FACULTY INDUSTRY INTERNSHIP AS AN IMPORTANT PRIORITY IN CONSTRUCTION EDUCATION

Introduction

The Professional Development Committee of the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) has recognized the importance of Faculty Industry Internship (FII), and the following resolution was issued on April 7, 1987:

Professional development of construction education programs requires faculty that have current and on-going knowledge of industry problems, methods, innovations and needs. The best way for faculty to obtain and communicate this knowledge to construction management students is to actively participate in "real world" projects.

Therefore, this association requests that the appropriate university administration, college administration, department administration and review committee recognize the significant value of professional participation in a construction environment.

The periodic and continued involvement should be considered as an important activity, related to initial hiring, annual evaluation, tenure, and promotion of faculty. Appropriate relations with the construction industry may include, but are not limited to, internship, consulting, sabbatical appointment, summer appointment or leave appointment. Payment or non-payment for this activity should not be a criteria for recognizing credit for professional development.

However, the above resolution does not stress or advise the techniques to be employed to achieve its objectives.

The survey completed by the authors during the month of January, 1988, of member schools of the ASC, confirmed once again the importance of the professional development of faculty members in construction education, (Appendix A).

The bill to ban Japanese contractors from the United States public works by Congress (Engineering News Record, December 10, 1987) might look good in the short run. This tells us that the construction industry must be collectively concerned for its future to survive and realize the seriousness of competition of the international market.

Establishment of a close cooperation between the construction education institutions and industry seems to be one step in the right direction. In this presentation emphasis is placed on Faculty Industry Internship as an important issue in this cooperation.

Construction Faculty

A well-qualified faculty is the most important element in the enhancement of construction education. There is a definite shortage of faculty members nationwide. One of the reasons for this shortage could be that construction faculty are expected to have both higher education

credentials as well as practical experience. It is questionable if the education institutions could afford the incentives to attract a successful constructor who could, at the same time, be a good educator.

Constructors from industry with an M.S. or M.A. degree have made good educators in the past. Recent trends show that the construction education departments are expecting faculty members to do research and publish papers similar to faculty members of other disciplines within the university system. Thus, a Ph.D. degree holder might compete with an individual who has substantial field experience.

Another option for the education institution is to hire a fresh graduate with a Ph.D. degree but little or no field experience. Such an individual could be tempted to conduct more theoretical research, due to his/her background and the academic reality, where such work could be easily documented when it comes to promotion or tenureship. Such educators may not emphasize on the more traditionally and practically oriented aspects of the construction program.

The objectives of the construction education programs have been to prepare job-ready graduates for the industry. This mission can only be accomplished if the faculty member is a competent constructor. If research and publication are stressed too much, there is no doubt that the practical aspect of education could be easily overlooked. It is important that the education institutions, as well as industry, not let the present construction education programs change their mission under the pressure of a typical academic environment.

Construction Experience

Methods and materials in construction industry are changing very rapidly. The educators are expected to be aware of these changes and must be ready to adopt them in their teaching. Those faculty members that come from industry would need up-dating regarding methods and materials. For those faculty members who graduate from college without any field experience, it seems important to yet some construction experience. One method of getting industrial experience is to develop a strong and committed Faculty Industry Internship program. Faculty Industry Internship could have many forms. A typical internship is defined here, where a faculty member works on a temporary basis with industry related to his/her field of expertise. This definition was accepted by the majority of respondents (Appendix A).

Construction Advisory Council

The education institution and industry in construction must be the closest allies. There is no conflict of interest, and both are working for the same ultimate objectives of improving construction industry. Yet in many cases these two most natural allies are so far apart.

The long battle, that industry wants job-ready graduates while education institutions emphasize broad-base long term education goals, is already resolved because the construction education program objectives meet those of the industry in producing job-ready graduates.

For achieving the objectives of the construction profession, the education institution and industry must act as partners and establish a permanent liaison to work on a range of short-term as well as long-term goals.

There are many formats the academic institution and industry could follow to form a liaison. One form of liaison is an Advisory Council, where professionals from industry are requested by the educational institutions to serve on the advisory board. The objectives to be established, number of members, and its composition, frequency of meetings, and its effectiveness varies with the number of such councils throughout the system. One recommendation for creating such a council is to have inputs from both sides in the formation and establishment of the intended objectives. The objectives have to be based on equal partnership and both sides must receive the benefits as well as share the responsibilities.

The advisory council is expected to establish the spirit of cooperation between the education institutions and the construction industry. Among other tasks in which the council could be instrumental, is forming a quality Faculty Industry Internship program. Close cooperation between the two sides would establish better communication, and could improve the general attitude and develop into a real partnership.

Faculty Industry Internship includes working on joint research projects with industry. It would be possible to establish joint research projects that could be carried on in one or both of the institutions. Such research endeavors, on the one hand, could be production-oriented, and on the other hand, could find their way to classrooms without much delay. Research projects of this type could be reviewed by both sides regarding their relevance to solving today's problems, and in anticipation of the future.

Construction Faculty Initiatives

The faculty member is expected to play the crucial role in establishing contacts and associations with the construction industry. In the survey conducted by the authors it was clearly concluded that the majority of contacts were initiated by the individual faculty member (Appendix A). A faculty member must realize that his/her mission must coincide with that of the institution in order to produce graduates that could be leaders in the industry. This would require that he/she remain current with developments in the industry of his/her field of interest. This could be accomplished through research as well as working very closely with the industry. As stated earlier, most construction education programs are similar in the objectives of producing graduates who are job-ready upon graduation. This makes the close association of the educator with industry an imperative. Those who would like to conduct research activities also have to work with industry for support and advice regarding the relevance of the project and its usefulness to the industry.

For a faculty member to establish contact with the industry, it is important that he/she examine two aspects. One aspect covers needs of the construction industry. This could be found through the literature available, in the local, as well as the nationwide, markets, regarding the demand for various skills. The second aspect is to make a critical review of what specialty he/she would like to develop, based on interest and background. Once this decision is made, then the faculty must work on those skills to become an expert in the field.

A faculty member must concentrate in a specific area of interest and develop a specialty so that he/she could:

Conclusions

The construction industry being the largest industry in the country is also the most diverse, most fragmented, and most challenging industry. This industry remains mainly in the hands of local and national contractors. No competition was expected until very recent times. It looks like this scene is changing and international competition is emerging very rapidly. It is time that the industry initiate a more aggressive approach to tackling the problems of today and those envisioned in the future. One step in the right direction is to establish a more permanent cooperation between the education institutions and industry through creation of an Advisory Council. Education institutions are responsible for producing future leaders, while the construction industry employs the graduates of these institutions; both have common objectives in promoting the construction industry. The first step in this cooperation would be to establish a Faculty Industry Internship program that will promote more practically-oriented and competent construction education. The faculty member is expected to initiate contacts with the related construction industry and establish a more permanent relationship.

References

APPENDIX A

APPENDIX B