Vermont Business Magazine Kyel Tuckerman never aspired to go to college. “I had this perception college would be a waste of time and money and I’m not really a ‘sitter’,” he said. “I was at the Hartford tech center taking hands-on classes when I met a student from Vermont State University (VTSU). He visited me and my buddy to tell us about the Construction Management program, brought us to the Randolph campus to check out the classes, and showed me how the program is geared toward interesting and real-life things. I saw it was something related to what I might like to do in my life.”
Kyel is now 19 and in his second year in the program. He has two-and-a-half years left and is looking forward to his next summer internship. He’s already interned with Casella Construction, where he was able to work on a pipeline construction project in Rutland that connects to a dam for hydroelectricity.
“I was doing labor with the workers, then I started learning how to survey and use that equipment. This is the program for management, so you have to learn how to do both the physical work and all of the estimating, contracting, and pre-construction work. It’s really interesting! And, both the project engineer and the superintendent of the Rutland project were alumni of our institution. It automatically gave me that connection and they trusted me to do the work. I want to put myself in a position in the future where I can climb the ladder. This program does that.”
As he wasn’t initially sure about four years of college, Kyel started in the Associate’s degree program. Once he got a few classes under his belt, he transitioned seamlessly to the Bachelor’s program. “As soon as I saw how close knit the program is and how helpful the professors are, I knew I could do the four years. The juniors have job offers already,” he noted.
Suzanne Pickett, the program coordinator of VTSU’s Construction Management program, also noted the program’s excellent placement rate. “We graduate 10-15 students in this program each year and we have a 100% placement rate,” she stated. “The average starting salary for our four-year graduates is close to $90,000. It’s tough to beat that. It really is a top-notch program and our graduates go on to a variety of jobs in the field – field engineers where they work on construction sites to layout building elements, oversee subcontractors, and solve problems as they arise; estimators where they are estimating material quantities and job costs; or project managers where they manage resources to ensure construction projects are completed on time, within budget, and to the required quality – there are countless doors opened for rewarding work when you have this degree.”
The Construction Management Bachelor’s degree program was recently awarded accreditation by the Applied and Natural Sciences Accreditation Commission of ABET. This accomplishment demonstrates a commitment to excellence in industry-recognized education. Additionally, the degree program received accreditation through September 2030 that retroactively applies from October 1, 2021 and all degrees awarded after that date.
