OMSPM Course Descriptions
DNSC 6202 Statistics for Managers (3 credits)
This course provides an introduction to various decision-making tools and techniques, and to the basic statistical methods which are used both in the direct solution of managerial problems and as foundations for more advanced statistical analysis. It is expected that students will develop a good understanding of probability and its role in statistics and decision-making, learn to formulate hypotheses i.e., ask the right questions, and be able to collect appropriate data and analyze it using appropriate statistical techniques.
DNSC 6247 Organization, Management, and Leadership (3 credits)
Successful project managers know how to initiate and maintain an environment that allows people to flourish while achieving project goals and objectives. The most important ingredients of any project organization are the people. In this course, students learn how to invest in people to achieve project success. The course covers the fundamentals of project human resource management and provides the tools and techniques to achieve success in managing and leading people in projects.
DNSC 6250 Project Management Finance (3 credits)
This course introduces students to the basic terminology, concepts, and principles of financial accounting and managerial finance. It enhances the decision-making capability of project and operations managers by providing them with accounting and finance methods and tools to understand and evaluate a firm and the business environment in which it operates. Topics include financial statement analysis; the time value of money; capital budgeting; risk assessment; financial forecasting; and working capital management.
DNSC 6251 Optimization Models for Decision-Making (1.5 credits)
This course provides an introduction to optimization techniques for decision-making with spreadsheet implementation. Topics covered include: linear programming; sensitivity analysis; networks; integer programming; goal programming and multiple objective optimization; and nonlinear and evolutionary programming. Models discussed span all business disciplines including finance, marketing, operations, and project management. Throughout the course, learning is reinforced via hands-on computer experience using problems and cases.
Prerequisite: DNSC 6202 Statistics for Managers
DNSC 6252 Risk Analysis for Decision-Making (1.5 credits)
The course provides an introduction to probabilistic modeling techniques for decision-making with spreadsheet implementation. Special focus is placed on the concept of risk and methods for analyzing it. Topics covered included influence diagrams; risk analysis; risk attitudes; utility theory; subjective and empirical probability distribution assessment; simulation models; queuing theory; Markov chains; and game theory. Models discussed span all business disciplines, including finance, marketing, operations, and project management. Throughout the course, learning is reinforced via hands-on computer experience using problems and cases.
Prerequisite: DNSC 6202 Statistics for Managers
DNSC 6254 Risk Management (1.5 credits)
Risk Management provides a thorough study of the nature of risk and its impact on management and business decision-making. Decision modeling techniques are used to analyze and understand risk. The course will also provide an understanding of how to identify and manage risk in a project through: risk management infrastructure; risk management planning; risk response planning, monitoring, and control; and risk reporting.
Prerequisites: DNSC 6261 Introduction to Project Management, DNSC 6202 Statistics for Managers
DNSC 6257 Cost Estimation & Control (1.5 credits)
Students will learn methods of developing project estimates during the planning stages and updating the estimates throughout the life of the project; monitoring, reporting, controlling, and managing project cost; relationships between project cost and other parameters, including scope, time, quality, reliability and procurement risk.
Prerequisites: DNSC 6261 Introduction to Project Management and DNSC 6202 Statistics for Managers
DNSC 6258 Executive Decision-Making (1.5 credits)
This course covers concepts and methods for making complex decisions in any environment. Students will identify criteria and alternatives, set priorities, and engage in allocating resources, strategic planning, resolving conflict, and making group decisions. Students will also examine complex choice models and intuition, logic, and decision traps.
DNSC 6259 Project Portfolio Management (1.5 credits)
This course covers management of an organization’s portfolio of projects for the overall welfare and success of the enterprise; alignment of projects with an organization’s strategy and goals; and consistency with values and culture. Students will learn about: the role of governance in project portfolio management; designing projects to address an organization’s strategic objectives; determining an optimum combination of projects; evaluating alternative portfolios given different scenarios; and synthesizing individual project performance into measures of portfolio performance at various levels within the organization.
Prerequisites: DNSC 6261 Introduction to Project Management, DNSC 6202 Statistics for Managers
DNSC 6261 Introduction to Project and Program Management (3 credits)
Addressing the culture, principles, and basic techniques of project management, this course provides a comprehensive overview of project management. The course reviews the general stages of a project in rough chronological order and describes how they interrelate. Project management tools are introduced and subsequently used in student assignments. The principles and tools are integrated and clarified through examples from a variety of organizational settings and through creation of project management plans developed by students working in teams.
DNSC 6262 Directed Computational Project Management (3 credits)
This course covers the practical examination of project management concepts by quantitative application using various software tools. Research in real cost data to support project calculations.
Prerequisites: DNSC 6254 Risk Management, DNSC 6257 Cost Estimation & Control, and DNSC 6267 Planning and Scheduling
DNSC 6267 Planning and Scheduling (3 credits)
Students will learn integrated planning, scheduling, and control systems for planning the scope of a project. The course addresses how to optimize time, cost, and resources; define project planning processes and project scope; and monitoring and controlling schedules, including those for delayed projects.
Prerequisites: DNSC 6261 Introduction to Project Management, DNSC 6202 Statistics for Managers
DNSC 6269 Project Management Applications (Capstone) (3 credits)
In this course, the program’s capstone, students must demonstrate the ability to integrate their accumulated learning experience and educational knowledge as well as to produce new information by applying their skills to the creation of a project management handbook; by evaluating and suggesting improvements in specific project environments; and through a case study or by analyzing some project management practices to determine the best.
Prerequisite: OMSPM candidacy and completion of all required coursework or in final semester of the program