Set up in a good career: Concrete Construction Management
by George Cartsonis
Building on its successful Construction Management and Technology programs, OCC debuted a new Concrete Construction Management Certificate Program in fall 2002.The program addresses a critical need for concrete quality testers. Tony Angelo Cement Construction Company owners (center to right) Mike, Joseph and Carl Evangelista presented OCC Chancellor Richard Thompson and Program Coordinator Pam Jackson with a $15,000 check to establish an endowed scholarship for this program.
This fall, Oakland Community College began offering a new certificate program in the fast-growing field of concrete construction management. Developed in association with the Michigan Concrete Pavement Association and an advisory committee composed of industry experts, the Concrete Construction Management Certificate Program is designed to qualify students for careers in such areas as management; estimation; scheduling; quality control; application techniques; inspection and related skilled or semi-skilled occupations.After completing two basic three-credit courses, Introduction to Concrete Technology and Concrete Paving and Flatwork Construction, students are qualified to take the State of Michigan Level I Concrete Testing Technician Certification Exam. Completion of an additional four-credit course, Quality Control/Testing Concrete Technology, permits students to take the Level II Exam. Students who continue their studies by completing eight more specified classes totaling 25 credits will earn OCC’s Concrete Construction Management Certificate.
"If interest in the certificate program warrants, it may be expanded in the near future into a full-fledged associate degree program" notes OCC Construction Management Program Coordinator Pam Jackson.
Program graduates will find ready employment opportunities according to Mike Evangelista, member of the OCC Concrete Construction Advisory Committee and co-owner of Tony Angelo Cement Construction Company of Novi. "The member companies of the Michigan Concrete Paving Association are enthusiastically looking forward to having prospective employees with an OCC certificate and Level I and II state certification walk through their doors" he says.
Oakland Community College received $15,000 from the Tony Angelo Cement Construction Company to establish an endowed scholarship for the college’s new concrete construction management certificate program. The endowment, administered by the OCC Foundation, will provide one qualified student per year with a minimum $500 scholarship.