The PMI Global Accreditation Center (GAC), which is a member of the Association of Specialized and Professional Accreditors, accredits project management degree programs at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels. The Engineering Master Program in Project Management at the School of Mechanical Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University was accredited by the PMI GAC in January 2008 and is the first of the 103 schools offering this degree in China to receive PMI GAC accreditation. Fourteen colleges and universities worldwide have earned PMI GAC accreditation through the first quarter of 2008.

The Chinese government has committed significant resources to assuring that highly educated project managers are available to serve its rapidly growing construction and engineering, information technology (IT), manufacturing and aeronautics sectors. In 2004, the government instituted a number of engineering master’s in project management degree programs that have now grown to more than 100, including programs at several business schools. There currently are more than 14,000 students enrolled in these programs, making it the most popular engineering master’s discipline in the world.

“Recognition of the standard of project management education set by the GAC will assure that China’s increasing cadre of project managers are well qualified to meet Project Management Professional (PMP^®) certification requirements,” said Gregory Balestrero, chief executive officer of PMI. “Practitioners who have earned the Project Management Professional credential can be confident that the PMP is recognized worldwide as the credential to hold by project managers, whether they are in the Chinese engineering, construction or management workforce.”

PMI has a tradition of supporting China. A member of PMI’s GAC Board, Prof. Dr. Wang ShouQing,is from Tsinghua University. Wang is leading, under the direction of SCME, the national consortium of 103 Chinese universities and colleges with master degree programs in project management. PMI also continues to support project management research at Chinese universities and at its upcoming biennial Research Conference in Warsaw Poland will feature a plenary speaker from Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

China National Steering Committee of Professional Education of Master of Engineering (SCME)

For the development of post-graduate education for master of engineering, the Degree Committee of the State Council and the Ministry of Education of China decided to set up SCME in Dec. 17, 1998. Led by the Degree Committee of the State Council and the Ministry of Education of China, SCME is the expert direction and consultation organization on the degree education of National Master of Engineering. The SCME’s main duties are:

• • direct and coordinate the National Master of Engineering programs
• • oversee the quality of master of engineering programs
• • promote the communication and cooperation between the master of engineering education and enterprise engineering technology and engineering management staff training
• • direct the international exchange and cooperation on master of engineering education
• • promote the continuous improvement and development of degree education on master of engineering

The first and second director members of SCME are Wang Dazhong, past president of Tsinghua University, and Gu Binglin,the current president of Tsinghua University. The secretary department of SCME is under the post- graduate college of Tsinghua University. By the end of 2007, there were 40 areas of engineering in China.  Also, 212 training organizations have the right to grant the master of engineering degree in China, There are more than 170,000 students enrolled in master of engineering programs in China, and, more than 110,000 students have earned  the master of engineering degree

About PMI’s Global Accreditation Center (GAC)

PMI is fully engaged in the education process through its Global Accreditation Center. Established by PMI in 2001, the Global Accreditation Center for Project Management (GAC) acts as  the sole governing body for the policies, procedures, and standards for accrediting project management programs at the bachelor, master and doctorate degree levels. The discipline of project management continues to become more recognized within the academic world over the past 20 years.

In 1994, there were only two bachelor and nine master level project management degrees — primarily in construction management. Through 2007, the number had grown to more than 386 degree programs at 277 institutions worldwide. The degrees have broadened to encompass not only construction management, but also business management, engineering, architecture and information technology. There are four newly accredited degree programs at three universities, two in the United States, one in Germany and one in China.  GAC now has a total of 14 accredited schools, and 17 more schools are in the GAC accreditation process.

About PMI

With more than 260,000 members in 170 plus countries, the Project Management Institute, Inc. (PMI) is the leading membership association for the project management profession and the largest association dedicated to project management in the world. As the leading global advocate for the profession, PMI is actively engaged in setting professional standards, providing a professional career path for project managers and maintaining a family of globally-transferable professional credentials: Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM^®), Project Management Professional (PMP^®) and Program Management Professional (PgMP)^®.  Additionally, the Institute provides members with access to the knowledge, skills, educational support and networking opportunities needed to drive business results through project management, program management and portfolio management.  PMI is highly regarded for its extensive research capabilities.  PMI was founded in 1969. Please visit PMI.org for more information.