Practicum Project Roles: Executive Project Sponsor

The executive project sponsor will play an important role in supporting practicum projects for success, but is generally not engaged in the day-to-day activities of the student teams. Their key responsibilities and activities include:

• Identifying, assigning, and allocating key corporate personnel, resources, and subject matter experts to support the project.
• Sponsoring and attending the initial project kick-off meeting to confirm the project scope and deliverables are aligned with goals and objectives for the project.
• Approving the final draft of the project scope document; students will be measured against key deliverables set forth in this document at the end of the semester.
• Sponsoring and attending key “stakeholder review” meetings throughout the semester to provide insight on project deliverables and feedback as required. The sponsor would most likely attend the initial project kick-off meeting, the interim stakeholder review, and the final stakeholder review at the end of the semester.
• Resolving ‘escalated’ internal constraints as identified by the project manager and team.
• Providing individual and team feedback to the NC State executive advisor* as requested as input for final grades, as requested.
• Reviewing final deliverables and providing feedback to the NC State executive advisor and SCRC on what went well and where improvements are needed.

*In addition to working with the students, the executive project sponsor and project manager will work with one of the SCRC’s executive advisors, who will act as a liaison between the sponsor company and the student team.