Concrete Industry Management eNews |
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Update on CIM's Auction at World of Concrete
The 2021 World of Concrete (WOC) will be held June 7-10, 2021 in Las Vegas, NV. Consequently, the National Steering Committee (NSC) for Concrete Industry Management (CIM), in conjunction with management of the WOC, has arranged to hold the annual CIM auction on June 9, 2021. Last year the CIM Auction featured more than 150 items in our live and silent auctions, and we raised more than $1.2 million. With your continued support, we will make the 2021 CIM Auction the best ever.
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With the revised schedule and timelines, the CIM Auction Committee is working to ensure we have auction items that will help us reach our goals. The committee has begun the process of securing commitments of auction donations. Any item that your company can donate to the auction is greatly appreciated, from concrete and construction products to travel and sports packages, sports memorabilia and electronics! We greatly appreciate any donation, large or small!
Interested in making a donation? Contact Auction Committee Chairman Ben Robuck at ben.robuck@cemex.com or (404) 456-6867 or visit our donation page on our website for further details!
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World of Concrete 2021 Announces New Show Dates
After discussions with key stakeholders and feedback from industry-leading concrete and masonry associations, World of Concrete (WOC) made the proactive decision to reschedule WOC 2021 from January to June. WOC will now take place June 8-10, educational offerings June 7-10, at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
“We have a commitment to our exhibitors and attendees to provide a valuable and productive face-to-face experience at WOC each year,” said Jackie James, Group Director, World of Concrete. “This is the first time in our 46-year history we have been faced with circumstances that have caused us to reschedule the event. We feel the new June dates will provide everyone with the necessary time to plan effectively, and allows us to reimagine WOC for a different time of the year. Moving the event from winter to late spring this year will allow for additional outdoor activities everyone can enjoy in the great city of Las Vegas, including top-notch exhibits, new product demos, and exciting spectator events.”
Registration for WOC 2021 will open online in early 2021. To find out more, visit their website here.
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The New WOC360.com Launches!
WOC360.com has arrived, providing a year-round destination for industry professionals like you to keep up with the latest relevant news that drives the global concrete & masonry construction industries. Content curated and created for you, from top-notch editors around the world. Topics covered on WOC360.com includes:
- Industry News & Resources: Everything that is happening in the concrete and masonry industries from material suppliers, design professionals and contractors.
- Products and Manufacturers: Highlighting the newest products and services that are advancing concrete and masonry design construction, production and repair.
- Concrete and Masonry Resources: Technical guidance on everything from the basics to the newest materials and techniques that are shaping the design and shaping the design, production, construction and repair of concrete and masonry structures.
- Business and Markets: Industry suppliers, design professionals, and builders are businesspeople; this section has guidance on how to operate a small construction business and will feature people who are successful at it.
Bill Palmer, former editorial director of Concrete Construction for more than 20 years, is the lead editor for WOC360.com. Bill, along with Rick Yelton, WOC’s editor-at-large, will be using their knowledge and deep connections to develop an engaging and highly relevant content destination for the global construction industry.
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E-Learning Update
The California State University (CSU) system made a difficult, but important, decision to prioritize health and safety of all. Hence, all classes are in virtual mode and faculty and students are doing their best to make the most of this new reality. Our CIM professors worked hard during summer, attended a Go Virtual Teaching and Learning Workshop and converted all their classes to be delivered virtually. Most CIM courses are being taught as synchronous courses with the students joining a live course meeting online.
We have one lab class this semester that was initially going to be taught in-person. However, we had to switch to an online lab as our campus went completely virtual. With some modification and implementing a new face-to-face plan, we were able to get university approval to have three, two-hour long, face-to-face sessions in the lab with each student. We are so glad that this modified plan was approved as this is crucial hands-on learning for students to attain experience needed for their future career and be prepared for the ACI Field Tech Grade I certification exam.
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Recruiting Efforts
To increase awareness and visibility of the CIM program and to attract and enroll qualified and interested students, we have moved forward developing a new and updated website to highlight all that is offered in our program. Visit our new site here.
