Does It Matter Where I Went to College?

From time to time, I will post “non-construction” articles that relate to the construction industry. I ran across the following clip from “The Welch Way” article by Jack and Suzy Welch in the January 8, 2007 edition of BusinessWeek (link here if you subscribe to BusinessWeek). I took the liberty to bold a few of the sections that provide great points:

“When it comes to getting an entry-level job with a corporation, does it matter where a person went to college? —Ben Santacroce, Naples, Fla.

Every situation is unique, of course, but in general, college mainly matters if the person in question is sort of average—O.K. grades, O.K. recommendations, O.K. everything. In that case, a brand-name degree comes in quite handy. A Princeton or Williams stamp of approval has a way of opening doors that might be closed to a similarly average student from a state school. Hiring companies will hold their noses and say: “Well, he did graduate from Cachet CollegeParagraph .” But stars are stars no matter where they go to school. We’re talking now about students who have earned 3.5 averages or better, held leadership positions on campus, and because of their hard work and great attitudes, have garnered enthusiastic letters of recommendation from professors and summer employers. This crowd of winners is welcome anywhere with, perhaps, one exception: consulting firms. For reasons of prestige, they hire almost exclusively from about a dozen top-tier schools. It’s their loss.

That said, how a person did at school—or to your question, where he or she went to school—becomes irrelevant after about one month on the job. At that point, a person’s performance takes over as the driver of career success, rendering college to its rightful place as a happy memory.”

C-SCHOOL BLOG Ranks Top Undergraduate Construction Programs

Below you will find a table of the ranking data that was previously only available at a Google Spreadsheet link.

Refer to original link at: inaugural-ranking-of-the-top-undergraduate-construction-schools/

In the next several months, I plan to divide the rankings below into two categories:

