The College of Technology has earned significant acknowledgement for its graduate program in project management.
The Project Management Institute Global Accreditation Center for Project Management (PMI GAC) officially recognized the program this July for providing education to future cyber security professionals.
The honor is a rare feat, as only 24 institutions worldwide have received GAC’s endorsement.
‘It does a great service for the college itself, like a seal of approval,’ technology alumnus Danny Nguyen said. ‘Only a handful of institutions have it. They go and see how the program is educating and doing what PMI recognizes as the best.’
PMI puts graduate and undergraduate programs through various screenings for accreditation, requiring College of Technology staff and students to unite.
‘It was a collective effort,’ Department of Technology Dean William Fitzgibbon said. ‘If a program gets accredited, it requires everybody to get in.’
Michael Gibson, professor and chair of the Information and Logistics Technology Department said the designation belongs to the entire University, not only the College of Technology.
Gibson also said the movement for accreditation began years ago.
‘We were leading the application process. We started the process several years back. We were originally certified in two of the certifications in 2005, and then we re-certified those two in 2008,’ Gibson said.
Although the Technology Department has a variety of courses offered online, placing an emphasis on closing the gap between face-to-face classes and its virtual counterpart has been one of its priorities.
‘One of the things that we’re working on also is delivering the face-to-face course via downloads of recorded classes placed on WebCT,’ Gibson said. ‘We have the course recorded and placed into WebCT so Internet students can download the content of the class after the class has ended. Then through blogs and Internet chats, the students can chat with the professor and other students.’
In any teaching format at the College of Technology, the subject matter is evenly stressed, Gibson said.
‘We look to provide knowledge content, skills and experience in this job,’ Gibson said. ‘When our students succeed, we succeed.’
