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Tonight I decided to go ahead and sign up for online classes through UC Davis. I am going to be doing a certificate program through the university. The certificate program that I am doing is project management. I think that this certificate should help me advance my career. I think these types of classes are typically included in the MBA curriculum. I don’t think I am quite ready to pursue an MBA just yet. The other nice thing is that my employer is going to pay for the majority of it. Starting after this quarter I will be eligible to receive $2,000 in reimbursements each year. At the completion of the courses I should be able to sit for the PMP certificate examination.

Here are the main objectives of the program:

• Prepare for the Project Management Institute’s Project Management Professional Certification Examination
• Understand the fundamental concepts and theory of project management
• Analyze projects for cost, time, scope, risk and quality
• Understand how to utilize the control elements common to all projects you manage for maximum results
• Apply quality management methods to effectively organize staff and lead a successful project team

To me this seems like it will all be applicable in the workplace as I start to get more and more responsibilities. I plan on periodically making entries about my experience in this program.

I think that the whole online learning experience should be interesting. I really don’t know exactly how everything is going to work. I would imagine that the majority would be book based with online quizzes and papers. Although online education may seem a bit odd, I value the amount of flexibility that it will be able to provide me. I also think that a certificate through UC Davis will be much more valuable than something through the University of Phoenix or some other commercial venture. Did you know that the University of Phoenix is a publicly traded company? Something about getting an education from a company with profit in mind doesn’t quite rub me the right way. Maybe I am just overly skeptical.

Assuming I take one class each quarter, the whole program should take two years to complete. In that time I should be able to give a very accurate portrayal of how the program works. Hopefully this will inspire others to follow the same path as me. Here is a link to the program. The first course cost $650 to enroll. It is normally $600, but I signed up late. My books for the course are going to run me about $28 with shipping.

Stay tuned for more updates on how this exciting venture goes!

online education certificate program, online education, project management institute, uc davis