By Mia Alfonsi
The M.E. Rinker School of Construction Management’s Professional Master of Construction Management (pMCM) enables students to attain something greater.
Introduced in the fall of 2019, Rinker’s pMCM program provides students the background and skills needed to propel through their careers and help their employers reach their growth goals.
Designed with the corporate professional in mind, the pMCM is a 36-credit hour program that meets one weekend per month for two years and follows a typical semester track.
Since students will be working while completing their degree, the program’s courses cover relevant topics that emerge in the construction space including information technology, lean construction, financial management, risk analysis and management, virtual design and construction.
The pMCM program is the newest addition to the school’s master’s offerings, which includes the Master’s of Construction Management (MCM), the Master’s of Science in Construction Management (MSCM), the Master’s of International Construction Management (MICM), and the Master’s of Fire and Emergency Services (MFES).
Richard Lovelace, Stellar Senior Vice President, Commercial, pursued the pMCM program driven by his passion to be back in the classroom.
“I want to go back to the undergrad level and teach,” Lovelace said. “To be able to do that, the path of least resistance is to have a master’s degree.”
Lovelace was introduced to Rinker’s pMCM through his current supervisor and the program has proved valuable. The curriculum covered has generated new thought pertaining to sustainability within his company and the importance of benchmarking against competitors.
What’s more is that most of the students in the pMCM program have had credible experience in their chosen fields; they are able to then leverage this experience with what they are learning and jump into the meat of the topics quicker, Lovelace said.
“It’s an accelerated path to get a master’s degree,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of experience and a lot of opportunity to bring to the table. If I was straight out of undergrad going into it, there would be more preparatory work.”
Because of the program’s one weekend a month meeting frequency and a concise executive delivery, Lovelace is able to work in his career while working on his degree.
“I’ve been working for 30 years, and the last thing on my mind was going back to school,” Lovelace said. “But, it’s been invigorating; it’s been hard work at times and a lot of work at times, but it’s been rewarding also. Through some of the classes and lectures, it’s reassured me that I can bring value to the classroom, to the undergrads.”
The professional MCM was established upon the request of the Rinker School Industry Advisory Board to address the desire of construction industry employees to obtain graduate construction management degrees in a classroom environment while maintaining their full-time jobs.
To learn more and apply to Rinker’s Professional Master of Construction Management, visit https://dcp.ufl.edu/rinker/professional-master-of-construction-management-pmcm/.