|
CONSTRUCTION PATHWAY - MINUTES
Nebraska Career Pathways Project
FutureForce Construction
Executive Planning Summary
February 7, 2006 10:00 am - noon
Location: Bellevue University Lincoln Campus
1001 S 70 Street (Taylor Meadows), Suite 219
In Attendance: Bob Carlson, AOI Larry Kuskie, UNK,
Rick Davis, US Dept of Labor Keith Meyer, DOR,
Dennis Ellis, HHSS Jean Petsch, AGC-NE Building Chapter,
Tony Glenn, Dept of Ed Larry Scherer, FutureForce NE Chair,
Jack Huck, Southeast CC Jason Sokolewicz, DED,
Lisa Jennings, FutureForce Coordinator Tim Wentz, UNL,
Brad Zumwalt, DOL-NWD
Intro and History of Project
Larry and Jean welcomed thirteen people from a cross section of government agencies,
industry, and post-secondary education. . Jean Petsch provided background on the project
as it related to AGC’s mission and strategic objectives/goals.
1. Strengthen relationships of postsecondary institutions; develop internships
2. Develop program and methods for building career awareness in the middle and high
schools.
Jean attended the November 2005 Governor’s Summit and attended the FutureForce
presentation. She felt that FutureForce was a great match and fit with the above two
strategic goals. In December 2005, the AGC Board of Directors approved the sponsorship
for the Construction pathway under the FutureForce Nebraska umbrella. Jean has talked
with Larry Johnson, President of Nebraska Trucking Association, and initiator of the
Transportation pathway. Goals and a vision statement will need to be developed.
ACTION ITEM: Jean Petsch will draft and email a mission/vision statement along with
goals to the group for further discussion at the next meeting.
Department of Labor Data and Discussion
After a brief overview of FutureForce and the Construction Pathway, Brad Zumwolt from
Workforce Development gave a presentation of the occupational forecast data, Brad
provided data for projected growth for the years 2002-2012 for the building construction
industry in Nebraska. Salaries that were presented reflect first quarter reporting, which is
probably not the best time for the Construction industry.
Employment and Wage information is gathered by Southeast in the one-year placement
report—reporting out high, median, and low wages by program.
ACTION ITEM: Larry Scherer offered to get IPEDs information from his office. Jack Huck will provide a copy of the placement report section dealing with the construction industry.
Keith Meyer at Department of Roads said that over the next 5-10 years the department will be concentrating on refilling retirement positions. He mentioned that heavy highway contractors are in demand, along with consulting engineers.Bob Carlson said that the average age of Nebraska’s skilled tradesman is 50 years old.
FutureForce Overview
Larry Scherer distributed the FutureForce pathway map and talked about each pathway’s
progress and strengths.
Current Secondary School Programs
Tony Glenn, NDE, provided a sampling of the current curriculum for T/I in NE high schools.
He stated that 25 states have prescribed curriculum for construction, but Nebraska does not
have prescribed curriculum since it has local district control There are 10-12 schools that
have strong construction programs—Gering, Grand Island, York, Schuyler, Winside, and
Kearney, to name a few. Crete and Ralston have construction modules that are used in the
construction classes. In addition, Bob Carlson, AOI Contractors, provided information about
the Building Construction Academy in the Omaha Public Schools Career Center. The
Omaha Academy is supported by a grant from the national group and has contextual
academics in English and Math. Other cities in the US with construction academies: East
Ridge, Chattanooga, San Antonio, and Portland. Currently, Omaha is supporting 41 students
who feed into Metropolitan Community College, Southeast Community College-Milford, and
Iowa Western Community College programs.
Tony shared that the following are desirable curriculum pieces:
1. Contextual academics (making Math relevant to the construction field)
2. Technical Skills – using national standards based on NCCR
3. Employability Skills – The Industrial Manufacturing pathway is currently using the
CALS (Career and Life Skills) assessment, Skills USA PDP (Professional Development
Program), and a new program from Thomson Learning.
4. Safety Training – using Career Safe (OSHA endorsed program)
Bob Carlson noted that these four areas are high priority items.
The group made the decision that they would proceed with the development of the Building
Construction Pathway.
Current College/University Construction Programs
Jack Huck reported on behalf of the Nebraska community colleges. Northeast and Southeast
in Milford currently have the largest enrollment numbers and offer programs in
Construction, HVAC, and Electrical. Western Nebraska Community College does not offer a
credit program in construction.
ACTION ITEM: Jack Huck will bring a current graduate followup study to the next
meeting.
UNL offers a BS in Construction Management. Currently, there are 250 in the program with
60+ graduates each year. The Construction Engineering program, covering heavy highway
and commercial, may be moved to the Omaha campus.
UNO offers a BS in Engineering under the Durham School of Architecture and Construction.
UNK offers a BS in Construction Management, focusing on light commercial and residential
building, with 140 currently enrolled in the program with 25 graduates each year. This
program has a concentration on business and technical skills. They currently accept
transfers from Central Community College and Milford.
Validation of Construction Skill Set
If validation is needed, we will use the AGC members along with the community college and
higher ed institutions’ advisory boards. The group will need to determine if an additional
skills assessment needs to be completed.
ACTION ITEMS: Jean Petsch will research the available information from the postsecondary
construction programs in the state regarding employer skill requirements for
employees in construction. This will be completed by the next meeting.
Lisa J. will draft a career ladder for building construction opportunities in the state for the next meeting.
Strategies
The following items were tabled and will be discussed at the next meeting:
1. Discuss and approve a vision statement and goals for the Construction Pathway
2. Key Players for Steering Committee
3. Location of Pilot
4. Pilot Target Populations
Next Meeting: Friday, March 10th at 1:00pm at Bellevue University in Lincoln
|
