Project Management
4 Getting Help
Many academics have no formal training in project management. It’s a skill that many of us pick up on the job and involves a lot of trial and error and finding out what works for specific teams. Most likely, you’ve already developed some good practices for working on collaborative projects, but you might need to think consciously about what those practices are. Consider taking inventory of the project management tools and practices that have worked for you in the past. Do you work best with email reminders? Shared calendars and task lists? Regular face-to-face meetings? Do you prefer a clear leadership structure for your team, or will your collaboration be less formal? These are the types of questions teams will want to consider.
Where to go for help
Ask for help when you need it. Potential partners might include:
- Librarians in charge of developing OER at your institution (Abbey, Mahrya, and Anne Marie)
- Liaison librarians for your department
- Instructional designers or others from your institution’s Center for Teaching
- Colleagues or graduate students in your department
- External instructors with experience teaching the course for which the resource is intended
- Senior experts or mentors in your field
Help at the Regents
Your team may also benefit from working with local Regent university offices that specialize in project management or by consulting the wealth of books and guides on project management that are available as OER online or through your local university library. Below are some specific ways to get help:
Iowa State University
Digital Accessibility Support: Get support reviewing the alt text, captions, and transcripts for your project’s base materials.
Liaison Librarian for your department: Discuss your project and get help locating materials that can be cited or used to supplement your OER.
University of Iowa
ITS – Office of Project Management (PMO): This UI office helps faculty, staff, and research manage projects involving IT tools.
PMO Tools for Beginners: A set of video modules and other materials for those learning how to manage complex projects.
University of Northern Iowa
Information Technology Services (ITS): Log in and create a service ticket.
Liaison Librarian for your department
Rod Library Digital Scholarship Unit: For questions about archiving publications/creative work in UNI ScholarWorks. Email scholarworks@uni.edu
Feel free to contact your local Regents OER grant librarians (Mahrya, Abbey, or Anne Marie) for additional suggestions.
General project management resources
Watts, A. (2014). Project Management. Victoria, B.C.: BCcampus. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/projectmanagement/.
Russell, J.; Pferdehirt, W.; & Nelson, J. (2018). Technical Project Management in Living and Geometric Order. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin System. Retrieved from https://www.oercommons.org/courses/technical-project-management-in-living-and-geometric-order-a-practical-perspective/view.
Project Management for Non Project Managers. Atlassian. Retrieved from https://www.atlassian.com/project-management.
Agile project management : Essentials from the Project Management Journal. (1st ed., Project Management Journal). (2013). Wiley. (Access through UI)
Zwikael, O., & Smyrk, J. (2019). Project Management. Cham: Springer International Publishing AG. (Access through UI)
