San José City College

Academics

California Construction College

A Future to Build

The California Construction College offers a unique academic pathway for hardworking men and women in the construction industry to earn a bachelor's degree to prepare for a career in construction management. An innovative academic approach brings together the resources, experience and dedication of the National Labor College, San José City College and the diverse sectors of California's construction industry.
The California Construction College is the vision of Santa Clara County Construction Careers Association (S4CA), a unique and progressive consortium of educators, construction industry leaders, labor organizations, public policy leaders and nonprofit agencies. Together these partners are building an institution that provides the latest curriculum leading not only to a baccalaureate degree, but to A.A./A.S. degrees, certificates of achievement and teacher credentialing. The aim is to expand and extend the trades person's career options and role within the construction industry., thus changing their lives.
At its core, the California Construction College provides a pathway for working men and women who have completed challenging and lengthy apprenticeship programs to boost their careers by pursuing undergraduate degrees and other academic credentials.

No Other California College Like It

The California Construction College is the result of a partnership between San José City College and The National Labor College, both accredited institutions of higher education. The National Labor College, based in Silver Spring, Maryland, will confer the bachelor's degree to students who transfer from San José City College. The National Labor College offers a proven pathway to a degree by granting college credit for coursework completed in apprenticeship programs and for life experience; something rarely done at traditional colleges and universities.
Time is one of the biggest barriers working men and women face in earning a four-year degree. For many workers who consider earning a bachelor's degree in a traditional university setting, their work hours make it nearly prohibitive because most courses are scheduled for the traditional full time student. To add to the challenge, four-year institutions in California do not recognize the many hours of classroom study; or years of on-the-job experience; or life experience that apprentices and journeymen have invested in their careers.
Apprenticeship units do not transfer to 4-year colleges in California. Consequently, most workers pursuing a four-year degree start from scratch with zero credits earned. The California Construction College meets the zero credit challenge by having counselors assist students identify and document their life, work and educational experience. Together, counselor and student determine which aspects of this experience qualify for college credit. This assessment of student work and life experience is known as a portfolio process, which the National Labor College successfully employs to help students go directly to relevant and important construction management courses. In many cases, work experience via apprenticeships can add up to about half the college credit needed for a bachelor's degree.
The National Labor College-San José City College collaboration is a model program that could eventually be duplicated across California and throughout the U.S.

The Advantages of Homegrown Construction Managers

California is not unique in facing a significant disconnect between the need for more construction managers and the lack of homegrown managers on the job and in the pipeline. According to an S4CA survey of medium to large construction employers, over one-third of all construction management positions are currently vacant. In many cases, employers must recruit managers from out of state to fill the need.
Increasingly, employers want construction managers with hands-on construction experience. The California Construction College develops a new type of manager; one who combines the hard earned knowledge of work in the field with a high level of academic training focused on critical management and thinking skills.
The need for this new generation of construction manager will become even greater as the state embarks on billions of dollars in major construction projects to rebuild California's infrastructure. Construction experience and a bachelor's degree with a concentration in construction management is a hard combination to beat. The California Construction College successfully delivers both.

A Relevant Curriculum

Construction industry stakeholders are part of the collaborative process that helps develop and drive a rigorous and timely curriculum relevant to the real world challenges of today's rapidly changing industry. Course themes and topics cover the range of skills necessary for an effective construction manager, such as:

The California Construction College structures coursework and instruction to complement busy work schedules by offering evening and weekend courses on campus and courses online. The college operates much like the MBA programs offered by well-known universities for working adults.

Growing the Future

The California Construction College is focused on changing the image of construction careers for young people, parents and educators in our communities by demonstrating the diverse opportunities within the construction industry. Consider that the average construction trades apprentice is 28 years old today, while many other workers are retiring or leaving the industry at younger ages. As a result, the construction talent pool has been shrinking.
The diminished presence of the construction industry in California high schools is one of the contributing factors to this trend. According to the California Department of Education, between 1987 and 2005, high school career and technical education saw a 29 % drop in enrollments; a 34% decrease in course offerings; and a 25% decrease in instructors.
Many schools have eliminated industrial education, including wood and metal shop classes. Traditionally students, educators and parents viewed shop classes as something that pushed students toward the trades. Although it's impractical to resurrect every shop class, the California Construction College is changing the paradigm. Rather than push students, the college is helping to attract students to the trades via its degree programs.
Our program effectively enhances the image of the trades by encouraging students to pursue four year college degrees on their own timetable. This new way of educating our young people addresses the desire many parents and educators have to encourage high school students to attend college. It also recognizes that many high school students may need more time to get ready and motivated to pursue a college degree.
As a result, youth exploring career options no longer need to choose between working in the trades or going to college; they can now elect to do both. That's why the California Construction College is critically important to reigniting interest in construction industry careers, thus giving a much needed shot in the arm to the state's construction workforce.

A Construction Career and a Bachelor's Degree; Now Hand-in-Hand

A high school graduate is now assured if he or she chooses to pursue an apprenticeship in the construction trades; a bachelor's degree is well within reach. An added benefit is students, who have completed apprenticeships, can continue to work and earn substantial salaries while furthering their education.
To aid this effort, San José City College offers a program of study leading to an Associate Degree in Construction Technology, which provides transfer units toward the bachelor's degree. The AA/AS degree to bachelor's degree pathway is tailored to the existing experienced worker and provides significant credit hours for apprenticeship and other work and life experience, including military service and training.
The California Construction College makes a powerful case that a career in the construction industry is no longer limiting, but in fact opens the door to new opportunities. High school graduates can learn a valuable trade first and then pursue new opportunities, including a bachelor's degree, without interrupting their work lives.

Training a New Cadre of Teachers

The California Construction College and the San José City College associate degree are two prongs in the effort to improve the state's construction workforce. The third prong is the development of a new cadre of Career Technical Education (CTE) instructors.
San José City College and the National Labor College degrees programs also provide the necessary credentials to enable experienced workers to become CTE instructors. These instructors increase the ranks of certified professionals needed to teach both high school and college level construction technology courses.

A New Generation of Construction Managers

There is no question the California Construction College will help reshape the state's construction industry by creating a new generation of construction managers forged from our innovative academic program. Our goal is to constantly improve the articulated pathway from high school to baccalaureate degree for working adults in partnership with the Santa Clara County Construction Careers Association.

A New Vision for a New Century

The vision of the California Construction College is to create the construction workforce of the future; one that successfully meets the challenges of a rapidly changing construction industry driven by innovations in high technology and green technology.
Additionally as California embarks on rebuilding its aging infrastructure for the first time in a half century, it's important to remind ourselves that construction jobs cannot be outsourced. We must rely on the local workforce, recruit the best and the brightest and develop them to meet the challenge. The California Construction College is committed to being one of the major architects of this vibrant and talented workforce of the future.

San Jose City College