IT Project Management Policy for UC Berkeley

As of January 2022, the content of these PM Policy pages is currently under review and subject to change. In the interim, this policy applies as written.

Purpose

The University of California – Berkeley is committed to continuously improving the delivery of campus information technology (IT) projects that are within budget and on schedule to serve the members of the campus community and achieve campus strategic goals. This policy is designed to help ensure that campus information technology (IT) projects meet these objectives by establishing a common and consistent set of project management best practices to reduce project risks and increase project successes.

Definition of a Project

The definition of a project for this policy is:

• A temporary endeavor with a beginning and an end.
• Creates or enhances a unique campus IT product or service or prepares members of the campus community for the shutdown of an existing IT service.
• Is progressively elaborated – the project requirements, plans, and schedule become increasingly detailed over time as the project is better understood.
• Requires the participation of four or more project team members for a duration of one month or greater.

Project Conditions that Invoke the Application of the Policy

This policy applies to all UC Berkeley IT projects as defined above that meet any of the following conditions:

• Has a project budget of $500,000 or more including campus staff expenses.
• Requires an ongoing operational budget of $250,000 or more annually for the service(s) created by the project.
• Has a 5-year lifecycle cost including both the project and ongoing operational expense that is estimated to be $1,500,000 or greater.
• data.

Requirements of the Policy

If a campus project meets any of the conditions that invoke the policy, the project must utilize campus-approved project management practices including frameworks, roles, and documentation that are described in Appendix A - Approved Project Management Practices. Projects that are subject to the policy and have a budget of $500,000 or greater must also be managed by a professional project manager. Qualifications to be a professional project manager are described in Appendix B – Berkeley Professional Project Manager Requirements. The requirements to be a professional project manager apply whether the project manager is an employee of the University of California or an employee of a campus vendor.

Both project and operational funding must be identified and secured before work on a project can begin if it meets any of the following conditions:

• An estimated project budget of $500,000 or more;
• An estimated annual operating expense of $250,000 or more;

Obtaining an Exception to Use the Approved Campus PM Practices

The Information Technology Strategy Committee is responsible for reviewing and approving requests for exceptions to the use of approved project management practices specified in Appendix A for campus projects that meet the conditions of this policy. If the project sponsor believes a project has a unique need to employ project management practices that do not comply with the policy, the sponsor can submit a request to the Information Technology Strategy Committee describing the project practices to be used and why these practices are required for the successful completion of the project. The Information Technology Strategy Committee will review and approve or deny the project practice exception request. If approved, the exception will only apply to the specific project for which the exception was approved.

Obtaining an Exception to Use a Professional Project Manager

The Information Technology Strategy Committee is responsible for reviewing and approving requests for exceptions to the requirements specified in Appendix B to serve as a project manager for campus projects that meet the conditions of this policy. If the project sponsor of a campus project wants to employ a project manager who does not meet the professional standards described in Appendix B but believes that the proposed project manager is uniquely qualified to lead the project to a successful conclusion, the project sponsor can submit a request for an exception to the policy to the Information Technology Strategy Committee. The request must describe the qualifications of the proposed project manager including their training and experience and why the individual must serve as the project manager to lead the project to a successful conclusion. The Information Technology Strategy Committee will review and approve or deny an exception to utilize an alternate project manager for only the specific individual and project specified in the request.

Revisions to the Policy

The Information Technology Strategy Committee has the authority to revise this policy. Proposals for revisions should be submitted to the Technology Program Office via email at tpo@berkeley.edu.

Exceptions to the Policy for Campus Academic Projects

Sound project management practices can be beneficial for all campus projects. However, this policy does not apply to research projects led by campus faculty or lecturers. The policy does apply to campus-funded projects led by campus faculty or lecturers that are conducted to create campus IT services for which the operation and maintenance are also funded by the campus.

Responsibility to Administer the Policy

The campus Chief Information Officer is responsible for the administration of the policy.

Appendix A – Approved Project Management Practices

The campus approves the use of the following project management frameworks and requires the specified project roles to be held for the duration of the project.

Approved Project Frameworks
The campus recognizes two types of approved project frameworks for conducting campus IT projects by Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber.

Required Project Roles

A project must have a project manager and at least one project sponsor for the duration of the project.

The project manager is the person responsible for the overall project management processes and the successful initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, and closing of the project. The project manager reports to the project sponsor for the duration of the project.