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Campus Events (All Via Zoom)
We have scheduled several events (via Zoom) for the students which include:
- CIM Semester Kick-Off Meeting – Aug. 27
- CIM social to check-in and network with students on Oct. 1 and Dec. 3
- 2nd CIM Virtual Career Fair -- We are leveraging the virtual environment in order to connect our graduates and students seeking internships with our Patrons and industry partners. This second Virtual Career Fair was scheduled for Oct. 14-15.
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How are our students adjusting?
”Transitioning to E-learning has been a huge challenge," says CIM student Eliana Aguilar. "The biggest challenge is time management and keeping up with due dates. When everything was "normal" I always carried my agenda with me. I kept all due dates, meetings, and forecasted what my schedule would look like in the coming weeks and months. Once everything went online I found it extremely inconvenient to carry my agenda since I was commuting from work and school. I was never able to keep up with updating my agenda and it was clearly affecting my time management as well. Luckily with trial and error, I was able to come up with a new system for myself. I use google calendar as well as leave sticky notes on my laptop to have everything in one spot at my convenience. I've learned that sometimes the willingness to want to succeed in challenging times is the token to paving your success." (photo credit Jessica Bartlett/University Photographer).
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MTSU Welcomes New Director for School of Concrete & Construction Management
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Kelly C. Strong has joined MTSU as the new Director for the School of Concrete and Construction Management. Dr. Strong, whose first official day at MTSU was Aug. 1, comes to our program from the University of Northern Iowa.
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Dr. Strong has been teaching project management-related courses for more than 25 years at Michigan Technological University, Iowa State University, Colorado State University, and the University of Northern Iowa. He has served as principal investigator on numerous research projects involving case study research, survey research, expert panel/expert opinion research, and database queries and analysis. He has delivered numerous final reports for state, regional, and national research sponsors. Dr. Strong has completed a range of research projects in the areas of risk assessment and mitigation, workzone safety, project management, workforce development, and innovative contracting and financing for public infrastructure projects. He has been active in numerous professional organizations in the construction industry, including Associated General Contractors and Design Build Institute of America.
Welcome to MTSU!
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MTSU CIM Partners With Music City Grand Prix To Create Environmentally Conscious Mixes
On Nov. 9, MTSU Provost Mark Byrnes and Music City Grand Prix CEO and MTSU alumnus Matt Crews signed a memorandum of understanding which will allow the CIM program to create environmentally conscious mixes for the Music City Grand Prix which will be held in August 2021 in Nashville, Tenn. The partnership is intended to create safer and lighter blends of concrete for racing barriers and pit row without sacrificing durability and strength. In addition, Music City Grand Prix offices will offer a minimum of two internships for qualified MTSU students to help them gain experience in track design, construction project management and event operations.
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E-Learning Update
Faculty have had to be creative in their teaching strategies to convey some of the concepts important in our industry including ACI certification. One challenge probably not often considered is the rush to squeeze in these concepts in person quickly this fall, as the threat of shutdowns looms over college campuses nationwide. Lab Manager Kevin Overall is working hard to get all students in CIM 3000, Fundamentals of Concrete, trained and tested weeks earlier than a typical semester, in case campus is forced to close.
ASTM Training Modules are being used to supplement in-person and online instruction by faculty. Student Lab Assistants are recording lectures and lab instruction so that others that might be sick or in quarantine can stay up to date in class. Some faculty are using GoToMeeting or Zoom to host live lectures, quizzes or Q&A sessions; and classrooms have all been outfitted with video capture software to automatically record in-class instruction for students not able to be on campus.
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The Intro Class has been converted to an online course for the semester after growing larger than anticipated with just over 100 incoming students. This has resulted in the ability to invite a larger variety of speakers and cover more parts of the industry since guests do not have to be located in the Middle Tennessee region. In addition, with more content online, there is an added capability to incorporate short, targeted lectures or interviews with professionals to share with students. This group of new students has been affected differently, and probably have had to adjust the most…not knowing how business was done before the pandemic makes it harder to find services now. In the School of CCM, staff have opened our doors, met students at a tent outside, and joined them online for university events to try to make the personal connection. We are allowing small groups of students in Intro to gather together to watch the Zoom guest speakers to try to maintain a sense of community that has been always been a hallmark of our program. |
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How are our students adjusting?
