University/Organization
Department of Construction Science
College of Architecture
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas
Title
Leadership in the Design and Construction Professions
Synopsis
In the Fall of 2016, three distinguished and generous graduates of Texas A&M University established a Professorship and framework for a leadership minor for students within the College of Architecture who had taken at least 30 credit hours in construction science, architecture, landscape architecture, Urban Planning, or Visualization. The minor is a 15-credit hour program comprised of three one-hour seminars and other leadership courses within the College. The thrust of the program was rooted in the need for graduating students who not only knew the technical skills and fundamentals for success in the built environment, but for the personal and moral courage to lead a diverse team of professionals in the pursuit of achieving collaborative goals related to the architecture, engineering, and construction industry. This paper will describe the history, current state, and future plans for helping students graduate with the so called “soft skills” industry needs in their future college graduates so that other administrators or academics can pursue similar success and learn from the path that Texas A&M has navigated to this point.