|
Endowment HELP Goes a Long Way at Maryland University
|
|
 |
|
|
These four CMT students from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore competed in the NAHB Student Chapters Residential Construction Competition at the 2008 IBS. |
 Enrollment in the construction management program at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) increased 12% since the school was awarded one of the first two HELP grants established by the National Housing Endowment in 2006.
The endowment created HELP, the Homebuilding Education Leadership Program, to bolster college and university residential construction management programs around the country. Under the program, two- and four-year colleges and universities are awarded up to $100,000 to build their residential construction programs.
At UMES, a historically black and land grant institution on the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland with an established and accredited construction department, Dr. Leon Copeland, chair of the Construction Management Technology (CMT) program, used the grant to strengthen the program’s residential construction academic offerings and infrastructure, establish an NAHB Student Chapter and expand the CMT program’s outreach and marketing with the goal of increasing enrollment.
“UMES presented a wonderful opportunity for the National Housing Endowment to ensure that HELP is a success as we work to monitor UMES’ growth and help steer them toward the valuable resources that we have at our disposal,” said Gary Garczynski, endowment chairman and 2002 NAHB president.
Since the grant was awarded, members of the school’s newly-formed NAHB Student Chapter attended the 2007 and 2008 International Builders’ Shows. At the 2008 show, four UMES students participated in the NAHB Student Chapters Residential Construction Competition.
In addition, last October, 26 CMT students and faculty participated in a day at a Pulte Homes job site, an endowment program that gives students a first-hand look at possible careers for a diversity of workers in the home building industry.
The students visited Chesapeake, a Del Webb community, Pulte’s active adult division, which is now in the last phase of development near historic St. Michaels, Md.
“UMES is a perfect example of what industry support can do to build and enhance the quality of residential construction education programs,” said Copeland.
“The assistance the University of Maryland Eastern Shore is receiving is positioning the Construction Management Technology program as an active partner in assisting the National Housing Endowment in furthering its mission to help the industry develop more effective approaches to home building, enhance the ways we educate and train future generations of leaders in residential construction and increase the body of knowledge related housing issues,” he said.
The endowment is in the process of selecting HELP grant recipients for 2009. The endowment will announce the schools that will receive the grants at the 2009 International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas.
For more information, visit www.nationalhousingendowment.org.
|
