Construction science students focus on ethics in competition

Teams of third-year Texas A&M construction science students grappled with an ethical scenario during a competition involving written and oral presentations in their fall 2011 Ethics in the Construction Industry class.

The four-person teams were presented a case involving an owner, construction manager, general contractors, specialty contractors and employees that was developed from examples in the [American Institute of Constructors] (http://www.professionalconstructor.org/Home/) ’ ethics [manual] (http://www.aicwebstore.com/AIC-Ethics-Manual-42540-050000.htm) .

The scenario included a longtime minority employee of Can-Do Construction, a general contracting company, creating his own concrete company and making Can-Do its primary client, and continued with a bidding and award process for a retail center.

The student teams were tasked with reviewing the scenario and preparing a report that addressed the parties involved and their relationships, ethical dilemmas, the AIC Code of Ethics for Constructors standard that applied to each situation, and recommendations on refinements or revisions to the AIC code.

“There is no perfect solution to the scenario,” said George Eustace, construction science senior lecturer, who coordinated the competition.  “The general issues addressed in the scenario include the use of contract labor, conflicts of interest, bid shopping, change orders and the release of confidential information.”

The teams with the best five written reports, as evaluated by Eustace and fellow construction science faculty members Melissa Daigneault, Debra Ellis, and Jim Smith, presented their work Oct. 27, 2011 to a panel of industry professionals.

The team of Jeff Vandercook, Carol Rodriguez, Juan Vasquez and Tyler Jones were chosen as the contest’s top presenters.

The industry pros evaluated each team based on its presentation skills and delivery and support of its written report. Following each presentation, panel members posed questions to the students and evaluated each team’s ability to provide a clear, well-reasoned response.

Serving on the panel were:

• Helen Keaton ‘85, vice president of estimating, Joeris General Contractors , San Antonio and an outstanding alumna of the College of Architecture;
• Construction industry veteran Larry Fickel of MWH , a former president of the Department of Construction Science’s Construction Industry Advisory Council,
• David Fleming, vice president of Sundt , which has a regional office in San Antonio, and
• Kim Kobriger, managing partner, Lewis Realty Advisors .