Advanced Project Management Certificate from Stanford (SCPM)

This post is for documenting my experience of Advanced Project Management Certificate from Stanford University. Stanford Certified Project Manager (SCPM) is a program designed by "The Stanford Center for Professional Development", Stanford University. Many of the folks after finishing their Project Management Professional (PMP) certification (offered by Project Management Institute) keep asking the question, What's next? I found my answer to that in SCPM. Taking this course provides me two immediate advantages

1. Getting a advanced project management certificate from the reputed Stanford University, which is recognized across the globe and needs no introduction in terms of its quality of education and backed by Professors, who are industry experienced and gurus in their respective fields.
2. Earning the Professional Development Units (PDUs) for maintaining my PMP certification. In order to adhere to PMP's Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR) program, one needs to earn 60 PDUs in order to remain PMP certified.

For getting SCPM, one needs to finish 6 courses, 3 Required Courses & 3 Elective Courses. Completion of each course earns us 20 PDUs. So if one successfully completes SCPM, would earn total 120 PDUs. This course is recognized by PMI and is one of the ways to earn PDUs.

Let me explain the roadmap to getting Stanford Certified Project Manager (SCPM) certification.


1. Log on to http://scpd.stanford.edu/


2. Next step is a requirement to complete and submit your application form, which would then be processed and accepted. The intent of the process is to verify the prerequisite 3 years of Project Management experience. Its mentioned that it normally takes 3 - 7 working days to process and accept your form. I noticed that possibly if you are PMP certified then you have an edge and application gets processed faster. In my case, I got the approval within one working day.


3. You can finish the 3 required and 3 elective courses in any order but its highly recommeneded to finish "Converting Strategy into Action" & "Leadership for Strategic Execution" first.


4. The courses offered are Required Courses 

• Converting Strategy into Action
• Leadership for Strategic Execution
• Mastering the Project Portfolio 

and Elective Courses 

• Project Risk Management
• Leading Effective Teams
• Financial Mastery for Projects
• Designing the Organization for Execution
• Build Winning Stakeholder Commitments
• Managing Without Authority
• Managing Global Initiatives
• The Strategic PMO: Projects to Enterprise
• Leading Change from the Middle
• Mastering the Integrated Program

5. So among the list above, one needs to finish all 3 required courses and any of the 3 elective courses


6. One can do the course either by opting in campus or online. I opted for online. Each course online costs $950 and i planned on doing one course at a time.


7. Once fees is paid, you will be given access to online videos, materials. In order to finish the course one needs to pass a final exam. Pass percentage is 85% and the questions are designed such that one needs to go through the entire material and videos to be able to answer. This is a way to make sure that people are actually going through the course. One is allowed to print and keep the question paper while going the course and keep the answers as they finish. They can then submit the exam online. Last step to formally 
complete the course is to submit the Evaluation Form.


8. Your records will be updated in 3 - 7 working days and your certificate for the completed course and also with details on how to gain PDUs in PMI are mailed in 3 - 4 weeks.


9. You can also mail them requesting status update and they are very forthcoming in responding fast and favorably.


10. I finished the 3 required courses and 3 elective courses Project Risk Management, Leading Effective Teams & Financial Mastery for ProjectsI

In addition to what I mentioned above, below is an abstract from the mail that I received from "scpd-customerservice@stanford.edu"

1. Your mystanfordconnection profile will be updated within 10-15 business days; the course will move from the "enrolled" section to the "completed" section on the "my course records" page. A "P" grade reflects that you have passed the course.

2. A course completion certificate containing the Stanford seal and the relevant PMI ID number (to claim PDUs) will be generated and sent to the preferred address listed in your mystanfordconnection profile within 2-3 weeks.

3. If you elected and paid for the CEU/Letter Grade/Transcript this document will be processed by the Continuing Studies department within 3-4 weeks. Please note that according to federal guidelines, official transcripts must be sent to a home address. If your profile does not include a home address, your transcript will not be sent.

4. If this is your sixth and final course in the program, you are eligible to receive your Stanford Certified Project Manager Credential. Upon verification that you have successfully completed the curriculum requirements, your final credential will be sent to the preferred address listed in your mystanfordconnection on file. Please allow 2-3 weeks for receipt.

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5. In order to protect the integrity of the certificates and transcripts, no electronic form of course completion verification is available. If you require immediate proof of your course completion, a printout of your test score notification page is the best alternative.To answer the question regarding exams. You can take the exam for any of the classes as many times as needed to pass with 85% or better. We do not however give out the correct or incorrect answers to exam questions.

And for all those interested please find below the scanned copy of SCPM certification