As the holder of a Project Management Institute (PMI) credential (except CAPM) you are required to earn a specified number of Professional Development Units (PDUs) to maintain that credential. PMI has developed six categories of PDUs in which one can obtain credits. In this series of PDU Tips  we review all six categories and give you our insights. This is our third tip and that means we have arrived at Category C, “Self-Directed Learning,” which is one of the three “Educational Categories.”

PDU Category C covers “self-directed personalized educational experiences involving individual research or study”. Or in simpler words: self-directed learning. Activities in this PDU category can include reading credential related articles, books, or instructional materials; utilizing interactive CDs; watching credential related videos or listening to Podcasts; participating in formal credential related discussions with others such as coworkers, consultants, or clients; or being mentored by a colleague, coworker, or consultant in a credential related topic.

One way that our company supports you in earning free PDUs in this category is through The Project Management Podcast, which you can find at http://www.pm-podcast.com . It’s completely free and enables you to earn PDUs “on the go”. Take a look on http://www.pm-podcast.com/pdu for the details of how this works.

Each hour of activity and each PMP PDU claimed must be related to the area of project management, program management, project scheduling, or project risk; meet a specific purpose; and use well-informed resources. One hour of self-directed learning is equal to an hour of professional development.

The number of PDUs that can be reported for Category C is limited to a maximum of 30 PDUs toward the PMP or PgMP credentials, or 15 toward the PMI-SP or PMI-RPM credentials over the three year cycle. To claim a PDU in Category C you needs to provide evidence of the accomplished activities for self-directed learning. This may include copies of research or study results, or dates and notes corresponding to discussions, readings, and mentorships.

In our next tip we will be looking at Category D, which means that we have concluded our review of the “Educational” PDU categories and we are now moving into the “Giving back to the community” division of PDUs.