UTA Master of Construction Management program ranked among nation’s best by OnlineMasters.com
Program fills critical needs of North Texas industry
To cope with North Texas’ burgeoning growth, the continued construction of homes, infrastructure and commercial buildings is key.
Skilled managers are needed on job sites and in contractors’ offices to keep pace with the projects. Helping fill those positions is The University of Texas at Arlington’s Master of Construction Management program, which was recently ranked for the education it provides its graduates.
The Master of Construction Management program, which began in 2014 and currently has 164 students, was tabbed at No. 21 nationally on OnlineMasters.com’s list of Best Online Master’s in Construction Management Programs. UTA was also recognized as having the best interdisciplinary studies among the ranked programs.
“Texas continues to be one of the fastest-growing parts of the country. Currently, the Dallas-Fort Worth area alone is the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country. The need to accommodate that growth will require a trained, professional workforce skilled at construction management and construction engineering techniques,” said Dan Lamers, senior program manager for the North Central Texas Council of Governments.
“UTA does a tremendous job of preparing young engineers, and particularly construction managers, for the real-world challenges they’ll face when they graduate and get jobs within our region.”
Students in the program take core courses in construction along with classes focused on one of three tracks: commercial and residential, infrastructure and heavy/highway, and general construction management. The program includes courses in business, architecture and management, which OnlineMasters.com cited as a reason for awarding the best interdisciplinary studies honor, stating, “In this interdisciplinary program, students develop knowledge across numerous industries and improve their skill set for career advancement in the world of construction management and administration.”
That variety is a key component to its success, says Bijan Shapoorian, director of the Construction Management program.
“We are basically training the students to be familiar with what is required to deliver a construction project. There is a high demand for this major,” Shapoorian said.
In addition to the master’s program, UTA added an undergraduate degree program in construction management in 2017. Enrollment doubled from 63 students in spring 2018 to 127 in spring 2019.
“We are committed to meeting the needs of the region in education and research. We were happy to add our construction management programs to fill a void in the construction workforce in the region, and earning a ranking for the quality of our online master’s program is an honor that confirms that we are doing things the right way,” said Ali Abolmaali, chair of the Department of Civil Engineering, which houses the construction management program.
OnlineMasters.com analyzed every online Master of Construction Management program in the United States and consulted 18 industry experts, hiring managers, current students and alumni to identify the best programs based on a methodology that took into account each program’s academic quality, student success and affordability.
UTA was also ranked No. 10 for Best Master’s in Construction Management for 2019 by bestcollegereviews.com.
The Civil Engineering Department’s faculty, staff and students have transformed the department to a new level of excellence in research and teaching that directly addresses local and national engineering needs by providing innovative solutions to the most challenging problems facing this country’s infrastructure. The American Society of Civil Engineers’ Structural Engineering Institute honored UTA’s ASCE Graduate Student Chapter as its graduate student chapter of the year in 2017. And the department is now offering new bachelor’s degree programs in architectural engineering and construction management, the latter of which complements the department’s Master of Construction Management program.
-- written by Jeremy Agor