WP1: Project Management
Objectives: Project ManagementWork Description (Methodology / Technical Approach): Work description
This work package includes the execution and updating of the SCHEMA Management Plan outlined in Part B, Section 10.2 and the preparation of: • Periodic Management reports
• Progress reports and associated cost statements • Annual reports
• Reports on the production of deliverables (as detailed in WP02-08) • Development and maintenance of SCHEMA web pages
Production of the SCHEMA Final Report and the preparation of an Exploitation Plan are included in WP09. Dissemination activities are shared between WP1 and 9. Procedures
The Co-ordinator of SCHEMA will be Professor Duncan Timms, of the University of Stirling. The Co-ordinator will be assisted by a Project Manager, who will deal with the day-to-day management of SCHEMA.
A formal project management structure will be set up from the start of the Project and will continue the work of the SCHEMA preparation team. The Management Plan for SCHEMA will be enshrined in the Consortium Agreement and is outlined below:
1. The role of all participants will be formalised through contracts drawn up between the partners.
2. The Project Management Plan will be detailed and agreed by the Steering Committee and will include the schedule of financial payments to be made to the partners.
3. The Steering Committee will draw up plans for the joint exploitation of SCHEMA products.
4. A Project Manager will be appointed with responsibility for the day-to-day running of SCHEMA .
The Co-ordinator will be responsible for liaison with the Commission, the overall management of the Project and the distribution of funds received from the EU.
being from the University of Stirling and one from each of the other partners. The Steering Committee will meet (via video-conferencing and audio-conferencing) on a bi-monthly basis. The Committee will advise the Co-ordinator on the overall direction of the Project, on any adjustment to the programme of work and on any significant changes in the use of resources or timing.
Package leaders will be appointed from among the partners for each work package and will have clear responsibilities to the Co-ordinator for the timeous delivery of the objectives of the package and for the specified reports, guidelines, courseware and other deliverables.
Project Manager
The Project Manager will support the work package leaders by:
• the provision of project guidelines, project documentation and report structures; • drawing their attention to delivery dates and to any potential problems in meeting
the objectives of each work package;
• ensuring that links are made between work packages in ways that take full advantage of synergies and inter-dependencies.
In addition to providing support to work package leaders, the Project Manager will be concerned with the oversight and progress control aspects of SCHEMA. This will involve the direct monitoring of progress and the integration of the evaluative
information into the decision-making process. Any delays in relation to the Project as a whole or to individual work packages will be placed on the agenda of the
bi-monthly ordination Meetings and brought to the immediate attention of the Co-ordinator.
The Project Manager will be responsible to the Co-ordinator for executing the financial guidelines that will be formulated in the Management Plan approved at the first formal meeting of the SCHEMA Steering Committee and for the preparation of reports for the European Commission.
Disputes Procedure
There will be a formal procedure for the resolution of disputes through a majority vote within the Committee; in such cases the Coordinator will have both a deliberative and a casting vote.
Exploitation Plan
The Project Management package includes the detailed preparation of the SCHEMA Exploitation Plan (Work package 09) and associated IPR agreements. The basis of the IPR arrangement has been agreed in principle by the interim SCHEMA Steering Committee (which has been responsible for drawing up the proposal) and the
appropriate IPR procedures will be incorporated into the Consortium Agreement that will be attached to the Technical Annex prior to the start of the Project.
Project Monitoring and Quality Assurance
reports, Progress reports and associated cost statements, Reports on the production of deliverables (as detailed in WP02-08) and will undertake the commissioning and maintenance of the SCHEMA web pages.
Partners will be required to submit brief formal reports outlining progress, giving details of any matters that might affect the timetable/milestones, and their use of the resources allocated to them.
Quality Assurance Mechanisms
Quality assurance within SCHEMA will involve three groups: • users (learners and staff tutors)
• an evaluation and dissemination team (chaired by the University of Stirling Deputy-Principal in charge of teaching, learning and academic standards) • an external reference group
The Co-ordinator will be responsible for the active involvement of all three groups at all stages in the evaluation of the work packages, for commissioning peer reviews and for ensuring that the evaluations are completed on time. Particular attention will be paid to monitoring and responding to feedback from users.
The evaluation and dissemination team will include senior academics from each of the partner institutions who have not had personal involvement in the day-to-day
activities of SCHEMA. The external reference group, to be used in the peer review process, will include senior academics from other institutions, who have had
experience as external examiners or assessors, and representatives from professional bodies concerned with training and quality standards applicable to workers in the health, education and welfare sectors.
Procedures for the involvement of the quality assurance teams will be effected through workshops held before the mid-term assessment and final internal evaluation of SCHEMA.
Deliverables and Milestones:
The Co-ordinator will be responsible for ensuring that the deliverables specified in the work packages are produced according to the agreed schedule.
The main deliverables resulting from the activities specified in work packages 2 - 8 include:
• Modules to be incorporated in the ODL programmes of the participating institutions and made generally available - validated versions available in December 1999 and May 2000.
• Templates for the design and delivery of post-qualifying ODL, based on the work done in WP5, 6 & 7 - final versions available June 2000. D3.2, D4.4, D8.2, D8.3. • Report on the effectiveness of the client-server approach for the delivery of a
variety of educational multimedia - final Report available June 2000. D2.5. • Guidelines on the use of the NC-ISDN system for ODL. D2.6.
• Reports analysing the relationship between social and electronic networks and the nature of the learning process in telematics-based ODL, based on WP6, due June 2000. D6.1-D6.4.
• Reports on the use of CMC and simulation tools in telematics based ODL. D5 & D7.
In addition to ensuring the timely delivery of the modules and reports specified in WP2-8, the Project Management team will be responsible for making Presentations on the SCHEMA learning environment (WP09), for commissioning and maintaining the Project’s Web pages, for drawing up the Exploitation Plan, to be delivered to the Commission in June 2000 (WP9) and for orgainising an Open Conference on ODL and the Web using ISDN, to be held in June/July 2000 (WP9).
Basis of costing (Ecu): Stirling
50% Project manager (24m, Grade pt 18,20) 53,207 Consumables (including publishing costs) 12,000
Cost of monthly video-links 10,000
Office equipment(30/36) 10,875
Travel and subsistence 13,000
Subtotal 99,082 Stuttgart Project Manager (4m) 17,756 Oulu Project Manager (4m) 13,924 Subtotal 130,762 Overheads 26,152 Total 156,914
The person-months claimed only covers the time of those directly funded by the Project. It does not include the costs of an estimated 24 months equivalent of the Co-ordinator’s time or the time commitments of the partners (estimated to be a further 30 months equivalent). (See form S7 for details of partner contributions).
Deliverables:
D1.1 Establishment of external peer group D1.2 SCHEMA Web pages.
D1.3i Presentations on the SCHEMA learning environment. Various dates D1.4 Annual report 98
D1.5 Annual report 99
D1.6i Bi-monthly management reports
(see also work package 9 regarding implementation and contract deliverables (such as final reports etc))
