THEProject - Collegiate Competition

This year is the 10^th annual competition for the Western Michigan Project Management Institute (WMPMI) collegiate project management competition – THEProject. This year the students have a unique opportunity tackle a scenario that is straight from the headlines.

Transitioning from brick-and-mortar to remote

or hybrid-school environment
The Student Teams will create a project plan that will protect their university under conditions similar to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Project Plan will take into consideration lessons learned from the current situation and identify opportunities for the following models: funding, matriculation, campus building, IT Infrastructure, and IT Security.

REGISTER NOW for this year’s FREE virtual 2-PDU April 12th event!

Who participates in THEProject?

Student teams comprised of 3 to 6 students from colleges and universities in the Western Michigan area. Although project management tends to favor business, computer science, and engineering curriculums, students of all academic disciplines are highly encouraged to participate.

PMP® (project management professional) certified mentors are assigned to each team.

In addition, there are faculty champions from each school, a core team of WMPMI members covering a variety of competition responsibilities, and a panel of PMP-certified judges.

Why do students want to participate?

THEProject engages college students in the practice of project management, develops their leadership skills, and provides them with a showcase to demonstrate their leadership abilities on stage and in person with business and community leaders from West Michigan.

This competition is an excellent tool to teach real world skills to students, to incite an interest in project management as a career, and to ignite an understanding of how complex problems can be solved and solutions delivered using tools that have been honed in the fires of real-life practice.

Finally, the finalist teams in the competition receive cash prizes. Non-finalists teams may receive prizes in a variety of categories during the awards presentation as well.

What’s the format?

Teams are provided a real-life scenario and must provide solutions in the form of a project plan. The assigned PMP-certified mentors teach them how to transform their solutions into project plans using the initiating and planning processes documented in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (a.k.a., the PMBOK). Teams have a number of deliverables with due dates to pass through the different Phase Gates. Teams are judged on their use of proper project management techniques, the quality of their solutions, and their ability to present their project plans.

The event day, which usually takes place on the second Monday in April, includes team presentations, other speakers, and the awards ceremony.

If you have any questions, please send an email to THEProject@wmpmi.org

Since 2012