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...and civil-engineering majors to foster collaboration skills and pushing more courses in sustainability, virtual-design and construction, public-private partnerships and entrepreneurship, as well as offering opportunities for students to obtain partial or full LEED and safety certifications before graduation, he says.
New York City-based Columbia University’s Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science says it has managed to avoid draconian cuts because its revenue base is not heavily endowment-dependent, and because the school has tapped its alumni, says Feniosky Pena-Mora, its newly appointed dean.
The school is boosting students’ exposure to the global industry through a recently signed agreement with Italy’s University of Bologna to provide master’s-level students with credentials to allow them to practice in Europe and elsewhere. It also has a new technology initiative to enable students to collaborate “virtually” with those in Helsinki, Finland and Madras, India, on global teams “on real-world projects,” says Pena-Mora.
“The course exposes students to advanced systems and technologies for global project collaboration and to the challenges of working across time zones and cultures,” Pena-Mora says. The school also is launching a “virtual internship” program to allow students to work remotely on a project “anywhere in the U.S.,” he adds.
While many construction-industry firms are evaluating employment strategies in line with market recovery, not all have halted recruiting. “We view it as a strategic imperative,” says Adam Gersh, human-resources manager for Malcolm Pirnie, White Plains, N.Y. “When we neglect it, we have a talent deficit four or five years down the road.”
Adds Bruce Grewcock, CEO of Omaha-based Kiewit, “I don’t care what happens in 2010—people are what drive our business. We have to continuously hire and train. If we don’t, we’ll have a real problem.”
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