Department of Veterans Affairs

"To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan."

This statement, made by President Abraham Lincoln at his Second Inaugural Address, is the mission statement for The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). However, carrying out Mr. Lincoln's order is no small task. The VA currently employs nearly 225,000 people—more than 7% are disabled veterans—and reports an annual spending budget of approximately $60 billion. As the second largest agency of the U.S. federal government, the VA understands the importance of efficiency through the use of standardized practices and processes. One step the department took to improve efficiency was to standardize its information technology (IT) project management function across each of its three business lines—Veterans Health Administration, Veterans Benefits Administration and the National Cemetery Administration. The result is the “One VA Approach,” which aligns all the agency’s IT projects to one mission: providing lifelong care for our country’s veterans.

ESI and the VA – Partnering for Success

In 2001, the VA looked to extend its One VA success by launching the "One VA Project Management Certification and Training Program," a training initiative set forth by the VA’s Chief Information Officer to certify the department’s IT project managers. It was determined that it would be more cost-effective for the VA to purchase training from an outside training provider, so the department embarked on an exhaustive, worldwide search for the ideal training partner. After narrowing the list down to three providers, ESI International was chosen in December 2002 because of its nationally recognized master’s certificate program, its affiliation with The George Washington University and its ability to customize its training curriculum.

Together, ESI and the VA designed a curriculum of courses that would offer the VA's IT project managers the knowledge, skills and practices needed to improve their individual performance. The training program chosen was ESI's Core Project Management curriculum, which consists of seven courses:

• Managing Projects
• Project Leadership, Management and Communications
• Scheduling and Cost Control
• Risk Management
• Quality for Project Managers
• Contracting for Project Managers
• Project Management Applications

Three Levels of Certification

The VA's training program consists of three levels of certification based on an employee's completion of courses, years of experience and supervisor recommendation.

• Level 1 Certification is intended for project team members, stakeholders and project managers of smaller, less complex projects. This certification is acquired by employees who hold a project management position or work in the project management office and complete the first course in the program, Managing Projects.
• Level 2 Certification is intended for project managers of more complex projects. This level of certification is awarded to VA employees who have two years of project management service and who complete all seven courses in the One VA program in an 18-month period. Those who earn the Level 2 Certification are awarded a Master's Certificate in Project Management from ESI and ESI's academic partner, The George Washington University.
• Level 3 Certification is intended for project managers of enterprise-level projects. To achieve this level, employees must earn Level 2 Certification, must demonstrate three years of project management experience and must complete an additional 36 hours of continuing education in project management-related courses or programs.

Early Training Success

Although the One VA Project Management Certification and Training Program is still in its early stages, there are already signs of success. Recently, the VA had all 59 of its submitted IT business cases accepted for fiscal year 2005 by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on its first attempt. The OMB requires business cases for all major IT acquisitions to determine if an agency's IT plans comply with the President's Management Agenda(PMA). The PMA is a directive set forth by the President and the OMB to encourage government organizations to adapt commercial practices in order to become more efficient.

Earning 100% acceptance is a major victory for the VA, especially considering that in 2002 alone the OMB rejected more than 700 cases from agencies government wide. "We made this a goal and decided that the only acceptable thing was 100% passing on the first go," said Ed Meagher, former acting Chief Information Officer at the VA. "As far as we know, this is the first time that's ever happened" (Edwards, pg. 101).

Meagher attributes this success to increased focus on management issues, which includes the certification program with ESI. Of the 59 cases submitted, 56 required project managers with Level 3 Certification.

VA employees at all levels have embraced the program and are finding their training to be beneficial. In the spirit of One VA, the program has given many employees the opportunity to work with individuals from the department's various administrations. Employees are enthusiastic about the prospect of being certified, which will qualify them to work on larger, more complex projects.

Next Steps for the VA

The VA is continuing its efforts to certify its IT project management staff. The agency also has plans to shift to a training program designed to maintain its certified IT project managers' knowledge and skills.

To supplement its classroom training, the department has also begun taking advantage of ESI's e-training program. Through e-training, VA employees are able to take their required courses online, on their own schedule. This benefits those employees who have been unable to take advantage of classroom training due to scheduling conflicts and makes maintaining certification more convenient for all VA employees.

Edwards, Randall (December 8, 2003). VA Aces Business Case Exam. Federal Computer Week, Volume 17, Number 42, pg. 101.