What is PDU? How Are they Calculated?

Meaning of PDU

A PDU stands for a Professional Development Unit; a way to measure ongoing professional development. It is necessary to maintain Project Management Institute (PMI)-certified credentials. They are a part of Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR) program. PMI credential holders can claim PDUs by visiting PMI’s web site. Log in to the site, there will be an option to claim PDUs for valid credential holders.

PDU Requirements to maintain PMI certifications

A specific number of PDUs should be maintained, which can be earned by attending events, or accomplishing courses. Earning PDUs varies depending on the certification.

• PMP (Project Management Professional): 60 PDUs required
• PgMP (Program Management Professional): 60 PDUs required
• PMI-SP (Scheduling Professional): 30 PDUs required in the specialized area of project scheduling
• PMI-RMP (Risk Management Professional): 30 PDUs required in the specialized area of project risk management
• CAPM (Certified Associate Project Manager): No PDUs required, however the CAPM should be revived by the retaking of the CAPM examination at the end of a 5 year cycle. 
• PMI-ACP (Agile Certified Professional): 30 PDUs required

Types of PDUs and How to Earn and calculate PDU?

There are two types of PDUs. They are

• Education 
• Giving Back to the Profession.

Categories Under Education:

Courses offered by PMI’s Registered Education Providers (R.E.P.s) ( (PDU Category A):

R.E.P.s comprises schools, consultants, corporate training departments, professional associations, government agencies and PMI chapters.Search and read the information of R.E.P.s and the courses they provide online. You’ll be able to additionally earn PDUs by attending events like seminars, conferences, etc. provided by PMI, PMI chapters and communities of practice. 

Events and Activities Offered by PMI’s Registered Education Providers (R.E.P.s) Chapters and Communities  (PDU Category A):

The event listings are often found on the PMI’s events calendar or on the websites of your specific chapter or the community of practice to which you belong. You can also earn PDUs by taking a PMI Publication Quiz. 1 hour of instruction related to project management, project risk, project scheduling, or program management equals 1 PDU.

Earn PDUs through Education  (PDU Category B)

Earn PDUs

• By finishing an educational course being offered by a university or faculty 
• By attending relevant educational courses provided by training organizations NOT registered with PMI. 
• This could embrace training provided by your employer, another membership association, or a non R.E.P. training organization. Calculate PDUs by the percentage of the curriculum focused on the subject. 
• Report every course on an individual basis. 
• Entire degree programs will not be recognized for PDU credits, solely individual courses. 
• 1 hour of instruction associated with project management, project risk, project programming, or program management equals 1 PDU.

Self-Directed Learning  (PDU Category C)

Learning may include informal activities such as reading articles, books, or instructional manuals; watching videos, using interactive CD-ROMs, Podcasts or other source material; having formal discussions with colleagues, coworkers, clients or consultants;  being coached or mentored by a colleague, coworker or consultant; Qualifying activities must be relevant to project management, project risk, project scheduling, or program management; meet a specified purpose, and use knowledgeable resources.

1 PDU is awarded for every 1 hour spent in a self-directed learning activity listed. 

PDU restrictions for the Self-Directed Learning are: 

• PMP and PgMP credential holders cannot earn more than 30 PDUs in the Self-Directed Learning category per cycle 
• PMI-SP and PMI-RMP credential holders cannot earn more than 15 PDUs in the Self-Directed Learning category per cycle

Webinars  (PDU Category A)

Webinar is nothing but a presentation, lecture, workshop or seminar that is transmitted over the web through an online video conference system. A key feature of a Webinar is the ability to present, receive and discuss information. It is also used to share audio, documents etc.

Podcast  (PDU Category A)

Podcasts are nothing but a snippet of an audio which either you can download or you can listen through any digital device. Podcasts are a great aid, which will help you to earn PD hours in between your busy schedule. Loads of high quality professional podcasts are available on a wide range of topics. 

Earn PDUs by Giving Back to the Profession

Creating New Project Management Knowledge  (PDU Category D)

Earn PDUs for creating new knowledge for the topic related to your credential area of experience (project management, project risk management, project scheduling, or program management). Both the time required to prepare this knowledge and the time to present it can be claimed for PDUs.

