Answer extracted from the Building PA Podcast — listen to the full episode below.
How is Slippery Rock University integrating real campus projects into the construction management curriculum?
Slippery Rock University partners with its facilities team on actual university construction projects, giving students real blueprints, site walks, and hands-on experience watching amendments and bids unfold—freshmen propose work at the Storm Harbor equestrian facility while junior-seniors tackle projects like Morrow Fieldhouse. This embedded approach transforms the classroom into a live construction laboratory.
From Proposal to Bid: Students Walk Real Construction Timelines
The program's core strategy is embedding students directly into university capital projects that are actually being executed. Students receive authentic construction documents—not textbook approximations—and participate in site walks where they observe the physical space and ask real questions.
As Amanda McIsaac explains in the episode, the curriculum is structured so that students at different levels engage with projects suited to their stage. Freshmen compile proposals for the equestrian facility work, learning how initial planning documents are assembled and justified. Junior and senior students handle more complex assignments on facilities like Morrow Fieldhouse, where they see the full arc from blueprints through bid calculations.
The visibility into how amendments are submitted and pricing is determined gives students a concrete understanding of construction economics they cannot gain from a textbook. They witness how costs shift, how scope gets negotiated, and how professional bids are actually structured in a university environment.
Partnership with the Facilities Team: Industry Mentorship Built In
The program works directly with Juan Perez, head of facilities at Slippery Rock University, who serves as a real-world mentor and project source. This partnership ensures that the projects students handle are not simulations but live work being managed by the university's own capital team.
A detail worth exploring further: the program has also built an advisory board of 12 industry professionals—eight from Western Pennsylvania alone—who provide guidance on curriculum development and offer their own project insights, creating a network that bridges classroom and jobsite in ways few programs achieve.
"Construction is relationships and while we have all of the technology to make our lives easier, when it comes down to it, it is relationship-based."
Amanda McIsaac — Adjunct Professor, Construction Management Program, Slippery Rock University. With over 20 years of experience in the construction industry at CDM Smith, McIsaac has brought real-world project knowledge into the classroom. In her second year leading the newly launched program, she has authored multiple courses from scratch and established a 12-member advisory board of industry professionals to shape curriculum and connect students to the working field.
This hands-on immersion model addresses a fundamental gap in traditional construction education: the jump from theory to practice. Students graduate with portfolio pieces they can point to, having already seen how professional construction actually moves forward at a university scale.
See also
What unique advantages does a career in construction management offer compared to other engineering disciplines?
With construction, students have the opportunity to build something with their hands and see progress almost daily, from nothing to a finished product.
How does integrating OSHA 40-hour certification into the junior year benefit construction management students?
Students earn their 40-hour OSHA certification during their junior year, allowing them to go directly onto job sites with boots on the ground on day one.
What is the most critical gap identified by construction industry professionals in new graduates entering the field?
According to feedback from the first board meeting in March, communication was identified almost unanimously as a major gap among new graduates.