Syllabus

Schedule

Course learning modules are divided into weeks. Each week starts on Wednesday at 12:00 am Eastern Time (ET) and closes on Wednesday at 11:59 pm ET, with the exception of Week 8, which ends on Sunday. All assignments must be submitted by 11:59 pm ET on the due date.

Course Schedule at a Glance

Learning Modules	Topics	Assignments and Due Dates
Week 1 8/29-9/5	Overview of Project Management	Discussion — Initial post by Sunday 9/2, responses by Wednesday 9/5
Week 2 9/5-9/12	Project Preparation	Discussion — Initial post by Sunday 9/9, responses by Wednesday 9/12 Part 1 of Project Plan: Project Charter — Wednesday 9/12
Week 3 9/12-9/19	The Triple Constraint of Project Management	Discussion – Initial post by Sunday 9/16, responses by Wednesday 9/19 Part 2 of Project Plan: WBS, Network Diagram — Wednesday 9/19
Week 4 9/19-9/26	Communication	Discussion – Initial post by Sunday 9/23, responses by Wednesday 9/26 Part 3 of Project Plan: Communication Plan — Wednesday 9/26
Week 5 9/26-10/3	Teams and Leaders	Discussion – Initial post by Sunday 9/30, responses by Wednesday 10/3 Part 4 of Project Plan: Project Team Member Profiles — Wednesday 10/3
Week 6 10/3-10/10	Change and Risk	Discussion – Initial post by Sunday 10/7, responses by Wednesday 10/10 Part 5 of Project Plan: Risk and Change Plan — Wednesday 10/10
Week 7 10/10-10/17	Project Closure	Discussion – Initial post by Sunday 10/17, responses by Wednesday 10/17 Final Project — Wednesday 10/17
Week 8 10/17-10/21	Examples in the Real World	Discussion — Initial post by Friday 10/19, responses by Sunday 10/21

Weekly Course Schedule

Week 1 — Overview of Project Management

Learning Outcomes:

• Discuss the attributes of a good project

Course Materials

• Read chapters 1 and 2 in course text
• Optional Resource: Project Management Tools from TutorialsPoint website

Assignments:

Discussion Question: Introduce yourself and tell us what idea(s) you have for a real (or hypothetical) project for which you can create a project management plan during this course. If you have several ideas at this point, that is fine. The feedback you get from your peers and your instructor will help you decide which one to use as you begin your plan next week. In your responses to your classmates, provide substantive feedback about their project ideas. Are there things they haven’t considered? Should they modify their ideas in some way?

Week 2 — Project Preparation

Learning Outcomes:

• Discuss prior experience with project management
• Begin Project Management Plan
• Write a Project Charter

Course Materials: Read Chapter 3 in course text

Assignments:

Discussion Question: Describe your experience with project management. Have you worked with project management either in healthcare or in health informatics? If not, have you been exposed to project management in another industry, such as construction or software development? If you haven’t done any project management in your work, how have you used project management in your non-work life?

Project Charter (Part 1 of Project Plan): By now you should have decided upon the project you will focus on during the rest of the course. This week you will write part 1 of your project management plan: the Project Charter and submit as a Word document. Use the information from pages 63 to 74 of the e-textbook (or 36 to 46 of the physical textbook) to help you write the project charter. You can use the template in figure 3.1 to create your project charter. Remember that your project charter might look somewhat different. Your project charter should include the sections outlined in the pages of the text (63 to 74), those sections are briefly described below. However, please read the textbook for a clear indication of what is in each section.

• Project description (see template on page 37 for a description of what to include in this section)
• Project’s authority
• High-level milestones
• Project organization
• Key project contacts

Refer to the Project Charter Rubric and assignment instructions for submission guidelines.

Week 3 — The Triple Constraint of Project Management

Learning Outcomes:

• Discuss the importance of project management in healthcare
• Create a Work Breakdown Structure
• Create a Network Diagram

Course Materials:

• Read chapters 4, 5, and 6 in course text
• Webpage: Work Breakdown Structure from TutorialsPoint (2017)
• Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth. (2014, December 2). Five-level work breakdown structure [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&v=SqcuLsyFr-o
• O’Loughlin, E. (2011, January 7). Eugene O’Loughlin: How to create a simple project network diagram [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=0bkw7cnZLwQ

Assignments:

Discussion Question: Why is project management important to healthcare? Time, quality, and cost act as a triple constraint in project management; how is that triple constraint related to the Triple Aim in healthcare (population health, experience of care, per capita cost of care)? Can you provide an example of how you see project management and the Triple Aim influencing one another?

