MSU Construction Management Program receives $100K grant from the National Housing Endowment’s Homebuilding Education Leadership Program

The MSU Construction Management Program recently received a multiyear, $100K grant from the NHE’s Homebuilding Education Leadership Program.

Photo of Construction Management faculty and students receiving the the Homebuilding Education Leadership Program grant award from the National Housing Endowment.
Construction Management faculty and students receiving the the Homebuilding Education Leadership Program grant award from the National Housing Endowment.

The Michigan State University Construction Management Program recently received a multiyear, $100K grant from the National Housing Endowment’s Homebuilding Education Leadership Program to help them continue improving the residential aspect of the CM Program, and increase the quality of recruits and graduates in residential construction.

Construction Management faculty leading this grant program include Sinem MollaogluGeorge Berghorn and Matt Syal.

The National Housing Endowment, in its commitment to support and invest in programs that address the ongoing needs in residential construction training, created the HELP in 2006 with primary goals to:

  • Encourage academic institutions to provide/develop programs of study in residential construction that respond not only to current issues affecting the home building industry, but also provide the tools and skill sets needed by graduates to anticipate and prepare for the future; and
  • Increase the number of qualified college graduates to enter the residential construction industry.

Through a competitive application process, recipient institutions can receive a grant of up to $100,000 over a three-to-five year period.

This is the second time MSU has been the recipient of this award. In 2013, the Construction Management Program received $99K to help revive the focus on residential construction and position the MSU School of Planning, Design and Construction to be one of the main schools to provide qualified construction managers to the nation’s residential construction industry.

“With the support of an involved and strong advisory board including our alumni, local developers and builders, and local home building associations, we have been fortunate to strengthen our Housing Research and Education Center since 2013, following one of the worst market turndowns in the history of our nation,” said Associate Professor Sinem Mollaoglu.

“We are proud to have become one of the very few programs in the nation to receive the HELP grant not once, but twice. With the support of our advisory board, our hopes and plans are to keep the program impacts growing and become permanent with an endowment to be established in the coming years.”

For this latest round of funding, over the next five years, the Construction Management Program will take part in the following:

  • Activities to help increase residential construction employers’ attendance and recruitment at construction management career fairs.
  • Development of a residential construction recruitment video.
  • Joint workshops with Professional Women in Building and the National Association of Women in Construction to attract female recruitment and empowerment in the residential program.
  • Provide research and travel fellowships to recruit and retain quality graduate and undergraduate students to the program.
  • Continue National Association of Home Builders’ licensed courses, curriculum improvements, applied research projects and close engagement with the HELP advisory board.
  • Coverage of green residential construction course fees.

 For more information about this grant award, please contact Sinem Mollaoglu at sinemm@msu.edu.  

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