The sponsor is the person who has the highest level of authority over the project. The sponsor provides the project team with high-level direction for the project and is ultimately responsible for the project’s success. The sponsor is also responsible for project funding and resolving critical organizational issues required for the success of the project. The sponsor approves the project charter, scope changes, and major deliverables.

Required Project Documents

For both frameworks, the project manager must create and maintain the following documents for each campus project subject to the policy:

• A project charter that defines the project’s business case, scope, goals, metrics of project success, major milestones, high-level risks, and identifies the key stakeholders and the project team members including the roles they hold. The charter must define the responsibilities of the project manager and the sponsor. The project cannot proceed until the sponsor approves the charter and accepts the responsibilities of their position by signing the charter.
• A budget that estimates the cost of conducting the project and the first five years of operation.
• A project plan that describes the work to be performed including an estimated schedule of when the work will be completed by whom and identifies dependencies between work tasks.
• A change management plan that describes the training and communication activities that will be conducted to help faculty, students, and staff use the new service(s) created by the project.
• A risk plan that identifies project risks and planned responses to manage the risks which are mostly likely to occur and to have a significant adverse impact on the project.
• Project status reports that are created by the project manager and sent to the project sponsor on at least a monthly basis.

Appendix B – Berkeley Professional Project Manager Requirements

In order to be considered a professional project manager at UC Berkeley, an individual must meet the following qualifications for each of the approved project management frameworks as described below.

Training & Experience Requirements for Professional Project Managers Using the PMBOK Framework

Based upon the amount of the total project budget, professional project managers using the Project Management Institute’s Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) framework must meet the training and experience standards described in Table 1.

Table 1: Minimum Training and Experience Requirements for Project Managers Using the PMBOK Framework

Project Budget Amount

Minimum Project Management Training Requirements (at least one of the requirements)

Minimum Project Experience

1. Completed 35 hours of PMBOK framework based project management training from a Project Management Institute registered education provider or a regionally or nationally accredited university; or
2. Certified by the Project Management Institute as a Project Management Professional (PMP); or
3. Completed the Certificate in Project Management from UC Berkeley Extension or a comparable project management degree or certificate at a regionally or nationally accredited university.

1 year of information technology project experience using the PMBOK framework. Experience with the framework can be as a project manager or other project team member.

1. Certified by the Project Management Institute as a Project Management Professional (PMP); or
2. Completed the Certificate in Project Management from UC Berkeley Extension or a comparable project management degree or certificate at a regionally or nationally accredited university.

4 years of information technology project experience using the PMBOK framework. Must include 3 years of experience serving as a project manager.

$5,000,000 and greater

1. Certified by the Project Management Institute as a Project Management Professional (PMP); or
2. Completed the Certificate in Project Management from UC Berkeley Extension or a comparable project management degree or certificate at a regionally or nationally accredited university.

5 years of information technology project experience using the PMBOK framework. Must include 4 years of experience serving as the project manager.

Training & Experience Requirements for Professional Project Managers using the Scrum Framework

Based upon the total project budget, campus professional project managers using the Scrum project management framework must meet the training and experience standards listed in Table 2.

Table 2: Minimum Training and Experience Requirements for Project Managers Using the Scrum Framework

Project Budget Amount

Minimum Project Management Training Requirements (at least one of the requirements)

Minimum Project Experience

1. Become a Certified ScrumMaster;or
2. Complete the UC Berkeley Extension’s Professional Sequence in Agile Management or comparable training from a regionally or nationally accredited university; or
3. Certified as a Project Management Institute Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI_ACP).

1 year of information technology project experience using the Scrum framework. Experience with the framework can be as a ScrumMaster or other project team member.

1. Complete the UC Berkeley Extension’s Professional Sequence in Agile Management or comparable training from a regionally or nationally accredited university; or
2. Certified as a Project Management Institute Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP).

4 years of information technology project experience serving as a project manager including 2 years of information technology project experience using the Scrum framework as a ScrumMaster.

$5,000,000 and greater

1. Complete the UC Berkeley Extension’s Professional Sequence in Agile Management or, comparable training from a regionally or nationally accredited university;or
2. Certified as a Project Management Institute Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP).

5 years of information technology project management experience serving as a project manager including 2 years using the Scrum framework as a ScrumMaster.