[302] MTSU CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT TEAM

Release date: Feb. 6, 2009


News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919 or jweiler@mtsu.edu
MTSU Construction Management contact: Dr. David Hatfield, 615-898-2781


MTSU CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT TEAM
EARNS 2ND PLACE IN NATIONAL COMPETITION


(MURFREESBORO) — MTSU’s Construction Management Technology Team continues to build a name for itself nationally among four-year colleges and universities.
In a field of 36 teams, MTSU earned second place in the National Association of Homebuilders student competition Jan. 19-21 in Las Vegas. The team has been first (2007), second (’09) or third (’08) in each of the past three years. In the past 11 years, MTSU has placed in the top 10 eight times and cracked the top five for the past five years.
“We’ve been blessed,” said Dr. David Hatfield, construction management
programs director and professor in the Department of Engineering Technology. “We work at it and it seems to pay off.”
With about 165 students in the construction management program, MTSU
competes against schools with 600 to 700 students in their program, Hatfield said.
Team members included seniors David Taylor (team leader and director of construction operations) of Dawson, Neb., and Murfreesboro; Brandon Butler (sales director) of Fairview; Adam Bailey (marketing director) of San Diego; and juniors Shane Alexander (finance manager) of Arrington; and Chris Jenson (area construction manager) and Austin Tenpenny (land acquisitions director) of Murfreesboro.
The MTSU students spent two months in preparation for the competition, said Taylor, who added that he, Alexander and Tenpenny were part of an actual site visit to San Antonio, Texas, in early November.
The team conducted extensive market research, made themselves familiar with the intricacies of the local area, and wrote a 10-inch x 16-inch proposal book (“The Villas of Silverado Hills") more than 100 pages in length. This book comprised 80 percent of the judges’ score.
The team’s proposal book had a sub-title of "Minutes from Everything, Miles from Ordinary.” This formed 80 percent of their score. The book was sent to competition judges in early January.

The final 20 percent of their score came in a 15-minute presentation by the team members, followed by a question-and-answer session with the judges.
“It was quite an undertaking,” Taylor said. “All of us on the team never had been on a (construction management) team before.”
Team members spent 14- and 15-hour days working together in the final weeks of the project, said Taylor.
Brigham Young University earned first-place honors. California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo placed third.
“Our construction management students continue to shine in the eyes of our national construction industry,” said Dr. Walter Boles, chair of engineering technology. “The second-place performance is the result of student teamwork, industry advisers and faculty. Our students, faculty and industry advisers all deserve recognition for uccessfully
competing with other programs across the nation, finishing in the top 10 year after year."
The construction management program is affiliated with the Rutherford County Home Builders Association, Home Builders Association of Tennessee and the National Home Builders Student Association.
For more information about the program, call 615-898-2781.

For MTSU news and information, go to mtsunews.com.

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