This fall Roger Williams University in Bristol welcomed its first class in its master’s in construction management after offering an undergraduate program for more than a decade. Gilbert Brunnhoeffer, the program’s coordinator and an assistant professor, recently took some time to discuss the new program and its goals for students.
PBN: Roger Williams University launched a master’s program in construction management this fall. How come?
BRUNNHOEFFER: The Roger Williams University School of Engineering, Computing and Construction Management has offered an accredited undergraduate construction management program for more than 10 years. Our graduates are now moving up the career ladder in the construction companies they joined upon graduation and they (both the RWU graduates and the companies that hire them) are telling us that they want more education in their chosen field and we are hearing the same demand from construction companies in the New England area. We designed the master of science in construction management to meet that need – educating our former students and their fellow “young professionals” in the construction industry.
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PBN: Can you tell us what the program involves?
BRUNNHOEFFER: The best description of the master of science in construction management is a specialized program designed to equip the students for performing at higher executive levels in the construction industry. We are providing the management, analysis and financial tools and concepts that the construction professional will need as her or his responsibilities increase.
The responsibilities will require a deeper knowledge of law, some sophisticated mathematical analysis of business and production alternatives, an understanding of the motives and agenda of the community where the work takes place, and some strategies to resolve and avoid, if possible, conflicts that arise during a construction project – to name a few. All of these concepts are taught at the graduate business schools around the country; our “spin” on it is that each tool we provide the student is construction industry specific.
PBN: Do you need a background in construction to be admitted?
BRUNNHOEFFER: Yes. A student in the program should be working in the construction industry. We encourage legal professionals, human resource professionals, engineers, construction managers, business development specialists, accounting professionals – anyone, as long as they are working in the construction industry.
Our perfect class would include students from all parts of a construction enterprise, even land acquisition for development, as long as they are involved in the construction industry and will understand what the “drivers” are for the problems we present in the classes.
Having a diverse mix of students will give each student an appreciation for the complexity of the decisions that have to be made on every construction project, large or small.
PBN: What sorts of jobs do you expect or hope the graduates will obtain?
BRUNNHOEFFER: We are hoping that the students in our program are already employed. We have designed the program to accommodate the working professional. We meet for one class each semester in the evenings at the Providence campus of Roger Williams University and, in addition, one class is offered online during the semester. The program requires two years to complete with a single class offered each summer and a concentrated, eight-day seminar session each January. It will stretch the working professional but it is within reason to accomplish the 36 credit hours in the two years allotted.
Once the degree is completed, we expect our graduates to be offered roles in their companies with increasing responsibility; managing larger projects, taking over business development duties, participating in strategic initiatives to grow their organizations, exploring new business opportunities.
PBN: So is this more than being a contractor who builds a house?
BRUNNHOEFFER: We certainly do not look down upon residential construction. The tools we provide will give the small builder ways to increase their efficient use of funds and improve workforce productivity – all leading to an enhance bottom line.
However, our real target is the person working in a larger enterprise involved in commercial construction, civil works, or serving as a major subcontractor for several large construction companies. Every construction project is “one-off” but they all have similar problems and the quicker the professionals can solve the problems the better the product and the better the profits. We are here to provide the tools for the rising stars in the construction industry to identify and solve problems.
