Courtesy of Tuskegee University
The Construction Science and Management program received a full seven-year reaccreditation beginning July 31, 2023, through July 31, 2030, by the American Council for Construction Education (ACCE). The program is one of only two accredited bachelor’s degree programs in Alabama and only four accredited HBCU programs nationally.
“We are most grateful that our program merited the confidence of the rigorous accreditation process of ACCE. With this accreditation of our Construction Science Program, we affirm that our students are better prepared to enter the construction industry and can compete with any construction science graduate across the country,” said Dr. Charlotte P. Morris, Tuskegee’s president.
Accreditation by ACCE promotes and improves construction education in colleges and universities by gathering input from construction professionals and construction educators to establish and maintain standards and criteria for accreditation, guide those programs seeking to achieve accredited status, and carry out the accreditation process.
“Accreditation of a construction education program by ACCE assures that our graduates have been provided a quality education enabling them to perform a broad range of professional responsibilities,” said Dr. Carla Jackson Bell, dean of the Robert R. Taylor School of Architecture and Construction Science. “ACCE is an arduous process; however, this being my second time leading this process as dean, I know that ACCE is extremely supportive of our department and its students and is committed to making sure that we perform periodic self-evaluations for the next few years to keep current with emerging technologies and requirements of the construction industry.”
The Visiting Team Report (VTR) cited several of the program’s strengths — the substantial history of the program, existing Articulation Agreements, the student’s passion for their education, the Industry Advisory Board, and the alums are extremely supportive of the program. The report also identified undeveloped potentials — planned renovation of Wilcox E for the construction science and management program, and the program could solicit more significant donations given its history and dedicated alums and advisory board. The 2023 VTR cited no Deficiencies and Weaknesses, which was a huge accomplishment from the finding of the 2017 VTR. “We are extremely appreciative of all the faculty and the Industry Advisory Board members who made this nearly two-year process a huge success,” Bell said. “We welcome the support of our construction science alumni and friends to donate to the Wilcox E building in anticipation of the further growth of the construction science and management department.”
That academic-industry partnership undergirds the “undeveloped potentials” cited by ACCE in its accrediting report. These — along with students collaborating with their peers in the school’s Architecture program and having greater access to hands-on opportunities — are vital to preparing students for future careers in construction and related fields.
Construction education at Tuskegee University dates back to 1883. The program is part of the Robert R. Taylor School of Architecture and Construction Science, named after Taylor, who was the first accredited African American architect and the first to receive an architecture degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and who served as Tuskegee’s first director of Mechanical Industries in 1901. The university formally established the Construction Science and Management program in 1933, making it the country’s oldest bachelor’s degree program in the field — recognized by the American Council for Construction Education.