Rules for earning PDUs are changing from Dec-2015
PMI has announced change in Continue Certification Requirements (CCR) Program to renew PMP Certification effective from December 2015. Earning PDUs and reporting them will be different.
Let me first briefly review the current CCR guidelines for ready reference so that it becomes easy to understand the change.
Currently PDUs can be earned in two groups. Through EDUCATION and Professional Service i.e. GIVING BACK to profession. Categories A, B & C fall under Education and categories D, E & F fall under Giving Back.
Cat A -> Education through REP & PMI Components – No limit
Cat B -> Education from other training providers – No limit
Cat C -> Self Directed Learning – Max 30 PDUs
Cat D -> Creating Project Management Knowledge
Cat E -> Volunteer Service
Cat F -> Work as Professional – Max 15 PDUs
Cat D, E & F all together – Max 45 PDUs
Now about the change. The change will give three dimensions to education category and impose limit on each dimension so that people attend educational programs in all areas of education required for project management.
For some time now PMI is reinforcing and reiterating about talent triangle i.e. Technical Project Management Skills, LeadershipSkills and Business Management & Strategic Skills for project managers. Now PDUs will be aligned to this triangle.
From Dec-2015, you have to earn minimum 35 PDUs from Education (From REP/Chapter, Other Education Providers or Self Learning). Out of these 35 PDUs, you must earn minimum 8 PDUs from each side of talent tringle i.e. min 8 PDUs from Technical Project Management, 8 PDUs from Leadership and 8 PDUs from Strategic & Business Management Education. Remaining 11 PDUs can be earned from either of these skills. There is no maximum limit specified for Education.
From Giving Back categories (Volunteering, Creating new knowledge & Working as professional), you can earn maximum 25 PDUs. From Working as professional, you can earn only 8 PDUs (it is 15 in current system). There is no minimum limit specified for Giving Back.
If your CCR cycle is ending between 1st Dec 2015 to 30th Nov 2017, you need to report PDUs in new format from Dec-2015 however limits of new system will not apply to you. That means if your cycle is ending between Dec-15 to Nov-17, you are not much impacted in your current cycle except reporting PDUs in new format.
If your CCR cycle is ending after 1st Dec, 2017 (You have passed your exam in less than 1 years), the new system will completely apply on you from Dec-15 onward.
New Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR) Program for PMP
Effective from 1-Dec-2015
My Views:
My view on the change is that, earning PDUs and reporting them will become more complex to understand because of min 8 PDUs requirements from three types of education. If a training involve contents of Technical Project Management Knowledge and Leadership Knowledge, we need to get into the curriculum for segregation which may not be so simple. Most of the professionals do not have time to read and understand all nitty-gritty of CCR guidelines and also remember them. Therefore it may create confusion.
Second, it will discourage people to volunteer and create new knowledge. The focus is more on attending programs than creating programs and delivering them. That again will not be good for community.
Reducing PDUs from Working as Project Professional from 15 to 8 means people have to earn more PDUs in new system.
As in new system there is no limit for Self Directed Learning, it may be easier for professionals to earn PDUs by self-study. However we should remember that this is the most unexploited category despite 50% (30 PDUs limit) of the PDUs can be earned from this category in current system. I have observed, people do not have confidence reporting PDUs in this category as there is no certificate given by anyone.
References:
2015 Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR) Program Updates
I have asked PMI this question, but no response! How does one split 8 PDUs into 3 years? It was easy with 15, simply 5 per year. If someone only works 1 or two years, how many PDUs can they report?
Risk,
You have a point. I didn’t think about it. How will PMI distribute 8 PDUs in 3 years? I think they still working out.
Normally such things are discussed and decided by a group of volunteers. It is difficult to digest that this question did not click to any one in the group.
Hi,
you do not need to split the 8 PDUs in three years.
Just work as a PM. This will give you 5 PDUs per year.
If you havce worked all three years of the cycle as a PM gives you 15 PDUs.
Of those 15 PDUs only 8 will contribute to the 60 PDUs per cycle. You must still earn 52 PDUs in the other areas and not just 45.
I hope this will help you.
Greetings,
Hannes
Hannes, I am not sure about it as there is no mention of earning 5 PDUs per year in new CCR Guide. It is clearly mentioned in the current guide. New guide only mention that you can earn 8 PDUs in this category. It is not clear if a PMP has only one year to claim, then how much he/she can claim?
I totally agree with the views you have expressed in the article and Yes, I do shy away from reporting PDU’s in the Self directed learning area as I am not very sure how this part will be reviewed by PMI. Would really appreciate if you could give some tips on how this category can be exploited.
Dear Mrunalini,
I have explained how to use Self Directed Learning category under Free Resources. Not only this category but how you can use other categories to earn PDUs for free. Please go as follows
Free Resources -> PMP Certification -> How to earn Free PDUs for PMP Certification
or just click the link below
https://www.pmwares.com/free-resources/pmp-certification/how-to-earn-free-pdu-for-pmp-renewal/
Hi
If a person taking sabbatical break from professional (mainly women) employees will be impacted in the category of GIVING BACK. Since they will not be part of organization or entrepreneur. I have seen lot of people going for a break of more than 2 to 3 years and come back to profession. Even a break of one year will have a impact for the professional to maintain the pdus because of this new strategy.
Thanks
Hi Srividhya,
I think sabbatical should not impact your giving back. In fact PDUs for Working as Project Professional Role in the organization are reduced from 15 to 8. When you are on sabbatical, you can still volunteer, can write blog and article, can be speaker on a forum, can be part of a discussion panel etc. If you have taken a sabbatical, you will only lose 8 PDUs , rest you are free to earn and claim