MTSU CIM is proud to be part of a campus that has come together to prepare, been clear and vigilant in our policies and expectations to the campus community, and now seems to be successfully adapting to this new learning environment. Dr. Sidney McPhee, University President, has been very communicative as problems arise and plans are developed, which has helped staff and faculty feel proactive and empowered to educate safely. The hope is that we can continue to operate, even if at this lower capacity, through the semester and maybe even potentially have some events to connect industry and students in a safe manner as we move through the academic year.
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Nicole Green welcomed more than 100 incoming students into the first Intro class via Zoom and in-person with safety precautions. |
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Signs canvas the hallways and doors to assure anyone entering understands the policies. |
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E-Learning Updates
All lower level classes (100 s and 200s) are held using "converged learning" with one third of the students attending every week and two thirds of the students online. Upper level classes (300s and 400s) are fully remote or called "synchronous online". Laboratories, including concrete labs, are closed. Videos are recorded by instructors in the concrete lab and shared online with the students. There is random COVID-19 testing on campus for students, faculty and staff everyday. There are also temperature stations distributed around campus.
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NJIT Welcomes New Recruiter to Staff
This spring, the NJIT CIM program welcomed recruiter Lucy Watts to our staff. Lucy joined our program in April. Since that time, she has been working to develop an effective recruitment and marketing strategy that will increase student awareness and student enrollment in the CIM program. Welcome Lucy!
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How are our students adjusting?
Students are doing their best to adjust during these exceptional times. They obviously prefer face to face method of learning than fully remote, but understand it is important to keep everyone safe.
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Campus Events
All campus events are canceled for the fall.
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E-Learning Updates
The transition to remote learning has been quite the experience! Texas State has implemented 50/50 blended courses to help enforce the 50percent capacity rule. Faculty, staff and students should remain 6 feet apart and wear face masks. As far as classroom settings, students are prompted to use a seating chart and are dismissed by row to avoid crowded areas. We also implemented new technology to improve sound, camera and recording abilities.
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The Capstone course welcomed their first virtual guest, Lisa Horton from Lithko Contract in Dallas. Lisa was able to provide a presentation about resume building, interview preparation and what she looks for when she interviews students for internships and full-time positions. She graciously spent 90 minutes talking with the students and answered questions about preparing a great resume, making a good first impression in an interview and negotiating with a potential employer once an initial offer has been made.
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Recruiting Efforts
Utilizing a new approach to recruitment, our recruiter and marketing coordinator Christina Luna created an interactive CIM recruitment packet highlighting the benefits of the program at Texas State. With Zoom meetings and the packet, we have been able to virtually introduce the program to community colleges and organizations. We are also working to finalize transfer agreements. In doing so, we hope to bring more CIM awareness and eventually meet face-to-face with future students. We would also love to feature the community colleges and our agreements on our website so that future students are able to see how they can transfer to our program.
We are meeting with organizations with ties to high schools in Texas to learn how we can collaborate. Ideas include utilizing our CIM curriculum to host student concrete competitions to continue to grow our enrollment. Also, Christina hopes to select a few CIM students to create a student ambassador program/ recruiting committee.
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Campus Events
Campus events for fall are now virtual. The first campus event for our CIM students was the Construction and Concrete Industries Career Fair on Sept. 24. ACI San Antonio Chapter also hosted their annual golf tournament this month. Students volunteered to work the tournament while some students played! This was a great opportunity for our students to mingle and meet future employers.
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How are our students adjusting?
Students are happy to be back on campus! Although there are new changes and rules, students are doing what they can to comply and adjust to the new requirements.
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Follow Texas State CIM on Social Media
We invite you to visit our updated website and follow Texas State on social media!
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