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Session Number 2422

Taking Construction Education to Practicing Professionals: A Case Study Jerald L. Rounds, Tim J. Ward, Deborah Fisher, Dick Howell, Debby Knotts, Jennifer Scott University of New Mexico, AGC New Mexico Building Branch

Abstract Through a unique collaborative effort with multiple industry partners, and several academic partners, a certificate program has evolved to meet the needs of practicing construction professionals. The construction Advancement Institute (CAI) was conceived seven years ago to better address the needs of practicing professionals in the New Mexico construction industry. It is comprised of a partnership between The University of New Mexico (UNM), Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute (TVI) and several industry associations, including the New Mexico Building Branch – Associated General Contractors (AGC), the Mechanical Contractors Association of New Mexico (MCA), and the New Mexico chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA). Based on the results of a CAI funded research project to determine needs and solutions, the certificate program was designed so that practicing professionals could take ten core construction courses offered at TVI and UNM and receive the certificate. In the fall of 2001, the New Media and Extended Learning (NMEL) unit at UNM identified the Certificate program as a priority program to disseminate across the state of New Mexico and offered to participate with the CAI group in reformatting the classes into a web- based format to be delivered throughout the state, and then marketing the program to fill the classes.

This paper chronicles the evolution of the CAI certificate program from inception to full operation. It will start by describing how the program was conceived and how the partnership came together. It will then address the initial study and design of the curriculum. Next it will chronicle the development of the program to be fully web-based and the continuing evolution of the courses. Finally, conclusions will be drawn about the process and the value of delivering asynchronous learning opportunities to practicing professionals.

A companion paper entitled Reflections on Evaluating Web-based Courses: A Case Study focusing on the methods and processes of evaluating two of the CAI courses is presented in another session.

Concept and Formation of CAI The concept of the CAI began in the Fall of 1997 when Dr. Deborah Fisher, then AGC Endowed Chair Professor at the University of New Mexico (UNM) met with Vicki Mora, AGC Executive Director, Mark Henderson, President of J.B. Henderson Constructors, and Sal Reyes, graduate student and adjunct professor at UNM to brainstorm an alternative model for construction management (CM) education for the construction industry in New Mexico. At this time both

Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering

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Ward, T., & Howell, R., & Knotts, D., & Fisher, D., & Rounds, J., & Scott, J. (2004, June), Taking Construction Education To Practicing Professionals Paper presented at 2004 Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--13335