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PMGP wins dual international award

The University of Sydney’s Project Management Graduate Program (PMGP) has been awarded two international awards for education excellence by the world’s leading professional association for project management, the Project Management Institute (PMI).

The US-based PMI announced at its World Congress in Los Angeles last week that the University of Sydney PMGP was the best academic institution and best program for project management education.

The awards recognise outstanding professional development providers, instruction and training material for project management students and practitioners.

Delivered entirely online globally, the Sydney PMGP offers a three-step program from graduate certificate, diploma and culminating in a Master of Project Management.

Sydney’s PMGP was initiated after a global survey of programs revealed that none truly met the needs of the career project manager working in a global business environment.

Since its inception in 1999, the Sydney PMGP has had 457 students from the USA, Canada, South and West Africa, the Middle East, Singapore, Fiji, East Timor and around Australia.

The PMGP is structured on a competency framework, which aligns with the major frameworks of the Australian National Competency Standard for Project Management and that of the PMI, which is the principal project management accreditation agency in the world.

PMGP Director Associate Professor Chris Stevens says the inaugural awards are a major acknowledgement of the program’s quality and international stature.

“Project management is increasingly becoming a distinct discipline and professionals and organisations are appreciating the need for formal education in the field where the body of knowledge is growing rapidly,” said Professor Stevens.

“Instrumental to development of the individual in the PMGP is team-building and co-operation to broaden participants’ outlook and to make team exercises as close to real life as they occur in the multinational business world of today.”

“It’s a great honour that the Sydney University program has been acknowledged as a world leader in project management education.”

President of the Sydney Chapter of the PMI, Mr Gordon Bartlett, said it was exciting that an Australian university had achieved recognition for world-class performance in project management professional development.

“We look forward to building on the close working relationship already in place with the University of Sydney,” Mr Bartlett said.

University of Sydney Vice-Chancellor Professor Gavin Brown said the awards were a truly exceptional achievement for an Australian university that accorded Sydney international leadership status.

Note: photographs available on request

Media contacts:
Assoc. Prof. Chris Stevens, Director, Project Management Graduate Program, University of Sydney – T: 02-9351 5997; M: 0418 642 228.
Suzanne Fisk – T: 02 9351 5189
Alan Valvasori – M: 0410 458 487

Sandy Hollway, left, congratulates PMGP Director Chris Stevens on being awarded the two inaugural PMI awards

PMGP Director, Chris Stevens, with Module Leaders and Tutors.

An innovative curriculum delivered in a virtual classroom of nearly 200 students in 10 countries has won two major international accolades for Sydney University’s Project Management Graduate Programme (PMGP) in the Faculty of Engineering.
The world’s premier project management professional accreditation body, the US-based Project Management Institute (PMI), awarded its inaugural best provider and best product awards for project management professional development to the Sydney program. The awards recognise exceptional professional development providers, instruction and training material for project management students, trainees or practitioners.
PMGP director Associate Professor Chris Stevens says the awards are a major acknowledgement of the program’s quality and international stature. The brainchild of Professor Ali Jaafari in 1999, when it started life as the Project Management Outreach Program, the internet-based program has undergone a major restructuring since Professor Stevens became director 18 months ago. Delivered entirely online with the exception of an on-campus Master Class Week, the PMGP now offers a full Master of Project Management, with interim steps of graduate certificate and diploma. Professor Stevens says the body of knowledge on project management is growing constantly and students from wide professional backgrounds are increasingly attracted to formal education in the area. “Today’s project manager is expected to develop and maintain complex schedules and use a vast array of formulas to manage the cost and benefits on a project. Risk identification and quantification are part of the day-to-day management challenges the project manager faces,” says Professor Stevens. He says the PMGP was deliberately structured so that students must work in virtual groups spanning different countries, cultures and time zones, thus reflecting the real-world challenges project managers face every day.

“Most students work in a virtual campus where the sun never sets. About half of the student cohort is offshore with students in the USA, Canada, South and West Africa, the Middle East, Singapore, Fiji and East Timor, as well as Australia.” While there has been a strong representation of students with an ITC and communications background, Professor Stevens says professionals from non-traditional sectors are increasingly seeking formal qualifications in project management.
Of the 457 course participants over five years, 46 percent have an ITC background but the public utilities, consulting and outsourcing, banking and finance sectors are growing in representation. The PMGP is now structured on a competency framework which aligns with those of the Australian National Competency Standard for Project Management and that of the PMI.
“There’s a growing appreciation among business leaders and chief executives that their enterprises can be viewed as a series of distinct projects that need people with specialist skills to manage them,” says Professor Stevens. “The spotlight on governance and risk in public companies has also increased the pressure on senior executives to manage major projects much more effectively.”

According to a 2003 survey by the Standish Group, 15 per cent of the 30,000 IT projects in Fortune 500 companies failed, representing a loss of US$38 billion. These economic losses are largely due to poor project management skills and are becoming less tolerated by stakeholders who are demanding that projects be delivered on time, to scope and on budget.”
The PMGP has eight senior industry representatives on its Strategic Advisory Panel including leading project management guru Rob Thomsett and Sydney Olympics supremo Sandy Hollway.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Gavin Brown said the awards were a truly exceptional achievement for an Australian university that accorded Sydney international leadership status.
“It provides us with an opportunity and a challenge to build bigger and better,” said Professor Brown.
Professor Stevens was receiving the awards at the PMI Global Congress in Los Angeles at the end of October.