Analysis of Industry Trends for Improving Undergraduate Curriculum in Construction Management Education

For the last decade, the construction industry has been rapidly and sophisticatedly changed to catch up with the current demands. Also, dramatic changes in social, economic, and environmental issues force construction management (CM) programs to produce more prepared personnel. East Carolina University attempted to analyze important concepts/trends across the construction industry with a goal of determining their impacts on the future of construction and ultimately how these concepts and trends may be incorporated into the CM curriculum. This paper shows how this research has been performed to determine the current industry trends and what recommendations are given to incorporate them into the CM program. This will be able to lead the CM program to meet the challenges of the 21 st century and align the CM curriculum and program with industry requirements. Furthermore, this paper indicates that the CM program will benefit from an annual review of trend related topics to determine their relevance in the program. As determining what concepts and trends should be included systematically throughout the program, instructors can decide on how best to implement these important topics into their courses, thereby aligning with the CM program in educating students to be well prepared for industry.