Construction Management Newsletter - Spring 2023

Construction MANAGEMENT

1st Annual Career Fair Was A Hit!

we hosted our first annual career fair in September. There were 20 contractors that attended and we look forward to doing it again September 2023! It’s also a great time to see our alumni coming back to hire more MSUM students. Thanks to Jami Crummy in Career Services for her hard work in getting this put together! If you are interested in being a part of the Fall 2023 career fair, please reach out to Jay. Info-Square jay.cournia@mnstate.edu

Minnesota Construction Association – Leadership Academy

Pursuit Competition: 3rd Place

this is our sixth year participating in the Pursuit Competition hosted by Ryan Companies USA. In this competition, students respond to an RFP. The design is complete, so a detailed schedule and estimate are part of the proposal. Spire Construction (Enock Zamba, Jack Wacker, Cameron Moe, Nathan Ferrell, Zach Floyd) presented in Minneapolis to Ryan Company judges on April 26th and took third place! Congratulation seniors!

ASC Regional Teaching Award

jay Cournia was awarded the Associated School of Construction’s Regional Teaching Award! This award is given annually to early- to mid-career untenured or tenure track faculty who have two to six years of teaching experience at an ASC member school. This brings Jay to Liverpool, UK in April to attend the 59th Annual ASC International Conference to represent MSUM’s CM Program. Congratulations, Jay!

Interview Competition

students complete a mock interview conducted by a construction professional experience in interviewing allows the student to participate in a job interview. Students are asked real-life behavioral-based interview questions like those done at interviewing for a job.

▸ 1st Place – Caleb David

▸ 2nd Place – Kaitlyn Luksik

Thank you to the adjuncts for helping out this semester.

ASC Region 4 Student Competition

this year we had 3 teams attend the ASC Region 4 Student Competition in Nebraska City, NE.

▸ Heavy-Highway (3rd place)

▸ Commercial – CM@R Division (3rd place)

▸ Commercial – General Contracting Division

MSUM CM program has attended this competition for years. This rigorous competition promotes excellence and spirit of competition between the regional construction programs.

Negotiation Competition

the competition provides students a real-life opportunity to improve their skills on negotiating. Prior to the event students are given detailed information about a construction claim. They are separated out into different roles of owner, architect and contractor. They defend and negotiate the best outcome based on the detail being discussed.

▸ 1st Place – Noah Coffey

Table Topics

using the Toastmasters format, students will be provided a construction topic and had to speak for 1-2 minutes about the topic.

▸ 2nd Place – Caleb David

Rachel Axness Successfully Defends Her Dissertation

rachel Axness successfully defended her dissertation proposal on “CORRELATION OF PERCEIVED QUALITY OF PROGRAM AND RETENTION AMONG ONLINE NONTRADITIONAL PROFESSIONAL MANAGEMENT COLLEGE STUDENTS.” Rachel has been working hard for the past three years to complete her Doctorate in Educational Leadership degree. Congratulations Dr. Rachel Axness!!

At the end April, this same opportunity was open for our juniors, sophomores, and freshman. General Equipment hosted another demo day in conjunction with North Dakota Construction Leadership Council. Thank you General Equipment!

IAB Member & CM Adjunct Faculty, Corey Bronczyk, is the 2023 MCA President!

Kiewit’s Leadership Seminar

once again we had students representing our program at Kiewit’s Women’s Construction & Engineering Leadership Seminar this past fall. Jalyn Bauer and Olivia Brock attended this two-day event focused on developing the leadership skills of collegiate women.

corey Bronczyk, J.D. is the new President of the Minnesota Construction Association! The MCA is a nonprofit organization that provides networking, business development and education opportunities for construction managers, project managers, general contractors, subcontractors, owners, engineers, architects, attorneys, suppliers, developers, educators and students involved in the construction industry. The MCA also hosts the Leadership Training Academy in Minneapolis, which some of our students attend every April. Congratulations, Corey!

Equipment Grant Received

the CM faculty submitted for an equipment grant and was awarded $25,000 in new equipment! This brings new soils and concrete lab equipment, along with a drone for our surveying class all of which will be ready to use Fall 2023.

Students doing variety of concrete and soil labs in CM445 – Quality Contractor Management

PROCORE’S GROUNDBREAK CONFERENCE

this past fall, Jay Cournia, CM faculty presented in New Orleans at Procore Technologies Groundbreak Conference. In conjunction with Oklahoma State University faculty, Amy Lewis, they presented “Understanding the Construction Industry’s Next Generation.”

Giving Day Success!

mSUM’s Giving Day was in October 2022. We saw great support to our CM program receiving $11,340 in donations! These donations allow our students to attend extracurricular activities, such as the ASC Region 4 Student Competition and the MCA Leadership Seminar, that enhance their learning experience! Thank you to the donors for their generosity!

Thank you Enclave for donating $10,000 to the CM Program!

What

have our students been up to?

our students are active both in and out of the classroom. We have some great leaders among our students who have encouraged fellow classmates to participate in volunteer activities and other extra-curricular activites. They include:

▸ Clean ditches

▸ Present at local high schools

▸ CM Bowling Night

▸ CM Dodge Ball

▸ CM Billiards Night

Congrats to our Construction Management Students!

congratulations to CM students, Grant W. and Jacob W., on receiving the Home Builders Care of FargoMoorhead Foundation scholarship!

Spring 2023 Ditch Cleaning

Weis Builders Sponsor CM Society Outing at Suite Shots in Fargo

Wanzek Construction Sponsors CM Society at Fargo Force Game

Moorhead High School Project

Students at the Casino Night for the Home Builders Associations. Thank you to Lemke Home Improvements for their sponsorship that allowed students to go!

Minnesota State University Moorhead

Northern Improvement Company Jobsite Tour

CM 200 Surveying Class

Thank you, Tristen Radar MSUM Alumni from McGough for the jobsite tour of the new Fargo Sports Complex!

thank you, Aaron Neppl & Ben Naylor MSUM Alumni from Gerhtz Construction for the tour of the new Moorhead High School Project!

Project Site Tours & Do Not Be a Stranger a

special Thank you to the following industry partners for allowing our students to be onsite and tour their jobsite or facility.

If you know of someone interested in a CM degree, send them our way!

Please have them contact Rachel at: Info-Square rachel.axness@mnstate.edu

McGough

Olaf

Do you have a project in the F/M area for students to take a tour at? Would you like to present to a class on a specific topic? Are you willing to judge Capstone final presentations? Does your company have internship and employment opportunities for students? If so, please contact Rachel.axness@mstate.edu / Jay.cournia@mnstate.edu / John.green@mnstate.edu

We love to hear from our alumni and industry partners to get them involved and active within our program! *If you are interested in being a guest speaker please reach out to the MSUM faculty as we are always wanting more guest speakers.

Connect with Us:

mnstate.edu/construction-management

Facebook facebook.com/msumcm

Twitter @MSUMCM

linkedin MSUM Construction Management

Interested in being a guest lecturer or provide a site tour to our students?

we are so fortunate to have such a supportive industry and alumni! Throughout the academic year our students get to interact with professional industry members through site tours, guest speakers, assignments that require them to reach out to industry members, and more! If you are interested in being a part of this, let us know!

Taracon Precast

Aggregate Industries

Mid America Steel

Construction

Gehrtz Construction Services Ames Construction Northern Improvement

Anderson

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