Project Management Office (PMO) Framework

High-Level Project Framework

This framework outlines how President's Executive Cabinet (PEC) division workplans become managed or monitored projects. 

Division Workplans

PEC finalizes annual division workplans and provides project charters. Each workplan may include multiple projects or priorities within the following divisions: 

• Academic Affairs
• Human Resources and Employee Experience
• President
• Strategic Enrollment and Marketing
• Student Success
• University Strategy and Operations 

Determining PMO Involvement 

Projects are reviewed to determine whether they fall within Project Management Office (PMO) purview based on: 

• Technology or space/facilities components
• Strategic or master planning scope
• Vice President requests for PM support 

If PMO involvement is recommended: 

• The PMO reviews priority, complexity, and capacity
• A project lead recommendation is made
• The President approves assignments
• Projects are managed or monitored with university-level reporting

If PMO involvement is not recommended:

• The Division Vice President ensures leadership and progress
• PMO is not involved and does not report on progress
• Tracking and reporting approach is determined by the Vice President and President

Projects outside PM capacity may be designated as university-monitored and led within the division.

Completion of projects is independent of the annual planning cycle. As PM capacity becomes available, the PMO may recommend promoting monitored projects to managed status or reviewing new workplans. 

Project Oversight Models

University Managed/Monitored

• University Project Managers
  • Manage multiple projects
  • Gather monitored project updates
  • Provide consultation on monitored projects (by request)

University Technology and Facilities

Managed 

• University of Strategy and Operations (USO) Project Manager
• Campus Operations/facilities projects
• Project leads may include Chris Maas, Pa Her, and Sara Anderson in partnership with USO PM

Monitored

• IET or facilities director/staff serves as PM
• Project includes a technology and/or space component
• Project plan is maintained in TeamDynamix PPM

Project Categories

Managed Projects

• University Project Manager assigned
• Typically high-priority, complex, or cross-divisional
• Limited by PM resource capacity

Monitored Projects 

• Managed by the owning division
• Progress reported through the University PMO
• PMO provides consultation, templates, and reporting support 

University Project Manager Responsibilities

Managed Projects

University Project Managers partner with activity owners to manage projects through completion, including: 

• Charter refinement and scope management
• Teams channel setup and document management
• TeamDynamix milestone planning and status updates
• Kickoff preparation (RASCI, kickoff deck, agendas)
• Stakeholder identification and communication
• Project planning, meeting facilitation, and task tracking
• Risk, issue, and change management
• Project close-out and lessons learned

Project Managers do not complete project deliverables; those remain the responsibility of the project team members. 

PMs use:

• Microsoft Teams for collaboration
• TeamDynamix for reporting 

PM capacity is managed using estimated weekly PM hours per project. 

Monitored Projects

PMO support includes: 

• Reviewing project charters
• configuring Teams channels
• Entering milestones and status updates in TeamDynamix (provided by activity owner)
• Providing templates, tools, and consultation
• Collecting progress updates for university reporting
• Maintaining project management resources on services.metrostate.edu

Division Roles and Responsibilities