Three College Organizations Receive Top Awards for Building a Better Quality of Life in their Community

Mar 31, 2015 -- California State University-Chico, Boise State University and Oregon Institute of Technology are home to the nation's top collegiate construction associations this year, according to an analysis of award applications conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America. As a result, the three student groups each received the association's Outstanding Student Chapter award.

"These chapters completed projects that will help people and improve communities, and in the process they gained new skills and experience that will strengthen our industry for years to come," said Chuck Greco, the association's president and chairman of Houston, Texas-based Linbeck Group. "These students represent the next generation of construction industry leaders, and based on their accomplishments the future looks very promising."

Greco noted that the California State University, Chico AGC Student Chapter was selected as the top student group, largely for its work building the "Ann and Emmett Skinner Transitional Living Center" for the Salvation Army. The project required vigorous design, pre-planning coordination and pre-construction to complete the build in the 10 days the chapter allotted. In just eight days, the team was able to build two 1,600 square-foot duplex units each with four units that had two bedrooms and one bathroom. Thanks to their accomplishments, the student chapter received $1,500 from the national association to help finance their operations.

Boise State University Construction Management Association was selected as the second-best student group thanks to its work reconstructing the guard tower that once sat at the entrance to the Minidoka National Monument new Jerome, Idaho. The student chapter brought together many local organizations to reconstruct the tower as historically accurate as possible using all available historic photos. As a result, the group was awarded $750 from the association.

Oregon Institute of Technology, AGC Student Chapter was named the nation's third-best student construction group for its work designing and building three greenhouses for Klamath Tribal Health and Family Services. The purpose of this project was to assist in a USDA-funded research project to determine whether a greenhouse maintained within a community would produce more crops than a greenhouse maintained by an individual. The association provided the chapter with $400.

A panel of six judges representing a cross-section of the construction industry evaluated the applications for this year's Student Chapter Awards contest. School groups were rated based on their accomplishments during the 2013-2014 school year. There are approximately 200 university-level student construction groups nationwide.

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