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Cornelius Fitchner, PMP President, OSP International LLC
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Every PMP faces the same challenge after they pass their PMP Exam. And that is to earn at least 60 PDUs every 3 years to maintain their certification. That is why we regularly publish PDU Tips that will help PMPs re-certify.
We would like to show you our series of PDU Tips that will convey information about PDUs in general and how all member PMPs can earn PDUs in various ways.
For the month of August, we have had the following in store for you.
PDU Tip: 6 Categories - 2 Divisions
As a PMP certified project manager you have to earn 60 PDUs every three years to recertify your credential. Each PDU will "cost" you 1 hour of your time.
It may sound daunting to think of spending 60 hours on earning PDUs over the next three years but it's actually very easy. It's just 20 hours per year, less than 2 hours a month. Plan on spending those hours learning something that will improve your job performance or by doing something that helps others in your profession. Either way, it's a rewarding experience that takes very little time if you do it regularly.
The six PDU Categories come in two PDU Divisions: Education and Giving Back to the Profession.
The Education Division allows you to earn PDUs while learning new and valuable PM concepts through a variety of media. You can take a classroom course, attend a lecture or seminar or participate in and event or a conference. You can choose self-study rather than a more formal activity, too.
The Giving Back to the Profession Division contains three categories with a big variety of activities. You can be a speaker or instructor, moderate a discussion, volunteer on a project for a charitable group or other non-profit. You can coach or mentor someone on project management topics. As you can see, this category allows you many fulfilling opportunities to serve the PMP community as well as the community you live in.
For you as a PMP certified project manager it's important to understand the rules that PMI has laid out in regards to earning your PDUs. So in our next several PDU tips we are going to go through each of the 6 PDU Categories in detail. In that way you will know the rules before you start playing the game.
PDU Tip: The maximum PDUs you can earn in a category
As a holder of many Project Management Institute (PMI) credential you are required to earn a specified number of Professional Development Units (PDUs) to maintain that credential. The number of PDUs to be completed for each three year cycle is dependent upon the type of certification held. Each PDU is equivalent to one hour of effort. Sixty PDUs per cycle are required for those who hold the PMP or PgMP certification and 30 PDUs for those who hold the PMI-SP or PMI-RMP certification. At first it may seem to be a lot of time but for the PMP and PgMP certification it averages out to just over an hour and a half of self-improvement effort a month and for the PMI-SP and PMI-RMP certifications less than an hour a month. That is little time when considering those who hold these certifications are more than likely spending at least that much time reviewing existing and keeping up with new practices without even thinking about it.
There are six categories of PDUs that are divided into two division "Educational" and "Giving Back to the Profession." In some categories you can even earn free PDUs. The categories provide a wide range of opportunities to obtain PDUs. Under the "Educational" division there are such activities as completing courses either offered by PMIs Registered Education Providers (R.E.P.s) or other colleges or universities; attending PMI sponsored events such as seminars, conferences, chapter or communities of practice meetings, or attending other credential related training events; taking and passing a PMI Publication Quiz; and completing self-directed type of learning activities such as reading books or instructional materials, using interactive CDs, or being mentored.
Activities considered as part of the "Giving Back to the Profession" division are authoring, co-authoring, or serving as a presenter, speaker, or instructor of material related to the credential; volunteering within a PMI organization or even a non-PMI charity or community organization, or working on a PMI project; and even working as a Project Manager. With all of the options available to obtain PDUs each professional is sure to find a method that interests them.
Over the coming weeks we will be publishing a series of PDU Tips in which we look at each of the six categories (Category A-F) in which you can earn PDUs. We will explain each category in detail and talk about ways to maximize earning PDUs for your recertification.
PDU Tip: Everything about PDU Category A
As the holder of a Project Management Institute (PMI) credential (except CAPM) you are required to earn a specified number of Professional Development Units (PDUs) to maintain that credential. PMI has developed six categories of PDUs in which one can obtain credits. In this series of PDU Tips we review all six categories and give you our insights. We begin with PMI PDU Category A, "Courses offered by PMIs R.E.P.s or Chapters and Communities," which is one of the three "Educational Categories."
PDU Category A covers any professional development training gained through one of PMI's Registered Education Providers (R.E.P.s). R.E.P.s can be identified by their PMI R.E.P. logo and can include schools, accredited consultants or training programs, and PMI chapters. R.E.P. accreditation can be confirmed by searching the PMI database. Our company is a PMI R.E.P. as well and we offer The PDU Podcast (http://www.pducast.com) allowing you to earn Category A PDUs toward your recertification simply by watching webinars on your computer or portable player.
PDU Category A also include attending PMI sponsored seminars, conferences, chapter meetings, community of practices meetings. A list of these events can be found on PMI Chapter websites. Any PMI member or non-member can sign up to attend most of these events.
As a rule: for each hour of instruction you receive in the areas of project management, program management, project scheduling, or project risk management you can claim one PDU.
Lastly, you can also earn PDUs in Category A by taking and passing of a PMI® Publication Quiz. This consists of reading a specified article and answering at least 80 percent of the questions correctly. Check the PMI website for details.
There is no limit on the number of PDUs that can be reported for Category A. All 60 PDUs needed to maintain the PMP or PgMP credentials, or 30 for the PMI-SP or PMI-RPM credentials over the three year cycle can be claimed in Category A. All you need to claim a PDU in Category A is the registration form, certificate, or letter of attendance for each PDU you earned.
In our next PDU Tip we'll look at Category B, which, as you will see, is very similar to Category A in all respects.
PDU Tip: Everything about PDU Category B
As the holder of a Project Management Institute (PMI) credential (except CAPM) you are required to earn a specified number of Professional Development Units (PDUs) to maintain that credential. PMI has developed six categories of PDUs in which one can obtain credits. In this series of PDU Tips we review all six categories and give you our insights. We are moving on to Category B, "Continuing Education," which is one of the three "Educational Categories."
PDU Category B covers the completion of academic courses provided by a college or university that is not one of PMI's Registered Education Providers (R.E.P.s). The course work must be related to the specific credential (PMP, PgMP, PMI-SP, or PMI-RMP) in which the PDUs are to be applied.
PDU Category B also covers educational experience such as employer provided training, Webinars, other professional membership (non PMI) meetings, and any other training provided by a non R.E.P. accredited organization.
In essence: Any project management training and consequent PMP PDU that you receive from an organization that is not a PMI R.E.P. falls into Category B. Very often training companies use this rule and offer online webinars that include project management training and some marketing allowing you to earn one free PDU.
For each hour of instruction in the areas of project management, program management, project scheduling, or project risk one hour of professional development can be claimed and awarded as a PDU.
When claiming PDUs for Category B, only the portion of the course, training, or meeting that directly relates to the credential which it is being applied to can be claimed. For example, if an employer sponsored training is an hour long but only had a half hour of training related to project management then only 0.5 PDUs can be claimed toward the PMP credential.
There is no limit on the number of PDUs that can be reported for Category B. All 60 PDUs needed to maintain the PMP or PgMP credentials or 30 for the PMI-SP or PMI-RPM credentials over the three year cycle can be claimed in Category B.
To claim a PDU for an academic course provided by a college or university that is not one of PMI's REPs a grade report or official transcript showing a passing grade for the course is required. To claim a PDU for any other non-PMI REP training experience a proof of registration, proof of attendance, details that outline the course material reviewed, and the qualifications of the instructor such as a syllabus are required.
You can also send us any questions about PDUs to