WORKFORCE PIPELINE From Digital Tools to Jobsite Judgment

WORKFORCE PIPELINE

From Digital Tools to Jobsite Judgment

CSU's inaugural CM/PDI summer co-op shows how contractor input can shape the next generation of project leaders.

By Construction Employers Association

What happens when construction education starts with the industry's real problems? Cleveland State University's inaugural Construction Management/Project Delivery Institute Summer Co-op offers an encouraging answer: students build technical fluency, test it against practitioner priorities and turn what they learn into ideas for capstones, research and community service.

The 12-week pilot brought together undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, contractors, owners, designers, public agencies and community organizations. Its aim was broader than software training or a traditional internship. The program was designed as a work-based learning ecosystem in which industry helps define the questions, students develop the skills to explore them and the strongest concepts continue into senior design and applied research.

A three-stage path from tools to decisions

During the first four weeks, students worked across Revit, Procore Project Management and Estimation, Autodesk Forma, Primavera P6 and Navisworks. They created and reviewed BIM models, managed RFIs and submittals, produced takeoffs and estimates, analyzed site conditions, built schedules and investigated clashes. The lesson was not simply how to operate six platforms. Students learned how the quality of upstream information affects downstream cost, schedule, coordination and constructability.

Weeks five through eight shifted the question from "How does the software work?" to "What problem is worth solving?" A stakeholder survey and direct conversations with industry and community mentors shaped the students' exploration. Capital project delivery and sustainable applications received the strongest survey ratings, each with an 88% Importance Index and unanimous ratings of very or extremely important among completed responses. Workforce development, digital modeling, contracts and claims also emerged as significant priorities.

In the final four weeks, students narrowed those priorities into structured starting points for future work. Prospective capstone directions included owner governance and decision-making, affordable and resilient housing, a BIM-enabled digital project-delivery dashboard, an integrated digital-construction competency platform and a regional workforce-development framework. The program also triggered six graduate research papers: five being developed for conferences and one for a journal.

Contractors made the learning real

The contractor community's role extended beyond guest speaking. Practitioners helped surface regional needs, provided examples from actual project delivery, discussed career paths and reviewed emerging ideas. Students repeatedly heard that successful work depends on clear roles, current information, timely decisions and professional communication. Those messages reinforced what they were practicing through RFIs, submittals, schedules, estimates and coordination exercises.

CEA was represented in the mentor network by Executive Vice President Glen Shumate, alongside professionals from contractor firms, design organizations, municipalities and community partners. That breadth mattered: students saw how owners, architects, engineers, contractors, inspectors and public agencies bring different responsibilities and constraints to the same project.

A pipeline that gives back

Seven undergraduates from Construction Management, Civil Engineering and Finance participated in the co-op. The learning also reached beyond campus through collaboration with the ACE Mentor Program and Food Strong. CSU faculty helped shape a community-hub design brief for Food Strong's Superior Farm, and co-op students later introduced ACE participants to BIM, digital modeling and construction-management pathways. In doing so, the undergraduates moved from mentees to mentors.

For CEA contractors, the takeaway is practical. Early, sustained employer engagement can influence what students learn, the problems they investigate and the professional habits they carry into the workplace. It also gives contractors a direct channel to help shape future capstones and applied research around the industry's most pressing needs.

The next opportunity

The report recommends continuing the co-op as a recurring multidisciplinary platform and preserving industry input at the front end. CEA members can strengthen that model by proposing authentic project-delivery questions, serving as speakers or reviewers, offering data or case-study context and mentoring student teams. The inaugural summer demonstrated the value of that involvement: when educators and contractors build the learning environment together, students do more than master tools. They begin learning how to exercise judgment, communicate across roles and create value for projects and communities.

Source: CM/PDI Inaugural Summer Co-op 2026 Experience, Outcomes, & Impact Report, Cleveland State University