Project management undergraduate degree developed

The University of Sydney has developed the world’s first specialised undergraduate project management degree, the Bachelor of Project Management.

Although the university has offered the postgraduate Master of Project Management qualification since 1998, demand has driven the development of this undergraduate program, which will commence with the 2012 intake.

Core subjects will include project management, project finance, complex project coordination, analytics, statistics, risk management, organisational behaviour and psychology. Students will also choose a complementary stream from Civil Engineering, Science, Built Environment or Software.

“It focuses on developing critical thinking capability and offers graduates transferable skills that can be applied across a wide range of sectors and industries,” said Professor Liaquat Hossain, director of the University of Sydney’s Project Management Program.

The university stated that industry demand had played a key role in the department’s decision to develop and offer the qualification at undergraduate level.

“Organisations are realising that on-the-job training alone for project managers is no longer sustainable,” said Tony Costantino, executive director of Bovis Lend Lease’s project management and construction business in Australia.

“There is increasing demand in many sectors for formally trained project managers with an existing understanding of the fundamental project management methodologies and concepts. The new undergraduate degree will provide a solid educational platform that will help industry meet this need.”

Costantino added that, as a prospective employer, “the more prepared graduates that come to us are, the better equipped they will be to benefit from our career development opportunities”.