1. Size of Program

a. Programs with 30 graduates or more

b. Programs with less than 30 graduates

2. Geographic location according to the seven ASC Regions

a. Northeast Region

b. Southeast Region

c. Great Lakes Region

d. North Central Region

e. South Central Region

f. Rocky Mountain Region

g. Far West Region

RANKING TOP UNDERGRADUATE CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM BY RECRUITER INTEREST PER GRADUATE               NATIONAL RANKING INSTITUTION/SPONSOR/PROGRAM BS GRADS NO. OF ORGS. RECRUITING RECRUITING TEAMS PER GRADUATES   1 Virginia Polytech. Inst. & State U., Blacksburg 25 128 5.12   2 North Dakota State U., Fargo 24 93 3.875   3 California State Polytechnic U., San Luis Obispo (Arch) (ConM) 60 200 3.333   4 Florida International U., Miami 44 100 2.273   5 North Carolina State U., Raleigh 40 90 2.25   6 Purdue U. Calumet, Hammond, Ind. 19 40 2.105   7 California State U., Sacramento (CofE) (ConM) 19 40 2.105   8 U. of Nevada, Las Vegas 5 10 2   9 U. of New Mexico, Albuquerque 3 6 2   10 Alfred State College, Alfred, N.Y. 10 20 2   11 U. of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg 22 40 1.818   12 Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta 25 45 1.8   13 U. of Florida, Gainesville 130 205 1.577   14 U. of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 28 44 1.571   15 Milwaukee School of Engineering, Wis. 16 25 1.563   16 Roger Williams U., Bristol, R.I. 9 14 1.556   17 Central Connecticut State U., New Britain 26 40 1.538   18 U. of Arkansas, Little Rock 16 24 1.5   19 Purdue U., West Lafayette, Ind. (CofE) (ConE and M) 156 225 1.442   20 Purdue U., West Lafayette, Ind. (CofTech) (ConM) 29 40 1.379   21 U. of Nebraska, Lincoln 53 73 1.377   22 U. of Maine, Orono 15 20 1.333   23 California State Polytechnic U., Pomona (CofE) (ConE) 26 34 1.308   24 Murray State U., Murray, Ky. 4 5 1.25   25 Kansas State U., Manhattan 40 48 1.2   26 Michigan State U., East Lansing 64 75 1.172   27 Arizona State U., Tempe 46 52 1.13   28 Boise State U., Boise, Idaho 18 20 1.111   29 U. of Oklahoma, Norman (Arch) (ConScience) 32 35 1.094   30 Clemson U., Clemson, S.C. 54 58 1.074   31 Bradley University, Peoria, Ill. 29 31 1.069   32 Oregon State U., Corvallis 43 45 1.047   33 Iowa State U., Ames 59 60 1.017   34 Texas Tech U., Lubbock (CofE) (ConE) 20 20 1   35 U. of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie 50 50 1   36 Wentworth Institute of Tech., Boston, Mass. 40 40 1   37 Auburn U., Auburn, Ala. 77 77 1   38 Colorado State U., Fort Collins 120 120 1   39 Ferris State U., Big Rapids., Mich. 40 40 1   40 Louisiana State U., Baton Rouge 86 85 0.988   41 U. of Southern California, Los Angeles 51 50 0.98   42 U. of Wisconsin, Platteville 51 50 0.98   43 Temple U., Philadelphia, Pa. 16 15 0.938   44 Washington State U., Pullman 39 36 0.923   45 Indiana State U., Terre Haute 22 20 0.909   46 California State U., Chico (CofE) (ConM) 93 80 0.86   47 Eastern Michigan U., Ypsilanti 35 30 0.857   48 Oklahoma State U., Stillwater (CofE) (ConM) 44 35 0.795   49 U. of Washington, Seattle 51 40 0.784   50 U. of Nebraska, Omaha 26 20 0.769   51 East Tennessee State U., Johnson City 19 14 0.737   52 Texas A&M U., College Station (Arch) (ConScience) 154 110 0.714   53 Penn. State Harrisburg 34 24 0.706   54 Central Washington U., Ellensburg 30 20 0.667   55 U. of North Florida, Jacksonville 30 20 0.667   56 Georgia Southern U., Statesboro 37 24 0.649   57 Indiana U.-Purdue U. Indianapolis 50 30 0.6   58 Pennsylvania College of Tech., Williamsport 19 10 0.526   59 Southwest Texas State U., San Marcos (CofScience) (ConE) 20 10 0.5   60 New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark 20 10 0.5   61 Bowling Green State U., Bowling Green, Ohio 40 20 0.5   62 Northern Arizona U., Flagstaff 40 20 0.5   63 Brigham Young U., Provo, Utah 117 53 0.453   64 Northern Kentucky U., Highland Heights 45 20 0.444   65 John Brown U., Siloam Springs, Ark. 7 3 0.429   66 Montana State U., Bozeman 54 23 0.426   67 Illinois State U., Normal 48 20 0.417   68 Tuskegee U., Tuskegee, Ala. 5 2 0.4   69 Central Missouri State U., Warrensburg 25 10 0.4   70 U. of Wisconsin, Madison 50 20 0.4   71 U. of Nebraska, Kearney 24 9 0.375   72 Minnesota State U., Moorhead 27 10 0.37   73 East Carolina U., Greenville, N.C. 96 35 0.365   74 South Dakota State U., Brookings 22 8 0.364   75 Southern Polytechnic State U., Marietta, Ga. 56 20 0.357   76 Pittsburg State U., Pittsburg, Kan. 43 15 0.349   77 California State University, Long Beach (CofE) (ConE&M) 41 13 0.317   78 Southern Illinois U., Edwardsville 19 6 0.316   79 U. of Louisiana, Monroe 35 11 0.314   80 Minnesota State U., Mankato 32 10 0.313   81 U. of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne 10 3 0.3   82 U. of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls 16 4 0.25   83 Eastern Kentucky U., Richmond 25 4 0.16   NA State U. of New York, Syracuse 16 NA NA   NA Fairleigh Dickinson U., Teaneck, N.J. 13 NA NA   NA Southwest Missouri State U., Springfield 12 NA NA   NA U. of Denver, Denver, Colo. 25 NA NA                           Base data (List of Schools, BS Graduates Per School, and Recruiting Organizations Per School) were taken from a 10/29/2001 Engineering News Record (ENR) Article entitled “The Nation’s C-Schools” By David B. Rosenbaum, Debra K. Rubin with Mary B. Powers

Virginia Tech — Tenure Track Position Available & Construction Internship and Career Fair Opportunities

Two items of note at Virginia Tech (1# CM Program according to the C-School Rankings):

Item#1 — Virginia Tech is “seeking candidates to fill a tenure-track faculty position in the Vecellio Construction Engineering and Management Program commencing Fall 2007.”

