April 7, 2001
Denver, Colorado
A. Self-introductions were made to start the meeting. Two new member of MEAC were welcomed to the group. They were:
1. John Mensch of Southern Polytechnic State University
2. Russ Walters of Iowa State University
A roster of all attendees is attached.
B. Review of our last meeting at Purdue University. Among the items discussed was our action items list.
C. Report by Arlan Toy of Southern Polytechnic regarding their success at developing and implementing a specialization in mechanical and electrical contracting. To accomplish this Southern Polytechnic created five new courses (combined mechanical-electrical) that can be taken towards a certificate in Specialty Construction. Some facts regarding the program are as follows:
1. Many specialty courses are offered at night. This helps attract adjunct faculty from industry
2. 51% of their student body works 40 hours a week.
3. 86% of their student body works to some extent.
A short discussion was held on the difference between general education for
Construction Management students versus the Specialty Contracting
students.
A copy of the Specialty Contracting program was distributed for review.
D. Steve Schuette of Purdue gave a report on his efforts to develop a profile of an adjunct professor from industry. A discussion was held on qualifications and duties. The following specific topics were discussed:
1. Bachelor of Science in related field required
2. Masters of Science in related field preferred.
3. MEP related experience, five years minimum
4. Desire to make a positive difference in the future of our industry.
5. Interest in working with students
6. Strong communication skills
7. Must be computer literate
1. Three to five hours classroom time per week
2. Approximately 10 hours per week preparation time
3. Educational training available
E. Pete Loughney of Eastern Michigan University gave a report on the compilation of syllabi for mechanical and electrical courses. Basically, the syllabi reduce down into two main types
1. Courses dedicated to either a mechanical or an electrical topic
2. Courses that have a combined mechanical and electrical topic.
Charles Duvel of Illinois State University indicated that a number of the syllabi that he had collected were not in the packet distributed by Pete. He offered to send Pete the syllabi he had collected. Copies of the syllabi collected to date were distributed.
F. A report was given by Charles Duvel regarding the ‘Core Body of Knowledge’ required for a basic mechanical-electrical course. The ‘Core Body of Knowledge’ criteria was discussed at some length. The discussion included comments on the following topics:
1. Communications (including graphics)
2. Contract Documents (plans and specifications)
3. Course Content (as compared to Stein or Tao)
4. Scheduling
5. Estimating
6. Finance
From this discussion it was agreed to proceed forward with a survey of industry to determine their perspective of a ‘Core Body of Knowledge’ and the priority of that body of knowledge. Dennis Langley of MCAA offered to work with Charles to work out a way of surveying their project managers through their IPM course, or some other similar means. This survey would be shared with NECA, who is thought to be doing something of a similar nature.
G. Dennis Langley reported that the web site name www.MEACnet.org has been registered, compliments of MCAA.
H. A lengthy discussion was held regarding the new web site. A written report from John Bryant of Texas A & M was distributed and discussed. The following list was developed of items to be contained on the web site, in the general order of preference:
1. Who we are and what we do
2. MEAC contact names and addresses
3. Upcoming MEAC meetings and minutes
4. Sign-up to join MEAC
5. MEAC membership roster
6. Teaching materials
7. Text books available with comments from instructors
8. Sample syllabi
9. Qualifications and duties of an Adjunct Professor
10. A bulletin board for comments
11. Links to courses
12. Links to programs
13. Links to commercial resources
14. Links to Government resources
15. Job listings and internships
Our goal is to have the web page up and running by June 1, 2001 with at least
the top four or five items. A discussion was also held regarding restricting
access to at least a part of the site to MEAC members.
I. A discussion was held regarding meeting more than once a year. By general consensus, we will investigate meeting twice a year; once in conjunction with the ASC national convention and once in conjunction with the MCAA and NECA national conventions. The meetings with MCAA and NECA will be alternated such we attend each national conference every other year.
1. Collect examples of MEP projects suitable for use in the classroom. These projects should be in a digital format so we can post them on our web site.
[Everyone to contribute]
[Pete Loughney to compile]
2. Submit MEP textbooks with annotations or comments concerning its use.
[Everyone to contribute]
[Pete Loughney to compile]
3. Develop survey of ‘Core Body of Knowledge’, distribute, and collect data.
[Charles Duvel, Dennis Langley, Tim Wentz]
4. Develop an outline of a ‘Faculty Training Camp’.
[Jim Rowings and Russ Walters]
5. Set-up and activate web page.
[John Bryant]
6. Investigate, confirm and organize annual and semi-annual meetings
[Tim Wentz]
7. Investigate methods to increase membership and partnerships with ASHRAE, SMACNA, etc.
[Tim Wentz]