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 doctoral degree levels. The discipline of project management has increasingly 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 — identified. By 2007, the number had grown to over 360 degree programs at 250 institutions worldwide. The degree also has broadened to encompass construction management, business management, engineering, architecture and information technology. This growing interest in the profession signaled a need for higher standards in project management education — thus, the establishment of GAC Program in 2001.
The GAC confers accreditation only upon the institutions that meet the accreditation standards defined in the 
GAC Handbook of Accreditation.
View a list of PMI GAC Accredited Degree or Candidate Degree programs.
Find out about the GAC Academic Network 
GAC Mission
To advance excellence in project management worldwide through collaboration with and support of academic institutions and accreditation of academic programs.
Fundamental Purposes of GAC Accreditation
- • To assure the quality of project management degree programs
- • To promote greater professionalism in project management
GAC Board
The primary function of the GAC Board is to administer and maintain policies and procedures for accrediting degree programs related to project management. Responsibilities include:
- • Making any final decisions regarding the accreditation of a degree program
- • Developing and improving the accreditation standards and guidelines
- • Developing policies, procedures, onsite visit processes and other items to support accreditation of degree programs
- • Setting the fees for the accreditation process
Board members may serve as many as two consecutive three-year terms. The GAC Board aims to strike a member balance of geography and of professional and academic individuals.
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The 2008 GAC Board Members are:
|
John H. Cable, R.A., PMP
Chairperson
University of Maryland, United States
Lynn Crawford, PhD
Bond University, Australia
ESC-Lille (Lille School of Management - Lille & Paris), France
Andrew Gale, PhD
The University of Manchester
United Kingdom
Robert Hulsey
Board Member-at-Large, Public Member
National Bank of Texas, United States
James C. Joiner, PMP
University of Texas at Dallas
United States |
Ron Kempf, PMP
Vice-Chairperson
Principal, RTK Associates
United States
Thomas K. Stauffert, PhD
University of Applied Sciences,
Landshut, Germany
Wang Shou Qing, PhD
Tsinghua University,
P.R. China
Christine Watson, PMP
Environmental Planning Specialists Inc.,
United States |
GAC Events
2008 GAC Academic Forum — Warsaw, Poland
When: 13 July 2008
On Sunday, 13 July 2008, 9:00–16:00, the GAC has planned an informative and dynamic Academic Forum to be held in conjunction with the PMI Research Conference 2008, in Warsaw, Poland. Highlights of the program include:
- • Presentations addressing the topic of “Project Management in Higher Education–Serving the Needs of Industry.” Views from both academia and business will be presented. This portion of the day will include a panel and open discussion.
- • An overview of the PMI Global Accreditation Center (GAC) Program/Process/Open Discussion will close the day. This session includes a panel of representatives from GAC accredited programs
To register for the event, as well as to view a more detailed agenda, please visit the GAC Academic Forum area of the Research Conference Web Site.
For general inquiries about the GAC Academic Forum, please contact gac@pmi.org