UALR magazine
Spring/Summer 2007 • Vol. 3 No. 1
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Ripples that Build Arkansas
By Robin Henson (Photography by Kelly Quinn)
Some of the best examples of the higher education ripples moving across the state and region can be found in unexpected venues — at highway construction sites, commercial building projects, shopping center renovation projects, and new neighborhood developments.
Nation’s Largest Industry
The wave began 12 years ago when UALR added the Construction Management Program to its curriculum to combat a critical shortage of skilled professionals in construction, which is the nation’s largest industry employing more than 10 percent of the workforce. For workforce development in Arkansas, the program was a win-win: unlimited employment opportunities for students looking for a multi-faceted field in high demand with higher wages and a steady pool of talent to fill key roles in the state’s construction projects.
As the dynamics of the construction industry have progressed in recent years to incorporate advanced technology, the Construction Management Program is focused on equipping students with 21st century technical skills and specialized training to navigate in the modern industry, according to Mike Tramel, chair of the department in UALR’s Donaghey College of Information Science and Systems Engineering.
Professor Tramel said an annual survey conducted by Texas A&M University shows that 3,400 graduates are needed a year to fill jobs in the construction industry. “We’re producing 2,400. There is a dire shortage of superintendents, project managers, craftsmen, safety inspectors, and estimators.”
Tramel, a fourth generation in construction, stressed that the need to fill the workforce gap is also critical because of baby boomers soon to retire. “There is a large segment of the industry who will be leaving and taking their knowledge with them.
“It is essential to have faculty who can transfer this knowledge to the next generation,” he emphasized.
Need for Program Development
Over the years, Tramel has watched the program grow from one faculty member and 25 students to an enrollment of nearly 225 students taught by six faculty. Since 1995, the program has had 247 graduates who have moved into careers ranging from sales to site managment.
“UALR’s construction management program is producing top-notch construction professionals,” said May Construction’s Lewis May, who chaired the UALR Construction Management Advisory Council. “These graduates are coming into the industry prepared and quipped with the skills they need to succeed. UALR’s program delivers these students the ecessary resources.”
Arkansas’ construction industry has supported the program ince its inception. Leaders in the endeavor to raise funds for a building expansion project to ouse classrooms and labs, include May Construction Co., Nabholz Construction, First Arkansas Insurance of Little Rock, J.A. Riggs Tractor Co., Rebsamen Insurance, Darragh Company, Baldwin and Shell Construction, Prospect Steel, and Weaver Bailey Contractors.
Breaking the Gender Gap
The gender gap is also decreasing with the program’s expansion. Twenty percent of the spring semester’s students were females. Like programs at other urban universities, construction managements attractive to traditional and non-traditional students, particularly those who are already orking in the industry and want to improve heir career options.
Lisa Bishop entered the program because of a life-long interest in construction. She recalls scavenging a developing neighborhood for building materials while growing up in Fort Smith.
“When I was little, my house and one other one were the first two houses built in a gigantic neighborhood. The neighbor had a son the same age as me, and we would spend all of our play time exploring all the houses being built. Eventually we started collecting scrap material from the sites and built an awesome fort. That led to other building projects like a tree house, which kept falling so we had to constantly create new ideas for keeping it in place. My neighbor’s dad would cut the wood, and we took care of everything else.”
Then in high school, she took a drafting class and built sets for the drama department’s annual musical.
“I wanted to go in this field as long as I remember,” said Bishop, who graduated in May and is employed at Nabholz Construction. “I really enjoy seeing something built from nothing.” She acknowledged the gender stereotype for those in construction careers is “why it took so long” for her to pursue a degree in the field.
She initially followed her father’s footsteps in medicine by studying biology at Hendrix College. “I didn’t enjoy what I was doing. They were doing construction at the campus the whole time I was there, and I found I enjoyed just sitting outside watching the construction.”
Her next move was to Little Rock to work for AFCO Steel, which fabricates structural steel for commercial construction and roadway bridges. At midpoint in that position, she enrolled in UALR because it could accommodate working students.
Supply and Demand
“We have had 100 percent placement of our graduates into jobs,” said Tramel. “I’ve had students go work for banks to handle construction loans, Entergy overseeing new construction, Wal-Mart building retail stores, Alltel, Corps of Engineers, water departments, and others who have become installers, superintendents managing projects on site, and other professions at major construction firms.” He foresees that the program will only continue to strongly contribute a supply of qualified technologically skilled candidates for the workforce demands in the construction industry. “The demand is too high,” he added.