Media release from Georgia Northwestern Technical College:
Georgia Northwestern Technical College (GNTC) has expanded its Construction Management program to the Whitfield Murray Campus in Dalton.
GNTC began offering all the same Construction Management classes—which serve Dual Enrollment and traditional students—at the Whitfield Murray Campus (WMC) that previously have been offered only at the Gordon County Campus (GCC) in Calhoun.
Donny Holmes, program director and instructor of Construction Management, said enrollment nearly doubled in 2020, growing from 28 to 54 students.
“We duplicated classes on different days to try to place all of the students in a class,” Holmes said. “This has been going on every year since then, so we decided to expand our program to Dalton to absorb some of the student load at the Gordon County Campus with a new instructor on the Whitfield Murray Campus.”
The program’s enrollment is almost at maximum capacity; between the two campuses, the program has 70 students currently, said Aaron Wade, Construction Management instructor at WMC.
“GNTC has set the bar high for Construction Management,” Wade said.
Wade said his classes include a few Dual Enrollment students. Georgia’s Dual Enrollment program allows qualified high school students in GNTC’s nine-county service area to maximize their education and career training by taking college-level courses that earn college and high school credit at the same time.
GNTC’s Construction Management program is designed to prepare graduates for careers such as construction manager, construction supervisor and construction foreman. GNTC offers an associate degree and diploma in Construction Management, as well as certificates in Construction Management Apprentice, Construction Manager and Green Building Technician.
The program offers a combination of hands-on and online classes. Class offerings include Site Layout Footings and Foundations, Ceiling and Roof Framing, Floor and Wall Framing, Exterior Finishes and Trim, Interior Finishes, Residential Estimating Review, Residential Code Review, Construction Drafting, Computer-Aided Design (CAD) Fundamentals, Computerized Construction Scheduling, Construction Contracting, Construction Print Reading Fundamentals, Professional Tool Use and Safety and an Overview of Building Construction Practices and Materials, as well as a Carpentry Internship.
“Our class schedules will differ at the two campuses,” Holmes said. “Typically, a student will start on one campus and stay with that cohort of students until graduation. Occasionally, a student may take classes at both campuses.”
Holmes expects having two instructors offering classes will continue to build the program’s momentum, and having the program on two campuses will also generate more publicity for it, he said.
“Construction in this area is booming, and the workforce demand in this field continues to grow,” Holmes said.
One of the first projects for the inaugural class at WMC has been to build a tool storage room within the new lab space. Wade said securing the tools has been a top priority.
Wade, a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force, said he operated heavy equipment in a civil engineering squadron that built roadways and maintained runways. After leaving the military, he worked in residential remodeling and construction. He’s a native of Dalton.
“I love the job satisfaction I get from my work,” Wade said. “I try to teach this concept to students so they appreciate their hard work and be proud of their accomplishments.”