Work Breakdown Structure & Network Diagram (Part 2 of Project Plan): This week you will create Part 2 of your project plan which is broken down as follows:

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) — You read about the WBS last week; refer back to pages 74 to 76 in the e-textbook (47 to 49 in the physical book). As you develop your WBS, keep in mind that tasks should be broken down into their smallest component — usually what can be accomplished in 8 hours. The size of your WBS will depend upon the complexity of your project and the number of tasks. In addition to the textbook, you may refer to the video, Five-Level Work Breakdown Structure, in this week’s course materials for help as you construct your WBS.

Network Diagram — The Network Diagram serves as the schedule or timeline for the project milestones and deliverables. In a complicated project, a Network Diagram is essential for estimating how long the project will take. To see how to create a Network Diagram, refer to the video: How to Create a Simple Project Network Diagram, in this week’s course materials. According to Shirley (2011), “developing a schedule requires the definition of four things: (1) what needs to be done, (2) who will accomplish those tasks, (3) how much time each of those defined tasks will need, and (4) the sequence of those tasks, including which need to be done first (dependencies) and which can be done in parallel” (p. 53). Those four elements are the information you will need in order to construct your network diagram. Make sure each task from your WBS appears in your network diagram and those tasks are “. . . what needs to be done” (Shirley, 2011, p. 53).

Refer to the Work Breakdown Structure and Network Diagram Rubric for submission guidelines.

Week 4 — Communication

Learning Outcomes:

• Discuss how conflict can affect a project
• Produce a communication plan

Course Materials:

• Read chapters 7 and 14 in course text
• iZenBridge Consultancy Pvt Ltd. (2014, June 11). PMP®: How to Calculate Communication Channels: iZenBridge [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0X1DUVUf28

Assignments:

Discussion Question: According to Shirley (2011), “conflicts in meetings can be very productive, if managed, or very disruptive if not managed” (p. 180). One of the key components to managing conflict is communication. Describe a project or meeting that you have been involved in where there was conflict among the participants. How did the quality of communication impact the conflict? Was the conflict managed well? Was the end result of the meeting/project adversely affected by the conflict?

Communication Plan (Part 3 of Project Plan): The communication plan outlines who will get various pieces of information and how they will receive them. According to Shirley (2011), “the basic concept of a communications plan is to get the right information to the right people at the right time in a useful format” (p. 102). Keep that in mind as you develop your communication plan. Refer to the Communication Plan Rubric for submission guidelines.

• Submit communication plan that is 1-2 pages, double-spaced
• Refer to this webpage from the University of Wisconsin as a resource for developing a communication plan

Refer to the Communication Plan Rubric for submission guidelines.

Week 5 — Teams and Leaders

Learning Outcomes:

• Discuss how to motivate team members when problems arise
• Create team member profiles

Course Materials: Read chapters 11 and 12 in course text

Assignments:

Discussion Question: One of the roles of the project manager is to deal with changes in project scope that may arise due to demands from project sponsors, limited project resources, changes in technology and/or regulations, shrinking budgets, etc. The project manager has to be able to motivate the project team despite any of these changes that may occur.

Imagine that you are managing a healthcare project and have just been told that your budget has been drastically reduced because revenues are down. To make matters worse, your boss has told you that she has to take one of your team members off the project because that person is needed elsewhere. However, your boss makes it clear that it is imperative that this project continues and that it has a successful conclusion. How are you going to communicate this information to your team members? What techniques are you going to use to motivate them to continue with the project despite the budget cuts?

Project Team Member Profiles (Part 4 of Project Plan): Who are the members of your project team and what role will each play? Please provide a short bio for each member. Include information on what skills they have that are important to the project and also what their responsibilities will be as part of the project team. Each bio should be a paragraph in length and justify the inclusion of the team member. Refer to the Project Team Member Rubric for submission guidelines.

Week 6 — Change and Risk

Learning Outcomes:

• Describe appropriate change management
• Develop a risk and change plan

Course Materials:

• Read chapters 8, 9, 13 and Appendix C in course text
• Watt, A. (2014). Project Management. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/projectmanagement/
• Sample Change Management Plan from the University of Wisconsin, Department of Information Technology (n.d.)
• Clements, J. (2012, September 11). Project Risk Management [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64SYPlMTz9U

Assignments:

Discussion Question: Describe a situation where change was poorly managed. How might it have been handled differently? Describe an experience in which there was a sudden change in the project you were working on. How was the change introduced? Was there regular communication from project leaders? Using the knowledge you now have on appropriate communication, how would you have handled the situation?

