As a historically American Indian university, diversity, equity, and inclusion is part of our DNA

How the Credential Was Developed

To develop the content, we hired a professor from the School of Business specializing in International Business, utilizing our studio to create engaging video lectures
Internally, the provost approved the development and deployment
We also got approval from the PMI, which ensures that individuals earning our certificate can sit for the exam
Quality was a primary consideration throughout the development of the credential – The Office of Online Learning strongly emphasizes sound instructional design, and program quality was considered throughout the design process

The Targeted Learners

Our targeted learner is anyone interested in obtaining a Certificate in Project Management
We advertise the program on all social media platforms and our website
The program is offered through the Canvas Learning Management System. Students have access to 24-hour technical support via chat or phone.
The Division of Information Technology provides technical support to ensure students have the necessary resources to succeed

Lessons Learned

We gained valuable knowledge about what it takes to prepare a professor to record a lecture to accommodate virtual deliveries.
Currently, we are contacting the students via email to award their certificates, which is not ideal. We are implementing a program called Badgr which provides a repository for displaying badges and includes a public page for learners to showcase badges and a transcript. This system allows students to share and showcase their accomplishments with others easily.

Top Competencies/Learning Outcomes

Provide the essential skills to complete your project on a budget, efficiently and effectively. This course complies with the PMI standards and participants will earn 36 PM credits to satisfy the PMP certification education requirement.

Credential Components

16 module-based components, self-paced to be completed in 6 weeks.

Improving Education and Employment Outcomes

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FUNDING STATEMENT

Credential As You Go has acquired three phases of funding to date. Lumina Foundation funded Phase I, resulting in the Incremental Credential Framework for testing. The Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education funds Phase II (Grant R305T210063), which focuses on rapid prototyping of and research on incremental credentials with a national campaign. An anonymous private donor fund at the Program on Skills, Credentials & Workforce Policy at George Washington University funds the development of the prototype Learn and Work Ecosystem Library. Walmart funds Phase III, which focuses on systems change for expansion and sustainability of incremental credentials. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of Lumina Foundation, Institute of Education Sciences, the U.S. Department of Education, Walmart, or George Washington University.