Volunteer Service  (PDU Category E)

Earn PDUs by providing volunteer, non-compensated project management, project risk, project scheduling, or program management services to non-employer or non-client customer groups. The PDUs claimed are counted against the maximum of 45 PDUs.

1 PDU is awarded for 1 hour of volunteer service. To claim PDUs for service as an elected officer or appointed committee member, you must serve in the role for a minimum of 3 months.

Working as a Professional in Project Management  (PDU Category F)

Earn PDUs for working as a project manager (project risk management professional, project scheduling professional or program manager).

For working as a project manager (project risk management professional, project scheduling professional or program manager) for a minimum of 6 months within the 12 month period, you can earn 15 PDUs per cycle if you hold the PMP and/or PgMP credentials, 7.5 PDUs per cycle if you hold the PMI-SP and/or PMI-RMP credentials.

You may claim 5 PDUs per 12 month period if you hold the PMP and/or PgMP credentials, 2.5 PDUs per 12 month period if you hold the PMI-SP and/or PMI-RMP credentials. The PDUs claimed in this category count against the maximum of 45 PDU.

How to earn free PDUs?

Not only attending seminars and training will earn you PDUs but also conducting training and seminars on project management. 

You can earn free PDUs through the following ways.

• Podcast
• Attending organization meetings
• Reading or Self-study 
• Volunteering 
• Creating content
• Working in your day job 
• Conducting presentation
• Webinars etc.

Documentation needed upon PMI audit/request:

If an academic course, please give the transcript or grade report indicating a passing mark.

If a non-PMI R.E.P. or Community course, please give the registration form, certificate or letter of attendance, and a brochure or syllabus outlining the subject matter covered and the qualifications of the lecturer.

Conclusion

You have to collect a particular number of PDUs within 3 years in order to keep your PMI credential. Before, the 3-year period begins at the start of the calendar year after the year that you gained your certification. However, that’s no longer the case today. Your certification starts the day you pass the examination and multi-rater assessment and ends on the same date 3 years later. The number of Professional Development Units you need to earn depends on your certification.

Project Management Professional (PMP) and Program Management Professional (PgMP) certification holders need 60 PDUs. Holders of Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP) and Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP) certification need 30 PDUs. Certified Associate Project Manager (CAPM) certification holders don’t need PDUs, but they need to renew their certification by retaking the CAPM exam at the end of a 5-year cycle. Transferring up to 20 PDUs from the last year of the current cycle to the next cycle is allowed if you collected more than the required PDU amount. Your credential will expire if you don’t earn the needed PDU amount and your PMI qualification will be suspended for up to 1 year after your 3-year expiration cycle. During which time, you can’t refer to yourself as a PMI credential holder until you earn the overdue requirements. If you cannot collect those PDUs during this time period, you will need to retake the exam.

You can apply for “retired status” when you retire, so you can maintain your credentials without having to collect PDUs. To do so, you have to be a PMP credential holder in good standing for more than 10 years and no longer practice professional project management. PDUs are offered through PMI’s Registered Education Provider program. It is very expensive, but you don’t need to worry because it’s not required to take courses only from REPs to earn PDUs. For instance, you can volunteer your skills and time as a project manager to get free PDUs.

PDU activities completed before getting a PMI credential are not accepted when renewing your credential. Aside from this, you can’t participate in the same activity or course more than once. You should also report fractions of PDUs in quarterly increments after 1 full hour. After reporting 1 full hour in a particular activity, you may report another 0.25 PDUs in the same activity if valid.

As mentioned earlier, if you earned more than the mandatory PDUs in your current cycle, you can transfer the extra PDUs to the next certification cycle. For PMI-RMP and PMI-SP certification holders, they can transfer 10 PDUs to the next cycle. PgMP and PMP certification holders can transfer 20 PDUs to their next cycle. Remember that you can transfer only the PDUs you earned in the 3rd year of your certification cycle.

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