AMERICAN UNIVERSITY ONLINE MASTER OF SCIENCE IN AGILE PROJECT MANAGEMENTAgile is an established approach used to cope with change and uncertainty. It is increasingly popular in product development and project management to enhance organizational effectiveness in the technology field and other sectors. The online Master of Science in Agile Project Management will give you the skills to manage projects and to lead and empower collaborative teams using Agile methodology. This master’s degree is one of the only available in the nation today that focuses specifically on developing expertise in this forward-looking approach.

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LEARN THE AGILE APPROACH TO COMPLEX PROJECTS

The Master of Science in Agile Project Management degree prepares you for new or advanced careers in any field where you will need to develop innovative solutions using an iterative and incremental project management approach. In this program, you will:

FUNDING Students may qualify for federal financial aid. To be considered for federal loans and federal work-study, submit the free application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at fafsa.ed.gov.

Develop project management life cycles that consider risk and volatility and engage multiple stakeholders.

Learn adaptive project management, including planning, executing, monitoring, controlling, and closing projects.

Compare project management techniques using plan-driven and value-driven approaches.

Use advanced project management tools for cost estimation and control, task scheduling, tracking, and communication.

Assess and create strategic plans and governance models for large and smaller projects and programs.

Build knowledge of and practice ethics and professional responsibility.

Gain effective leadership, communication, and change skills for managing projects, project teams, and stakeholders.

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CAREERS This degree positions graduates to lead projects in innovative and emerging organizations. Take advantage of a strong job market that includes more than 4.5 million positions available to holders of an MS in Project Management.1

1bls.gov 2payscale.com

VALUABLE CAREER ASSISTANCE

All students will have access to American University’s Career Center. Available services include:

Career guidance and academic advising

Resume review

Job search, application and interview techniques

Professional workshops and networking events

IT Senior Project Manager

Median $: 110,7022

IT Project Manager

Median $: 84,7252

Senior Business Analyst

Median $: 82,4062

Project Manager

Median $: 70,4962

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To ensure that this master’s program is relevant and current in meeting the needs of both graduates and the organizations who will employ them, American University recruited and consulted with an advisory council of IT and project management professionals employed in a variety of organizations and fields.

The council identified the need for a program with an emphasis on Agile project management. It supports the development needed by professionals in the field and will continue to provide advice on competencies, standards, and industry trends to ensure that the curriculum is relevant and applicable to the workplace. Members may also serve as mentors to and advocates for students and graduates of the program.

A four-course online Certificate in Agile Project Management is also available. It will teach you the foundations of project management and leadership of collaborative teams using the Agile methodology. The program can be completed in six to eight months. All 12 credits earned will later count toward the MS in Agile Project Management degree should you later choose to pursue the full program.

ADVISORY COUNCIL

CERTIFICATE AVAILABLE

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APM 600: Intro to Adaptive Project Management This course introduces the concepts, principles, and methods of the foundations of all project management and development. Learners will examine traditional, agile, and adaptive styles of management. Explore the advantages and disadvantages of Agile development, including variants such as Scrum, and discuss and demonstrate how to apply best practices from various methodologies to organize and lead an Agile team. A particular emphasis is adaptive project management, which is based on Agile principles but blends traditional methods as needed to adapt to particular environments and management needs.

APM 610: Information Technologies and OrganizationsThe engineering and delivery practices of organizations have been under scrutiny since 2001 when the Agile manifesto was ushered in. This manifesto by distinguished software engineers and architects impacted project delivery, integration, and infrastructure while emphasizing iterative development and delivery of value added code in new and meaningful ways for teams. This course examines IT governance, finance, portfolio management, team designs, metrics, and culture. It also looks at the organization’s ability to respond to changing market conditions, customer needs, and emerging software trends as projects move through the lifecycle. Through case studies and problem-based learning, students will examine project and program governance and financial management as well as examine the influence and impact of systems architecture and organizational culture. Prerequisite: APM 600.