Item#2 — There are still “resume-only” opportunities available for the Construction Internship and Career Fair scheduled for February 27th & 28th 2007.

Iowa State Student Chapter of the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America named tops in the country

I realize I need to be careful with excessive postings regarding my undergraduate school; but, I had to share this article which announces that, “For the second consecutive year, and sixth time overall, Iowa State’s student chapter of the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America has won first place in the annual Outstanding AGC Student Chapter Contest. The award, based on the quality and number of activities in which student chapters take part, places a particular emphasis on outreach activities to communities and schools. “

Take a look at the article for specifics on the community services activities sponsored by the ISU Student AGC Chapter. These activities included Habitat for Humanity construction projects, a blood drive, a food drive, attending high school career fairs, and the most interesting one from my point of view – “a spring break trip to help struggling hurricane victims in southern Mississippi rebuild their homes”.

 Nice work Cyclones.

Louisiana State University (LSU) is offering several tenure track positions

The Construction Management Program at LSU is looking to fill three Assistant Professor positions. I see on the department homepage that two Assistant Professors joined the Department of Construction Management and Industrial Engineering this past Fall. Refer to this link for additional information on the available positions.

Recent BYU Student Becomes Professor in the Construction Management Program

Check out this article which tells the story of a recent Brigham Young University (BYU) masters student who made a quick transition from student to professor while earning the distinction of becoming the first woman full-time teacher in the College of Engineering and Technology’s construction management program.

Engineering News-Record (ENR) Images of the Year

Although this posting has nothing to do with construction management education, I thought that the target audience for this blog would be interested in the the following link that will take you to a slideshow for ENR’s Annual Images of the Year. There are some great construction photos in this slideshow, including the one to the left of this posting. Enjoy.

Newsletter from the East Carolina University – Department of Construction Management

The Construction Engineering Department at East Carolina University has a well-done newsletter called the “ECU CMGT News” which provides an update on the current happenings among the faculty, students, alumni, and industry supporters. If your school has a similar newsletter, please feel free to submit a link as a comment below.

What does a Construction Manager / Engineer do?

One of the target audiences for this blog is high school students who are looking into the possibility of pursuing college level construction studies. The following excerpt from the Purdue – College of Engineering Website provides a great overview of what a student can expect in a construction management / engineering career:

“Construction engineers design, build, and maintain the infrastructure of our world. The tools of the trade for today’s successful construction engineer include the following: strong math, science, and computer skills; creativity; an aptitude for applying science and engineering methods to solve problems; a love of building structures such as bridges, airports, buildings, dams, and highways; an interest in working indoors and outdoors; initiative and a strong work ethic; the ability to collaborate with diverse people; good communications skills; and a desire to learn in a constantly changing environment. [Many] students complete three 12-week internships, usually during the summer and away from home. They work as paid employees of construction contractors and perform increasingly responsible duties in field operations, office operations, and project management.

Career Opportunities

• Planning and overseeing the construction operations of a project

• Checking and modifying plans and specifications for constructability, efficiency, and safety

• Developing cost estimates and preparing bids

• Managing subcontractor firms

• Working with the owner to ensure that the project meets requirements”

Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) Scholarship Opportunities

The CMAA has offered scholarships to several construction students over the past several years. Check out the CMAA Website for a list of scholarship winners from the past few years. Judging by the submission deadline for the 2006 – 2007 school year, the organization will be accepting submissions for the 2007 – 2008 school year in the near future.