CSU, Chico News

The Construction Employers’ Association (CEA) has awarded the Department of Construction Management in the College of Engineering, Computer Science and Construction Management, the 2004 Donald L. Warmby Leadership Award. This is the first time that California State University, Chico has won CEA’s Leadership Award.

The award, along with a check for $30,000, recognizes Construction Management’s research proposal to the CEA as the most meritorius proposal received in a competition among universities with CM programs. CSU, Chico’s proposal was to assess its CM curriculum in light of CEA membership construction company priorities and to make modifications, as possible, to reflect those priorities.

Chair of the Department of Construction Management Tom Heustis and Professor Denny Gier, professional engineer, worked together on the proposal. The award includes a one-year grant for development and research in the area of industry need and curriculum development.

Gier, who presented the successful grant at a December competition against five other finalists, will organize and lead a team of CM professors and students in the design, execution and dissemination of the research. All of the grant funds will go to stipends to support the team in this work.

“By granting us this award, the CEA has made it clear that they greatly appreciate our students and our program, and we are equally appreciative of their very tangible support,” said Heustis. “This first place award represents some of the very best aspects of partnership between the academy and the ‘real world,’ and this pleases us tremendously.”

The CM faculty determines the curriculum within the guidelines of the American Council for Construction Education, which accredits CM programs nationally. The department’s stated mission, as an undergraduate program, is to educate future construction managers for significant employment within the CM industry.

“Given this mission,” said Heustis, “it is always important to keep the industry’s needs and priorities in focus. This research, along with many other forms of contact we maintain with the industry, allows us to stay on top of emerging industry concerns and trends.”

CEA is the leading organization in Northern California representing building contractors in collective bargaining, labor relations and governmental relations. CEA has a membership base of more than 100 builders, who perform over $7 billion in public and private construction annually. The CEA regularly recruits and hires CSU, Chico graduates and is an important source of industry feedback.

The Construction Management program at CSU, Chico is a blend of construction management, math, science, business and law courses with the mission of educating entry level managers in the largest industry in the world. CSU, Chico’s program is the largest CM program in the western United States and the fifth or sixth largest in the country. The program is focused on post-graduate professional employment, and its students are aggressively sought after by many of the largest construction companies in the world.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 26th, 2005 at 8:30 am and is filed under 2005 Spring.