APM 620: Agile, DevOps and Risk AssessmentUnderstanding the impact of Agile on the bottom line and how this affects the financial management and appraisal of projects is important to executives, project sponsors and managers, risk managers, staff, and anyone in the organization that shares an interest in the initiative. This course focuses on the elements of Agile that are relevant to risk assessment and management, including requirements gathering and estimation (“story” writing and “sizing”), contracting (team total and iteration “backlogs”), cost accounting (time and task recording) and the handling of operational and capital expenditure, ROI, financial decision-making, the impact of budgetary practices, and financial uncertainty. Some of these activities are done by the project manager alongside, instead of inside, the project team. Additionally, students will be introduced to DeOps and the importance of the relationship and communication between Development and Operations. Prerequisite: APM 600.

APM 630: Advanced Agile MethodologiesAgile is an established methodology used to cope with change and uncertainty. It has proved popular in product development and project management across a wide range of sectors. This course will examine both the role of the project manager in Agile and the similarities and differences between Agile and Six Sigma and Lean practices. It will take a deep look at Total Quality Management and the characteristics of the Principles of Systems Thinking. Finally, this course will explore in-depth Agile metrics and different approaches to testing and problem solving. Prerequisite: APM 600.

APM 640: Emerging Trends in Agile and Solutions ArchitectureThis course provides students with training in the design of proposals, project management plans, and budgets from the unique perspective of Agile philosophy and practices. It discusses the critical importance of engaging stakeholders in these processes, including donor agencies and local community members. Students will become familiar with donor processes and practices as they relate to project design and proposal development. Prerequisite: APM 600.

APM 700: Agile Project Management CapstoneThe final capstone is a culminating project that utilizes a set of skills which demonstrate maturity and professionalism in strategic thinking in Agile Project Management. Informed by an understanding of data, technology, emerging trends in Agile Project Management, leadership, and information technology, the course focuses on high-level independent document delivery and writing, applied research and analysis, and the creation of a polished, professionally written business plan. All work is supported by an instructor, a structured course that provides milestones and deadlines, and interaction with peers who will experience the same course simultaneously. Prerequisites: All other courses in the program.

CURRICULUMSPECIALIZED COURSES IN AGILE PROJECT MANAGEMENT (18 CREDITS)

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SPEX 615: Introduction to Decision Science When initiating change, companies need to decide what the right change is for their company and how to implement that change correctly. In making these decisions, various critical factors also need to be taken into individual consideration in a methodical, deliberate, and measurable way. This course provides the benefits of and insights into pre-implementation decision-making processes for framing and subsequently implementing strategic change. The impact of measurement and metrics on decisions for successful strategic change is discussed. The course concludes with a reflective evaluation of the lessons learned.

SPEX 635: Virtual TeamsThis course will cover: identifying challenges with virtual teams, increasing awareness of the need for virtual leadership, assessing the strengths and recognizing the unique differences between creating, and sustaining trust. Additionally, a major goal is recognizing and influencing levels of engagement and appreciating generational and cultural differences in the way people operate and manage conflict among team members in the absence of normal interactive and visual cues.

Choose one of the following:

SPEX 610: Intercultural Communications for Professionals The main objective of this course is to improve the intercultural competencies and communication skills of students, with a particular focus on aspects of intercultural communication highly relevant for technical experts and managers. Students will increase their understanding of, and ability to work with, the processes involved when cultures come into contact. This course will enhance the student’s ability to think critically and creatively about today’s cultural challenges, to practice intercultural relations, and to provide a perspective on one’s personal and social responsibility as current and future leaders.

SPEX 630: Client Communications & Professional Consulting This course provides students with the skills needed to collaborate with global partners and widespread teams and to effectively communicate with clients, including large and small corporations, internal and external customers, and members of the project team. Drawing on real-world case studies, students will learn how to prepare and document project correspondence, how to master the art of persuasion, and how to satisfy clients despite budgetary and methodological restrictions.

CURRICULUMPROFESSIONAL COURSES (9 CREDITS)

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Choose three of the following:

SPEX 600: Emerging Technology TrendsThis course explores the current and potential impacts of new, emerging, and rapidly evolving technologies on organizations and their operations, across a range of industries and sectors. Topics include project design, data collection, and data storage as well as legal and privacy issues. Students will gain hands-on experience with techniques for gathering and analyzing information including audio, video, and text capture; media analytics; mapping and data visualization; mobile data collection systems; and more. In addition to tools and best practices, participants will examine challenges and opportunities for designing projects that implement current and emerging technologies to ensure success.

