October 26, 2000

Constructive education

Ed van der Bogert’s enthusiasm for Edmonds Community College’s construction management program is catching, which seems to be a prime reason for the success of the popular courses that fulfill the needs of both employers and employees in the Seattle area.

Ed van der Bogert left his own construction business to teach others the business at Edmonds Community College.

As the first chair of the college’s Construction Management Department, he’s grown the program dramatically since he left his own business four years ago for campus life. For the past 23 years, the college has offered scattered coursework in construction industry subjects but it wasn’t until van der Bogert arrived that courses were expanded and concentrated into their own department.

It's no news to the construction industry that labor is in short supply, with the shortest list being people with formal training in construction techniques, project management, communication, critical thinking and group leadership. Look for people who also have specialized knowledge and skills in building codes and inspections, contract documents, materials handling methods, structural systems, estimating, accounting and industry computer applications and the list grows even shorter.

People usually get excited about their lives and careers when they find they can fulfill important needs. That’s what drives van der Bogert, helping the construction industry he loves and seeing people move up in their careers.

"This is the only two-year program for construction management and building inspection in Washington state, it’s among fewer than you can count on one hand in the Pacific Northwest. There are scattered courses here and there and a number of four-year schools involved but a two-year program is pretty unique," he said, lamenting the fact that while enrollment is growing the program is still too little known among the construction industry. That’s why marketing and promoting are big chunks of his daily life.

The need for the program has been emphasized by groups such as the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties. At its annual leadership conference a year ago, the association identified a shortage of skilled works as one of the five crises facing the region’s construction industry. With 2,800 members employing more than 50,000 workers in the two counties, they’re a group that should know an industry problem when they see one. And, they do. In this case they see a labor shortage across the board, encompassing both managerial and trades workers.

That's where van der Bogert’s programs come to bear on the situation. The instructors are from industry backgrounds, the students are primarily employees in the construction business, and those who pay the tuitions are normally employers who want training for people assigned to new construction roles or workers being groomed for management positions. All of the courses are taught at night to accommodate work schedules and the program is attuned to the changing needs of the industry so training is always being reviewed and refreshed.

"We're in a unique position to support industry by training people who are already working. It’s not unusual for some larger or even smaller companies to send students for a selection of specific classes, not necessarily for a degree. Someone moving into a position as an assistant estimator, for instance, might be sent here for blueprint reading and basic estimating. We provide that," he said.

The range of topics is broad, from computers in construction -- including AutoCAD training -- to stormwater and site drainage control. The list includes: Internet estimating; online plan centers; design criteria and materials selection; structural concrete technology; building, mechanical and plumbing codes; basic estimating; commercial estimating; planning and scheduling; construction law, including contract interpretation and bidding procedures; and project management.

Students can take specific courses or enroll for a 45-credit Certificate in Construction Management, a 45-credit Certificate in Building Inspection or a 90-credit Associate of Technical Arts degree in construction management. Of the 171 students enrolled in the winter 2000 classes, only 10 identified themselves as seeking employment. The majority are employed full time and attending classes to advance in their careers. Women comprise about 25 percent of the class enrollment, solid evidence of the expanding roles they have found in construction work.

Van der Bogert is proud of the program’s graduate profile, too. Research by the state Board for Community and Technical Colleges found that from 1995-1998 the college's construction management program graduates moved into jobs with starting salaries ranging from $32,000 to $55,000 annually. Those who took courses to find employment started with a median wage of $20.37 per hour, with average wages even higher. Plus, the college’s placement rate for unemployed graduates was 76 percent.

"We also provide a lot of training for displaced and rehab workers from the construction industry under state programs that refer them to us to get them back to work," he said.

One of the advantages of the program is that it’s the only one in the Puget Sound region that has interdisciplinary college level courses that offer skills in communications, human relations and business as well as courses in specific needs such as blueprint reading or estimating.

"The philosophy of this program is that building codes and inspections is something like a third of a project manager’s skillset. Most of them don’t have that background so we provide it. Also, graduates can come out of here with human relationship skills that will help them, too," he said.

While workers with two-year degrees will be competing in the workplace and job marketplace with those who have four-year degrees, the combination of a two-year specialized construction management degree with years of work in the industry can create powerful leverage in moving ahead in construction career fields, he said. Also, many of his students go on to complete four-year degrees.

"We also have a major commitment to technology, particularly in computer software and using computers on the Internet and extranets, which involves multiple people at remote sites exchanging information, a pretty new trend in construction work. We’re focusing on giving students the computer skills and knowledge base to be able to know what’s happening in the Web world, to be able to manage the electronic environment in the construction field," he said.

Much of the success of the college’s program comes from strong college administration support, an industry advisory board with a lot of depth in the construction industry and a faculty that steps out of construction roles at night when they become instructors.

"All of our faculty know they’re going to be teaching at night," van der Bogert said, "and they’re eager for it. It’s sure not for the money, they’re just enthusiastic about training new people for the construction industry."

The college's faculty list includes van der Bogert, retired as president of his own company Ideas Construction, who holds an ATA degree in construction management himself, as well as a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's degree in education from Syracuse University. Other staff include: Charles Greenberg, a partner in the Triad Law Group; Christopher Faul, a project manager for Martin Smith Development; David Jacobson, construction project planner for the city of Lynnwood; George Hanna, a project architect/manager with Mithun Partners; Gary Douglas, a computer technologist for the construction industry; John Little, field representative for the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters; Corey Schmidt, assistant director of the Skagit County Planning and Permit Center; Mike Morrison, president of Value Management Consulting; Albert McHargue, city of Kirkland building inspector; and William Hill, a building code consultant for Berryman and Henigar.

"And our advisory board is particularly helpful, too. I just wish we have even more members because it’s such a valuable group," van der Bogert said. "At one meeting, several members guided us to the AutoCAD program for an expansion of our computer courses, rather than another software program we were considering. They let us know what the industry was using and wanting. That’s so important for us. Plus, their support was so solid that we got college approval for the software within hours."

He's especially proud of upgrades to the computer lab used by the construction management program, providing current hardware and software for students in his program as well as those in engineering and related programs on campus. In addition to what the college buys, the program benefits from donations of equipment, software and other materials from the construction industry it serves, he said.

For van der Bogert, his past construction career and his role as the chair of the Construction Management Department at came naturally, he said.

"My family has been in construction work for hundreds of years, beginning in Holland," he said, grinning. "In 1635 my family came to this country and continued to build. My father was an architect and my great-grandfather was a builder. Our family records show construction runs in our family. I put myself through college painting houses, then spent 25 years in business, painting and remodeling, then became a construction manager on multi-million-dollar homes. During that time I even came to Edmonds Community College for construction classes."

More information about the college’s construction management program is available on-line at www.edcc.edu/hhs/const.
 

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