December graduates land average $53.5K
starting pay
MURFREESBORO — Students
graduating from MTSU’s Concrete Industry Management department had much to
celebrate after finals last week.
Nineteen seniors completed their semester-ending capstone project
presentations Dec. 9. They graduated Saturday, Dec. 12, in Murphy Center.
Fourteen of 19 grads will have a starting salary averaging
nearly $53,500 — nearly $8,100 more than an MTSU concrete graduate’s average
starting salary of $45,347. The remaining five grads are mulling offers.
The first and one of only four such programs nationwide,
Concrete Industry Management is one of MTSU’s signature offerings. It is a joint
initiative between MTSU and industry leaders, providing opportunities to enter
a broad field that has a need for skilled professionals.
MTSU was the first university to integrate technical
education in concrete with business and communication skills needed to advance
in the industry.
“It’s been exciting to see these offers,” said MTSU CIM
chair Heather Brown. “Employers have been making high offers because of
competition — there are more jobs than students — so they have had a multitude
of offers.”
Ykeem Wells is a 6-foot, 258-pound reserve defensive end for
the MTSU Blue Raiders football team. He is excited about the team playing
against Western Michigan in the Dec. 24 Bahamas Bowl, but his career will begin
working with Preferred Materials of Bonita Springs, Florida.
“I was pretty excited about that offer,” said Wells, who is
from Columbus, Georgia. He added the CIM program has “blessed me a lot. It
allowed me to get a job.”
Brown said it was the first time in her tenure where a
student, who was flying home from a job interview, received a job offer in the
form of a text message.
Two graduating female students, Morgan Corlew of Nashville
and Caitlin McClure of Lilburn, Georgia, accepted offers before graduation.
Corlew will work for Kiewit in Denver, Colorado. A former starting pitcher in
softball, McClure will join Argos in Atlanta.
Several students found jobs in the Midstate, but most landed
work out of state. Positions included sales, estimating, project engineer,
operations and quality control.
More than 30 employers, many from out of state, recruited
MTSU students this semester. In recent years, the MTSU CIM department has
maintained an 89 percent employment rate within three months after graduation.
“This is an excellent time for students to choose CIM as a
major,” said Jason Crabtree, the CIM lab manager. “Employers are hungry for
graduates and are competing to hire upcoming graduates.”
To learn more about the program, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/programs/concrete-industry/
or call 615-494-7658.
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