SPEX 620: Professional Ethics & Project LeadershipThis course explores professional ethics and leadership to maximize organizational and personal success across a wide range of disciplines and fields. Participants will learn about ethical issues involved in working with clients and donors, professional correspondence, and managing monitoring and evaluation functions. These topics will be approached within a framework of organizational leadership theories and current trends.

SPEX 625: Design Thinking

This course provides students with the skill set needed to develop innovative solutions for addressing strategic business problems. Students will be introduced to human-centered design, which will allow them to understand what customers want in terms of products, services, and processes. Explore various approaches to innovative thinking and techniques for working with a team to develop and facilitate creative ideas that will contribute to the growth and success of an organization.

SPEX 640: Evaluation: Qualitative MethodsThe course will cover qualitative research skills for project planning, monitoring, and evaluation activities. Students will analyze the strengths, weaknesses, and uses of qualitative data, investigating the circumstances under which planners and evaluators use qualitative methods. Working with an academic practitioner, students will learn qualitative data collection tools and techniques, including participant observation, interviews, and focus groups. In collaboration with an organization in their local community, students will complete practical assignments that require the application of several data collection techniques.

SPEX 650: Evaluation: Quantitative Methods This course explores quantitative methods in project planning, monitoring, and evaluation. It provides opportunities for students to design quantitative evaluations and apply statistical measures to test hypotheses. Students will explore the use of statistical software in managing and manipulating data and the production of descriptive and analytical reports that meet the guidelines and expectations of professional practitioners in the field. Develop an understanding of an often intimidating and difficult subject with an approach that is informative, personable, and clear as they are guided through various statistical procedures, beginning with descriptive statistics, correlation, and graphical representation of data through inferential techniques, analysis of variance, and more.

SPEX 660: Evaluation Sciences

This course explores quantitative and qualitative tools and methods used to evaluate, present, and communicate data (big and small). Students will also learn how to summarize and communicate findings to stakeholders so that they may make informed decisions that will improve the overall quality and efficiency of an organization. Topics include asking the right questions of data, constructing Statements of Work for performance and impact evaluation, conducting t-tests, ANOVA, ANCOVA, matching, differences in differences, regression discontinuity in program evaluation, and disseminating quantitative findings.

SPEX 670: Project Cost-Benefit Analysis This course is designed specifically with the non-economist in mind, including adult professionals who may have little or no academic preparation in economics. It includes recent developments in the theoretical and empirical cost-benefit analysis (CBA) literature, beginning with a detailed discussion of welfare economics and the microeconomic foundations of CBA. It gives comprehensive treatment to CBA methodology and concludes with the current state of CBA as it is practiced by a variety of public, private, and international agencies with applications in areas such as healthcare, environmental management, energy, law enforcement, internet strategy, and others.

SPEX 680: Analytical Business Writing This is an intensive writing course that introduces mid-career professionals to the theory, research, and practice of analytical business writing. In this course students will be exposed to a variety of research techniques and writing forms including, but not limited to, entrepreneurial writing, grant writing, and clear writing principles for professionals in any field. Students will learn how to interview experts, work with clients, and write for the web.

CURRICULUMPROFESSIONAL ELECTIVE COURSES (9 CREDITS)

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WHY CHOOSE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY’S MS IN AGILE PROJECT MANAGEMENT

In addition to being one of the few programs of its kind, the online MS in Agile Project Management was designed in consultation with an advisory council of IT and project management professionals. You will receive a high-caliber education in Agile project management that is relevant and immediately applicable to the workplace.

Accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools

92% of American University students with graduate degrees find jobs or go on to further studies

America’s Best Colleges, U.S. News & World Report, 2017• No. 74 Best National University

Princeton Review Best Colleges, 2017• Among the Best 381 Colleges• A Best Northeastern College• No. 18, Top 50 Green Colleges

REDEFINE OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE WITH AMERICAN UNIVERSITY’S MS IN AGILE PROJECT MANAGEMENT

ADVANCE YOUR CAREER AS A MASTER OF AGILE METHODOLOGYLearn more about how American University’s online MS in Agile Project Management

can advance your career as a manager of projects that enhance organizational

effectiveness using the Agile methodology. Call 855.725.7614 to speak with

an admissions representative or visit programs.online.american.edu.