Resumen de People i wish i had met before graduating-TM speaker series for construction contracting course
Presented in this paper is a description of the guest speaker series model established in a long-standing civil engineering course atthe University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. In the Winter 2010 semester, the author launched an industry based guest speaker seriescalled People I Wish I had Met Before GraduatingTMto further enrich the educational experience of students in CEE 431,Construction Contracting. Success of the series based on student testimonials and surveys led to its recognition by the Civil andEnvironmental Engineering Department as a valuable resource and its utilization by fellow faculty in CEE 431 and otherdepartmental initiatives. Among the contributions of the speaker series are the creation of a faculty resource containing adescription of the series and its correlation with the curriculum and course objectives, a library of speaker topics relevant toprofessionals and academicians in the industry, a roster of speakers and established key talking points, a template for a studentresource packet, and a survey. Typically, speaker series are offered in seminar-type courses. The model presented in this paperdiffers in that the speaker series had to be selectively assembled and incorporated into a traditional course with a specific, pre-defined curriculum such that it became an integral and meaningful part of the overall educational experience. This was the firsttime a guest speaker series had been established for CEE 431 at the University of Michigan, representing a significant change to thestandards of practice. There is no documentation available to verify how widespread this practice is for comparable courses atother institutions, suggesting that it is uncommon. The following sections discuss the rationale behind the speaker series; provide acourse description, including, curriculum and objectives; describe the speaker series model, including topics, structure and, theseries application by others; present students’ assessment of the series through testimonials and surveys; and offer conclusions
