Project Managers Shelly Kleinschrodt and Rebecca Miller facilitated a very well-attended, two-day workshop (July 8 and July 10) that gave the Student Information System (SIS) Replacement Project team a basic understanding of the discipline of project management, including a high-level review of UC Berkeley’s preferred methodology.
Project management, as defined by the Project Management Institute, (PMI) is the "application of knowledge, skills and techniques to execute projects effectively and efficiently" in alignment with organizational goals. A part of the SIS project’s Implementation Readiness activities, the workshop helped to make the case that a shared project management methodology is foundational to our ability to deliver a new system that supports the transformation of the student experience.
A Common Discipline Across Approaches
Session One began with an historical overview of how project management developed from an engineering model to a profession with eight PMI professional certifications.
Today, while project management approaches may vary, Kleinschrodt explained, the one common denominator is that the Project Manager is responsible for managing all aspects of project. These common aspects include Five Process Groups or sequential activities—Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring & Controlling, and Closing—plus Ten Knowledge Areas: Communications Management; Cost Management; Human Resource Management; Integration Management; Procurement Management; Quality Management; Risk Management; Scope Management; Time Management; and Stakeholder Management. The project manager’s challenge is to achieve all of the project’s goals while honoring its constraints, listening to its stakeholders, and engaging its governance.
Best Practices at UC Berkeley
Guest Speaker Peggy Huston, Operational Excellence Program Office Director, shared her experience addressing the challenges of project management— which at UC Berkeley first meant getting project management recognized as a rigorous discipline.
“Before we acknowledged the professionalism of project management on campus," Huston explained, "a project, which by definition has a beginning, middle, and end, went on for years, was rarely budgeted, and had less than hoped for outcomes.” She also noted that today, project management is gaining traction as a recognized discipline that requires dedicated resources.
Founder of the Operational Excellence Program Office, Huston along with leaders from Berkeley’s Technology Program Office, Student Affairs Information Technologies, Education Technology Services, Learning + Organizational Development, and the Office of the Chief Financial Officer are involved in a Project Management Work Group to aggregate best practices for delivering consistently excellent project outcomes.
While Huston acknowledged that we are still learning and improving, “we are so far ahead of many campuses…just read some of the literature and conference papers in this area,” she added. Huston was recently recognized by the Network for Change and Continuous Improvement as a Leader of Change in Higher Education.
Group Engagement: Putting Theory into Practice
Throughout the session, participants had the opportunity to put theory into practice in breakout 
groups facilitated by Miller, including a brainstorming session on how the triple constraints of scope, time, and cost might affect the SIS Project.
Miller explained that the triple constraint is an extremely effective tool in project management to help decision-makers understand the impact of each of these constraints on the deliverables and outcomes of the project.
For example, if decisions are made that change the cost, those decisions will impact time and/or scope of the project, so decision-makers need to decide if, for example, the budget is decreased, are they willing to decrease scope? Likewise, if the time dimension is going to be extended, are they willing to pay the additional costs?
Day Two: Stay Tuned…
Day Two of the workshop focused on the project management model that is employed by the System Implementer we anticipate working with as our consultant on this project. This rigorous methodology is based on the best practices that were highlighted in Day One of the workshop, including the Five Process Groups.
Phase One focuses on foundational work that is critical over the life of the project such as the development of a project charter and a project plan with deliverables and success measure
s. Phases Two to Five consist of logically sequenced activities for bringing specific functions, such as admissions or registration, on to the new system in carefully planned stages (known as phased go-live dates). These activities include the design and installation of the new system, thorough documentation, extensive testing, in-depth training, and, perhaps most critically, a transfer of knowledge so UC Berkeley is equipped to manage the new system once the project concludes.
As soon as our contract negotiations are finalized, we will be able to discuss how these experts propose to implement Campus Solutions (the Oracle® software we purchased at the new system’s foundation) on our campus. Keep checking our website for updates.
For additional information on our Implementation Readiness Activities, click here.
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