For release on:
14 July 2009
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Kaycee Holmes
Edelman for PMI
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kaycee.holmes@edelman.com
Houston, Texas – June 13– Three degrees within the graduate program in project management at the University of Houston (UH) were accredited by the Project Management Institute Global Accreditation Center for Project Management (GAC) for their outstanding quality and education offerings. Program accreditation by the GAC shows a commitment to excellence in project management education on the part of the university.
UH’s College of Technology offers three Master of Science degrees in technology project management: technology project management, information systems security and logistics. UH’s programs have been found to meet the project management core learning outcomes within the GAC Standards of Accreditation. Accreditation by the GAC ensures the quality of academic degree programs and their graduates in order to meet the current and anticipated needs of the rapidly growing field of project management.
“This is great for our students and great for the region,” said Michael Gibson, head of the College of Technology’s department of information and logistics technology. “There’s only one other GAC accredited program in the state – the University of Texas-Dallas. There are only 24 institutions with GAC accredited programs worldwide.”
“There is a critical, global need for project management professionals in industry and commerce, and this accreditation puts UH in an elite group of institutions aiming to meet that need,” said William Fitzgibbon, dean of the UH College of Technology. “For example, the oil and gas industry, particularly, is facing a shortage of project management professionals. Carefully selected courses in conjunction with other colleges at UH will allow energy professionals to construct programs specific to their career needs.”
“PMI and the GAC offer well-deserved congratulations to UH for the recent accreditation of its advanced degree program in project management,” said Dr. Edwin Andrews, director of academic and educational programs and services at PMI. “GAC accreditation confirms that the scale and quality of an institution’s project management degree program conforms to a comprehensive international standard. It also makes a public statement about the deep commitment of the institution and its faculty to ongoing evaluation and continuous quality improvement.”
Individuals who complete a UH program earn 1,500 hours of project management experience toward the requirements that are needed to sit for the PMI Project Management Professional (PMP)® credential examination. Currently, an applicant with a bachelor degree (or higher) must document 4,500 hours spent leading and directing project tasks. If the applicant documents that he or she graduated from a GAC accredited program, then only 3,000 hours of work experience need to be presented to fulfill this requirement. Additionally, individuals who complete a UH program earn 1,500 hours of project management experience toward the requirements that are needed to sit for the PMI Program Management Professional (PgMP)® credential examination.
About University of Houston
The University of Houston, Texas’ premier metropolitan research and teaching institution, is home to more than 40 research centers and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate, civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and service with more than 36,000 students.
About Project Management Institute
The world’s leading project management organization, PMI shares knowledge with nearly 500,000 members and credential holders in 185 countries. Since its founding 40 years ago, PMI has impacted more than one million practitioners, businesses, governments, students and training organizations. Today, PMI’s products and services range from world-class standards for project, program and portfolio management to five professional credentials, including the gold standard Project Management Professional (PMP)®. PMI’s exclusive Global Corporate Council and European Corporate Networking Group engage large multinationals and government organizations in endorsing the value of project management. The only project management association with an established academic research program, PMI has invested more than US$14 million in support of dozens of research projects since 1997. Learn more at PMI.org.
About PMI’s Global Accreditation Center for Project Management (GAC)
Established by the PMI Board of Directors in 2001, the Global Accreditation Center for Project Management (GAC) is a specialized accrediting body that assures the quality of project management degree programs at the graduate and undergraduate levels. Degree programs that achieve GAC accreditation must demonstrate and meet PMI GAC’s rigorous standards, which include an assessment of each program’s objectives and outcomes, faculty and student evaluations, onsite and online resources, annual self-evaluation, and proof of continuous improvements in the area of project management. Fifty-nine project management degree programs at 24 institutions in nine countries are accredited by PMI GAC. Eight other programs are in the process of accreditation.
