Lehigh’s project management program earns elite status

Just two years after it was introduced, Lehigh’s project management certificate program has been named a Registered Education Provider by the Project Management Institute (PMI).
With the announcement, Lehigh joins a select crowd of just 70 universities worldwide who have earned that recognition.
“It’s validation that our program here at Lehigh offers the right blend of courses that enable project managers to succeed, regardless of what industry they serve,” says Dennis Praedin, director of professional certifications for the College of Business and Economics.
The program is the result of a highly-collaborative partnership between the College of Business and Economics and the
College of Education.
The graduate-level certificate program is Web-based and takes 11 months to complete. While the online component is attractive to many professionals, three workshops held at Lehigh during the program allow the participants to network and get to know each other.
According to PMI, project managers are those in charge of the broad-range thinking, planning and execution of successful projects. Their roles have become highly visible in the past few years as companies look to integrate and coordinate organizational initiatives.
Three annual Thought Leadership Surveys commissioned by PMI report that more than 90 percent of senior executives view project management as a valuable asset. Another 74 percent agree that project managers are on the “leadership track.”
That’s good news for Lehigh’s College of Business and Economics, whose ideal location between New York and Philadelphia lends itself to a competitive pool of candidates. In fact, more than 90 percent of all publicly owned pharmaceutical companies—an industry that is relying more heavily on project managers than ever before—are just a short drive away from Lehigh’s Bethlehem, Pa., campus.
The certificate program, launched in 2004, provides an intensive curriculum designed in consultation with industry, government and education project managers. It’s one of three certificates offered by the college’s graduate office—supply chain management and the vSeries corporate entrepreneurship program are the other two.
PMI is the largest association dedicated to the field of project management. More than 200,000 professionals from 125 countries are members of PMI.
--Thomas Yencho