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Industry Collaboration through a Technical and Leadership Lecture Series within a Construction Management

Abstract

Students in construction management programs benefit from the expertise of industry experts who relate real life experiences to technical theory taught in the classroom. The lack of a purposeful series of offerings to the students can result in a haphazard approach to providing timely and topical information at appropriate levels of education. Industry advisory boards consistently encourage universities to provide students with current technical and application information. A coordinated series of lectures conducted by non-faculty subject matter experts can provide a connection between the university and industry. Using guest lecturers in a seminar format to presenting technical and management leadership information is one method to achieve the goals of timely and topical information. When the lecture series is organized to complement the academic department offerings educational goals can be reinforced.

This paper focuses on a series of lectures which provide specific technical information and management leadership practices that students will use in their profession. The paper describes a series of ten lectures focused toward two groups of students. Lectures focused toward freshman and sophomore students address topics related to construction applications, industry organization, and field production management. Junior and senior lectures address topics related to labor management, technical construction methods, and risk assessment. Each lecture is organized to complement the student level of education and generalize topics that are discussed as part of the academic curriculum. The paper identifies the ABET accreditation and department strategic goals that are achieved through the presentation of the coordinated lecture series.

Introduction

Educating students in a construction management curriculum involves exposing the students to a wide variety of technical and business management topics. Many of the subjects covered are introductory in nature because in total they are required to educate the student about the colloquial language and limitations of the construction industry. A common approach to supplement a curriculum is to invite industry professionals to lecture students on new methods or technologies used in the industry1. Many times however, these lectures are on disparate topics that may not have a direct application to the curriculum. In other cases the lecture is presented to a large group of students that have different educational tenures with the result that the topic may be too advanced for some, or repetitive for others. Regardless of the approach, collaboration between industry and academia is beneficial because students receive current information from practicing professionals2. When the curriculum and lectures are coordinated to purposefully supplement the student at their educational level, students gain a more complete understanding of a subject at the time the subject is taught. In addition to technical knowledge, companies also expect universities to train student to be successful contributors to their businesses3. A critical component of this business training for the construction industry is leadership training. Leadership is needed at all levels in the industry because of the team approach and collaborative nature of the industry. By identifying proven leadership characteristics at the same time

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Soller, M., & Koch, D. (2010, June), Industry Collaboration Through A Technical And Leadership Lecture Series Within A Construction Management Curriculum Paper presented at 2010 Annual Conference & Exposition, Louisville, Kentucky. 10.18260/1-2--16608