Construction Education for Civil Engineers Graduate Certificates

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Construction Education for Civil Engineers
Graduate Certificates

• Dr. Robert A. Perkins, PE

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Construction

• Major industry in Alaska
• Non-exportable
• About 1/3 CE graduates go into directly
• Most the rest are involved

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Construction project management

• The process of scheduling, coordinating and
  controlling all of the people, materials,
  equipment and financial resources needed to
  successfully complete a construction project.

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Construction in Civil Engineering

• Construction is part of Civil Engineering
• Laws
• ABET
• ASCE
• FE

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Alaska Law

• Law practice of engineering includes
  professional observation of construction of
  public and private structures, works, or projects
  . Sec. 08.48.341. Definitions.
• Regulations civil engineering means
  research, design, and construction of fixed works
  for irrigation, drainage, waterpower, water
  supply and treatment, flood control, inland
  waterways, harbors, municipal improvements,
  railroads, highways, tunnels, airports and
  airways, sewerage, refuse disposal, foundations,
  structures, or bridges

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ABET

• proficiency in a minimum of four (4) recognized
  major civil engineering areas
• ..and an understanding of professional practice
  issues such as procurement of work, bidding
  versus quality-based selection processes, how the
  design professionals and the construction
  professions interact to construct a project

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FE Exam Specs, October 2005

• From Civil (PM) Specs.
• VIII. Construction Management 10
• A. Procurement methods (e.g., design-build,
  design-bid-build, qualifications based)
• B. Allocation of resources (e.g., labor,
  equipment, materials, money, time)
• C. Contracts/contract law
• D. Project scheduling (e.g., CPM, PERT)
• E. Engineering economics
• F. Project management (e.g., owner/contractor/clie
  nt relations, safety)
• G. Construction estimating

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ASCE Committee on Curricula and Accreditation

• The generally recognized major areas
• Structural
• Geotechnical
• Environmental/Sanitary
• Transportation
• Hydraulics/Hydrology/Water Resources
• Surveying/Measurements
• Construction

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Construction Engineering

• ABET
• Few schools
• Very close to civil
• No real advantage over CE with electives

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Teaching Construction in CE

• Most CE schools are like UAF
• Offer few electives

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Perkins Opinion

• Not fruitful research area
• Not much funding
• Often proprietary
• Civil Engineer in construction wears two hats
• Construction engineering
• Basically civil
• Construction management

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Construction Management

• UAA offers AA and now BS
• Many programs nationwide
• Usually not engineering school
• Great variability
• Students take basic math and science
• Perkins Opinion Shred

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Demand

• Very strong demand for engineers who are
  construction managers.
• Some demand for non-engineers who are
  construction managers.

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Workforce Development
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Worker Shortage Looms for Defense SectorTuesday
March 4, 224 pm ET By Joelle Tessler, AP
Business Writer
Aerospace and Defense Sector Braces for Potential
Brain Drain As Cold War Workers Retire
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The aerospace and defense
sector is bracing for a potential brain drain
over the next decade as a generation of Cold War
scientists and engineers hits retirement age and
not enough qualified young Americans seek to take
their place.
-- almost 60 percent of U.S. aerospace workers in
2007 were 45 or older --
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Problem

• Worldwide loss of middle management engineers and
  technical professionals
• All industrial countries
• All technical industries
• Loss of mentoring class
• More acute in governmental employers
• Less flexibility

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Alaska

• Difficult to attract people on current salary
  scales
• Both public and private declare shortage of
  middle manager-level engineering and technical
  managers
• 29 May UAF Workforce Meeting
• 30 May Alaska Engineering Society Workforce
  Development Initiative Meeting
• UA to double engineering graduates ??

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AK DOT Classes

• Asked UAF to offer some construction management
  classes spring 07
• UAF generated preliminary information
• Met with AK DOT to refine
• Gary Tyndall took plan to contractors, owners,
  AGC, etc.

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Findings

• Emphasize management skills
• Target individuals who have
• engineering or technical bachelors degrees, and
• who have several years of subsequent work
  experience.
• Short, concentrated modules
• completed and applied quickly.
• Convenient times and locations
• during seasons that minimize conflict with
  construction activities.

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Spring 08 CM Classes(One credit)

• Big picture, systems thinking and organizational
  dynamics, Fairbanks, (15)
• Construction Claims Case Studies, Fairbanks and
  Anchorage, (5)
• Scheduling for construction administration ,
  Fairbanks and Juneau, (17)
• Managing Risk, Fairbanks and Juneau, (13).
• Overview of environmental laws, regulations, and
  permitting, Fairbanks and Anchorage, (2)

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MS

• What about our standard MS degrees?
• Enrollments down

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Standard MS not economical

• Full-time lose two years of longevity
• Small increase in starting pay
• Evening program depends on how you value your
  free time
• Economics is different for international students
• 6 of 35 MS were US
• 0 of 6 PhDs

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Student/employees Want

• Skills
• Confidence
• Advancement
• Money
• Sheepskin

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Mismatch Problem

• Employers want more skills
• And public, too
• Generally willing to pay
• Employees want skills and compensation
• Need to match value to employer with cost to
  employee
• Time and effort

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Increase value of education?

• Education more specific to employers needs
• More convenient for students and employers
• Give credential sooner

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Graduate Certificates

• Typically 12 to 15 graduate credits
• Can count towards MS
• Focused on narrow area
• Design of Pharmaceutical Facilities
• Value Chain Enterprise Systems
• Pharmaceutical Process Engineering
• Often distance delivered

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Negatives ?

• Not research orientated
• Commercial rather than academic
• Does not fit academic mold
• Extension School material
• (All these are only negative from academics)

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May Anchorage Meetings

• Reinforced ideas about depleted middle management
  engineering workforce
• Construction especially difficult
• Strong support for a Graduate Certificate in CM
  at UAF

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Plan

• Develop relations with industry
• Promulgate a Graduate Certificate in Construction
  Management in CEE Department
• Hire a half ESM and half Construction Management
  faculty

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New Degree Program Request
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Certificate Program

• 15 Credits
• Divided in three rubrics
• Cafeteria style within the rubrics
• With supervisors approval
• Will not need engineering degree

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Draft of Certificate Program

• Had Four Discipline Area
• Human interactions and communications (4-6
  credits)
• Construction project management (4-6 credits)
• Construction contract administration (4-6
  credits)
• Other Areas (3-4 credits total)

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Funding

• Have 50k in initiative budget
• Have asked for 55k more from Workforce funding
• Asked for super tuition
• Double
• Half to general tuition fund
• FTE
• Half to program
• Should be self supporting

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New Faculty

• My plan, need your input
• Perkins
• Half ESM and half ENVE
• Other
• Half ESM and half Transportation
• Never really happened
• New
• Half ESM and half construction

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Issues

• Stealing students from MS
• Not
• Taking resources from other programs
• Approaching self support with super tuition
• Administrative burden
• Yes
• Should get FTE

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Administer

• UACP
• University of Alaska Corporate Programs
• CDE
• UAF Center for Distance Education
• SoM
• School of Management
• Others

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Advantages

• Increase FTEs
• May generate surplus
• Will increase number of completions
• Provide long term strength to ESM
• Provide framework for expansion of construction
  programs for engineers

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Questions