Improving Enrollment in the Master of Construction Management Program at Bowling Green State University
Publication: Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 132, Issue 4
Abstract
The Master of Industrial Technology in Construction Management program at Bowling Green State University has been experiencing undesirably low enrollment recently, which has led to an examination of the need for the continuation of the program. The program administrators researched their target students regarding their educational backgrounds, knowledge needs, preferred promotion channels, favored means of course delivery, financial restrictions, and time constraints to gain insight in order to enhance the existing curriculum and enrollment. The needs of the employers of the program’s graduates were also considered. The research tools were a questionnaire and reviews of the websites and literature of 42 master’s programs in construction management. This paper presents the findings of a questionnaire that was designed to identify the reasons for and solutions to this problem. Data analysis of the questionnaire identified issues of promotion, curriculum content, and course delivery. The respondents indicated that the master of construction management is a valuable degree that can prepare construction professionals to become senior managers. The research proposes the following corrective actions: Development and implantation of promotion plan, restructuring the curriculum content, and employment of more suitable course delivery means.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
GSU College of Technology. (2005). Graduate studies handbook, College of Technology, Bowling Green State Univ., Bowling Green, Ohio.
Bureau of Labor Statistics/U.S. Department of Labor. (2005). Occupational outlook handbook, 2004–05 Ed., Construction Managers, ⟨http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos005.htm⟩ (Feb. 22, 2005).
Gravitt, D., and Haddad, B. (2004). “Projected ASC faculty needs 2004–2009.” Associated Schools of Construction 2004 Region III Conf., Downer’s Grove, Ill.
Haltenhoff, E. (1998). The CM contracting systems—Fundamentals and practices, Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, N.J.
Kuprenas, J., and Fakhouri, A. (2001). “A crew balance case study—Improving construction productivity.” CM eJournal, ⟨http://cmaanet.org/user_images/crew_balance_study.pdf⟩ (Jan. 23).
Lange, J. E., and Mills, D. Q., eds. (1979). The construction industry, Lexington Books, Lexington, Mass.
Oglesby, C. H. (1982). “Construction education: Past, present and future.” J. Constr. Div., 108(4), 605–616.
M. E. Rinker, Sr. School of Construction. (2005). “History.” ⟨http://www.bcn.ufl.edu/history/history.shtml⟩ (May 20, 2005).
Peterson’s Guide to Graduate Study. (2005). “Programs in construction engineering and management.” ⟨http://www.peterson.com⟩ (Feb. 5, 2005).
Tatum, C. (1987). “Balancing engineering and management in construction education.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 113(2), 264–272.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2006 ASCE.
History
Received: Apr 14, 2005
Accepted: Feb 3, 2006
Published online: Oct 1, 2006
Published in print: Oct 2006
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.