Developing a Professional Internship for Faculty in Construction Higher Education Programs

The Associated General Contractors of America's Education and Research Foundation (AGC-ERF) launched a professional paid internship initiative for construction faculty starting on the summer of 2013. Prior to the official program launching, a pilot program was tested in the summer of 2011, with an AGC member contractor hosting a single faculty member selected from an ACCE accredited institution. The internship was designed as a three-way partnership between the AGC-ERF, the faculty host institution, and the host company. The initial budget of the program was $ 30,000 funded in equal parts by the three internship partners. The internship was for a period of two months, and the faculty was a member of the jobsite management team at a level similar to a project engineer or assistant project manager. This paper presents the model followed for the implementation of the internship, as well as evaluates the results of the pilot program from the perspective of the academic side of the partnership. The internship was an excellent opportunity to develop closer ties between academia, the construction companies, and AGC; by promoting the free exchange of information, knowledge, and ideas that benefits the construction industry as a whole.