History

Construction Management History

• In 1995, WSU conducted an assessment to determine the need for an Associate of Applied Science (AAS} degree in Construction Management. The assessment addressed the need for construction managers as well as the content of the proposed curriculum. Ninety percent of the respondents indicated that the degree needed.
• In August 1996, AAS in Construction Management Technology began. The program started with one faculty member and approximately 20 students.
• 1997 was the first year a construction management faculty achieved the rank of associate professor.
• In 1999, WSU added a Bachelor's Degree (BS) in Construction Management Technology. With many of the students working in the industry, the program became an evening program.
• In December 1999, the CMT program was granted candidate status by the American Council for Construction Education (ACCE}.
• By the 1999-2000 school year, the program had grown to over 100 students, and WSU hired two- new faculty, one replacing the original faculty member.
• In 2000, the Jack B. Parson family pledged a one-million-dollar gift to further the CMT program, and the program was renamed the Parson Construction Management Technology program. Later WSU dropped "Technology" from the name.
• In 2002, enrollment had grown to over 150 students, and WSU hired a third faculty.
• In 2004, enrollment had grown to over 200 students, and WSU hired a fourth faculty.
• In 2005, students from the program began competing in the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Region 6 Student Competition held in Sparks, Nevada.
• 2005 was also the first year a Construction Management faculty was granted tenure.
• In 2006, the program was granted a five-year accreditation by the American Council of Construction Education.
• In 2009, enrollment had grown to over 260 students, and WSU hired a fifth faculty.
• 2009 was also the first year a construction management faculty achieved the rank of full- professor.
• In the spring of 2009, the Utah State Board of Regents approved a Facilities Management emphasis to the construction management BS degree. WSU later added a facilities management faculty position, bringing the number of faculty to six.
• In 2011, the program was reaccredited by the American Council of Construction Education.
• In 2011, the program became the Department of Construction Management Technology, later renamed the Department of Construction and Building Sciences.
• In 2011, due to declining enrollments resulting from the 2007 financial crisis, the program lost a faculty position, bringing the number of faculty to four in construction management and one in facilities management.
• In 2013, the program moved to a new building constructed on WSU's Davis campus.
• In 2016, the program accreditation expired and was not renewed.

Between 2000 and 2015, the program showed growth in student enrollments and academically by achieving and maintaining accreditation. During the last six years, the program appears to have stagnated, if not declined. The program needs to take a careful look at how to revitalize the program.

The degree program is to be in operation for a sufficient time to have granted the degree for which accreditation is sought. Degree programs shall have at least one class of graduates. Describe the time of degree program operation and graduation rates by semester.

The program has been in existence for over 20 years and has awarded 638 BS degrees. The first BS degree was granted in December 2000. The bachelor's degree graduation rates per semester are shown- in the following table:

History of the Architectural Design program 

by Jeremy Farner
Associate Professor, Construction and Building Sciences
DBIA Assoc., CPBD, LEED GA, NAHB CGP, ACU, RCU
Wadman Center of Excellence Director - Building Design & Construction Program Coordinator - JH Designs & Consulting Services Owner

In 2009, at the Industry Advisory Board meeting for the Design Engineering Technology (DET) program housed within the Manufacturing Engineering Technology Department, industry requested that students could emphasize in either Architectural or Mechanical Design. The DET program consisted of approximately 70% Mechanical Design courses and 30% Architectural Design courses. This request prompted the creation of two additional Architectural Design courses to teach Building Information Modeling and specifically (Revit) in the sophomore and senior years of the program. This temporarily appeased the Architectural Industry representatives, but they questioned why students who were going to be designing homes and commercial buildings were taking courses like Machine Design, Tool Design, etc. It was decided that an Architectural Engineering Technology (AET) emphasis would be created that could be used as one of three legs of a Bachelors of Integrated Studies. Coupled with areas of emphasis from Interior Design & Construction Management, students who wanted to better prepare themselves for the Architectural Design industry were encouraged to do the Architectural Engineering Technology BIS. By 2013, the AET BIS saw its first graduates and industry loved the interdisciplinary nature of the curriculum. Students loved that they could find jobs in Architecture, Interior Design or Construction Management upon completion. There were over 70 graduates of the AET BIS.

Attempts to split the DET degree into two separate degrees to prepare students for either the Architectural Industry or Mechanical Design Industry started in 2009. It took until 2018 for Building Design & Construction to officially be approved as a program now housed under the Department of Construction Management. The program moved to the Davis Campus to be on the same campus as Construction Management and Interior Design. The BDC program continues to have an Architectural Design BIS leg, Architectural Design Minor, Pre-Architecture Associates of Applied Science, and Bachelors of Building Design & Construction. Several additional Architecture courses have been developed over the years to better prepare students for various disciplines in the Architecture industry such as Sustainable Building Design & Construction, Structural Design, Architectural Rendering & Animation, and special projects such as international and local service learning opportunities,

International Design-Build Service Learning Trips:

2014- Boane, Mozambique - Women's Training Center
2015 - Thaton, Thailand - Orphanage Dining Hall/Kitchen, Playground, Garden, Water Harvesting
2016 -  Chiclayo, Peru - Soup Kitchen, Pre-School, Community Water 
2017 - Mahubu, Mozambique - Library, Classrooms
2018 - Uganda - Food Storage, Water Well, Medical Clinic
2019 -  Fiji - Computer classroom, Kindergarten classroom, Sick bay/Admin offices
2020-  Fiji - Computer lab, Covered Walkways
2022 - Ghana - K-12 School with trade school

Local Design-Build Service Learning Projects:
2015- Fire Training Maze - South Davis Fire District
2016 - Presidential Home - Weber State Presidential Residence
2017 - Habitat for Humanity Home on 27th Street
2018 - Race to Zero Department of Energy Competition, Habitat for Humanity Home of 15th Street
2019 - Race to Zero Department of Energy Competition, Two Habitat for Humanity Homes on 30th Street
2020 - Habitat for Humanity Home on 29th Street
2021 - Solar Decathlon Home on 28th Street

For more information on these projects, check out videos and summaries here. https://www.weber.edu/buildingdesign/study-projects.html 

In 2018, the BDC program successfully received a Sustainable Workforce Development grant which allowed a second full time faculty position to be hired. Cameron Lewis is a local Ogden Design Architect who was hired to join the BDC program. This grant led to the development of Utah's Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Pathways program that promotes concurrent enrollment in the high schools, and allowed articulation agreements to be put into place for Technical College and Salt Lake Community College to transfer to Weber State University to complete their Associates or Bachelors degrees. The UAEC Pathways program is increasing the pipeline of students in high school considering careers in construction and design. More information about the UAEC pathways program can be found at https://uaecpathways.com/