Voices of Salute: Kerry Slattery, Missouri State University - Technology and Construction Management

The Missouri State University technology and construction management department offers bachelor’s degrees in construction management, facility management and technology management, and a master’s in project management. The department has 10 full-time faculty and staff and about 400 students.

Industry role
Training tomorrow’s construction professionals.

Innovation
While maintaining its mission to graduate well-rounded individuals capable of working in any sector of the industry, the department is developing options for students to take additional courses in concentration areas such as mechanical, electrical and plumbing

Challenges
One of the major challenges facing the construction industry is maintaining profitability. One strategy is to market the unique characteristics of a company that differentiate them from competitors and provide value to potential customers. In addition to producing skilled graduates to help make their companies more competitive, the Department is developing specialization tracks for students to differentiate themselves from graduates of other CM programs.

2011 accomplishments
The construction management degree was reaccredited by the American Council for Construction Education. The CM program had 70 graduates in the 2010–11 school year. Faculty published research papers and reports on a wide range of topics including an expert systems approach to highway construction scheduling, the use of job cameras to study construction processes, and leadership characteristic of rising starts in construction project management.

2012 outlook
A record number of companies participated in the Department’s Career Roundtable in October. This appears to indicate that employment in the construction industry is recovering.

Click here for the full Salute to Construction section of the Oct. 31-Nov. 6, 2011, issue.
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