• Academic Calendar
• 2011-2012 University Catalog
• Student Handbook
• Undergraduate
• Dual Enrollment Program
• Early College Program
• Graduate
  • Project Management
  • Learning Technologies
  • IS Engineering and Management
  • Graduate Specialization Options
• Professional and Continuing Education
• Internships
• Research and Centers
• Knowledge Network

Managing Software Development Projects - 18 credits

• Managing IT Projects
• Professional Communications for Project Managers
• Organizational Leadership
• Software Development Lifecycle
• Requirements Gathering and Documentation
• Overview of Software Development Technologies & Architectures

This graduate certificate program covers widely accepted project management methodologies with particular attention to the unique technical issues of software development projects. Key topics will include software development methodologies and practices, as well as software development technologies and architectures. Participants learn methodologies including waterfall, iterative and agile, and will understand the integration of these with other frameworks and management methodologies such as the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) and Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI). Software development technologies will be explored including development languages and frameworks (e.g. .NET and Java), various tools used during the development lifecycle, and key components of an application such as the data layer and user interface are addressed. Architectural topics will include prevalent patterns such as Model-View-Controller (MVC) and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). Testing and integration, which are critical components of the software development lifecycle are addressed through the study of processes and tools. Students learn the critical steps involved in conducting a business needs analysis occurring at the onset of most large projects. In particular, participants learn best practices for requirements elicitation and documentation for software development projects, and complete an architectural specification.

In addition to these specific software development topics, students build upon foundational concepts surrounding the best practices in project management which are addressed in our IT Project Management introductory courses; Managing IT Projects, Professional Communications for Project Managers, and Organizational Leadership. Courses from this 18-credit certificate can be applied toward completion of the Master’s Degree in IT Project Management.

Classes at the University’s downtown Harrisburg campus are offered in an 8-week accelerated format, allowing the participant to complete the program in nine months. Tuition deferral is available for participants using employee tuition reimbursement plans.