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Grant to Help Construction Students Earn Designations
 The National Housing Endowment has awarded NAHB and the Home Builders Institute (HBI) an $82,784 grant to create a program that will enable students graduating with residential construction management degrees to also earn NAHB professional designations through their coursework and enter the workforce with those designations.
“Through grants such as this, the National Housing Endowment works to help the residential construction industry develop more effective approaches to home building and to ensure that there is an ample and well-trained supply of future workers and leaders,” said Gary Garczynski, endowment chairman and 2002 NAHB president.
The programs will be modeled after a pilot program at Purdue University created through an endowment Homebuilding Education Leadership Program (HELP) grant.
NAHB and HBI worked with the Indiana university’s residential construction management program faculty to integrate NAHB/ HBI course content into existing university curriculum that would qualify participating students to earn a Certified Green Professional (CGP), Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) or a Residential Construction Superintendent (RCS) designation upon graduation.
Eight Purdue University students are slated to earn their professional designations this year.
The new grant will be used to create similar programs at universities that offer housing industry-related degrees and maintain active NAHB Student Chapters. The grant will help cover a portion of the fees for students enrolling in the program and expenses for faculty to participate in NAHB’s Train the Trainer course.
“By enabling graduates to enter the workforce with an NAHB professional designation, we are nurturing the future of our industry and providing these students with a competitive advantage for highly sought-after jobs in the housing sector,” said HBI Chairman M. M. "Mike" Weiss, GMR, GMB, CAPS, ARCS.
“These students will improve their skills through on-the-job experience and build relationships with local home building industry professionals prior to entering the workforce,” said Benjamin Graham, GMB, chair of NAHB’s education committee. “Potential employers will also recognize their commitment to a career in the industry and to continued professional growth.”
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