Risk and Change Plan (Part 4 of Final Project): Identify three or four areas of risk in your project and quantify each risk. Then develop a change plan to address those risks. You may find viewing the Project Risk Management video from Clements (2012) in this week’s Course Materials particularly helpful with this assignment. Refer to the Risk and Change Plan Rubric for submission guidelines.

Week 7 — Project Closures:

Learning Outcomes:

• Describe how to hand off a project
• Combine elements to create a project plan

Course Materials: Read chapters 10 and 15 in course text

Assignments:

Discussion Question: Think about the project you have been working with for this course. If you had to leave this project before completion, what advice would you give to someone taking over your role as project manager?

Final Project: The final project is a resubmission of all your previous assignments. Make any corrections and/or adjustments to those assignments using your instructor’s feedback. You may also need to adjust earlier assignments in light of what you did in later assignments (or vice versa). The final project should be a seamless integration of all the assignments to date for this course into a complete project plan.

Week 8 — Examples in the Real World

Learning Outcomes:

• Consider real-world implications for project management

Course Materials: Read chapters 16 and 17 in course text

Assignment:

Discussion: Your final discussion is an opportunity for you to reflect on how this course might impact your work. How can you use what you’ve learned in this class in your current position and/or in future roles you may have?

Student Resources

Online Student Support

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Questions? Visit the Student Support Health Informatics page

APA Style Guide

• https://www.apastyle.org

UNE Libraries:

• Library Access for all students: Your library login ID and password are the same as the ones you use to log into Blackboard/Brightspace.
• MSIN Databases: https://library.une.edu/library-materials/find/research-by-subject/health-informatics/
• Library Tutorial: Find an article
• Library Questions: Ask a librarian or phone library staff at (207) 602-2361 or (207) 221-4330.

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• UNE Student Academic Success Center

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Policies

Technology Requirements

Please review the technical requirements for UNE Online Graduate Programs: Technical Requirements

Turnitin Originality Check and Plagiarism Detection Tool

The College of Professional Studies uses Turnitin to help deter plagiarism and to foster the proper attribution of sources. Turnitin provides comparative reports for submitted assignments that reflect similarities in other written works. This can include, but is not limited to, previously submitted assignments, internet articles, research journals, and academic databases.

Make sure to cite your sources appropriately as well as use your own words in synthesizing information from published literature. Webinars and workshops, included early in your coursework, will help guide best practices in APA citation and academic writing.

You can learn more about Turnitin in the Turnitin Student quick start guide.

Information Technology Services (ITS)

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Course Evaluation Policy

Course surveys are one of the most important tools that University of New England uses for evaluating the quality of your education, and for providing meaningful feedback to instructors on their teaching. In order to assure that the feedback is both comprehensive and precise, we need to receive it from each student for each course. Evaluation access is distributed via UNE email at the beginning of the last week of the course.

Attendance Policy

Online students are required to submit a graded assignment/discussion prior to Sunday evening at 11:59 pm ET of the first week of the term. If a student does not submit a posting to the graded assignment/discussion prior to Sunday evening at 11:59 pm ET, the student will be automatically dropped from the course for non-participation. Review the full attendance policy.

Late Policy

Assignments: Late assignments will be accepted up to 3 days late; however, there is a 10% grade reduction (from the total points) for the late submission. After three days the assignment will not be accepted.

Discussion posts: If the initial post is submitted late, but still within the discussion board week, there will be a 10% grade reduction from the total discussion grade (e.g., a 3 point discussion will be reduced by 0.3 points). Any posts submitted after the end of the Discussion Board week will not be graded.

Please make every effort ahead of time to contact your instructor and your student support specialist if you are not able to meet an assignment deadline. Arrangements for extenuating circumstances may be considered by faculty.

Student Handbook Online - Policies and Procedures

The policies contained within this document apply to all students in the College of Graduate and Professional Studies. It is each student's responsibility to know the contents of this handbook.

UNE Online Student Handbook

UNE Course Withdrawal

Please contact your student support specialist if you are considering dropping or withdrawing from a course. The last day to drop for 100% tuition refund is the 2nd day of the course. Financial Aid charges may still apply. Students using Financial Aid should contact the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing from a course.

Academic Integrity

The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable. For information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please visit UNE Plagiarism Policies.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:

1. Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
2. Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
3. Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
4. Multiple submissions of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
5. Plagiarism, the appropriation of records, research, materials, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own.

Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations.  Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final.  Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.