Colorado State University’s Department of Construction Management celebrates the achievements and recognition of the following CM faculty and staff.
Promotion
Assistant Senior Instructor Jeff Wilkes has been granted promotion to Master Instructor effective July 1.
Wilkes is an innovative and committed educator, with a strong pedagogy rooted in best-practices in construction education. He has been recognized with multiple teaching awards within and beyond CSU. He is committed to experiential learning and is highly involved with student competitions, serving as an inspirational, supportive, challenging, and instrumental mentor.
Over the years, Wilkes has developed strong expertise and assumed significant involvement in curricular development and leadership that is directly tied to the future of the department. Wilkes is an active citizen in the department, college, and university, and has developed important relationships and connections with industry partners that have benefitted the educational mission of the CM department.
Department awards
Congratulations to the recipients of the 2023 Department of Construction Management awards:
Outstanding Teaching: Jeff Wilkes, Senior Instructor
The Teaching Award recognizes a faculty member for outstanding success in teaching. Metrics of teaching success include evaluations of teaching performance by faculty and students, curriculum development activities, student mentoring, awards and recognition by peers in the discipline.
Outstanding Research: Mahmoud Shakouri, Assistant Professor
The Research Award recognizes a faculty member for success in the development of a sustained research program. Metrics of research success include publications of scholarly work, research funding and graduate student support, awards, and recognition by peers in the discipline.
Outstanding Service: Svetlana Olbina, Associate Professor
The Service Award recognizes a faculty member for outstanding service to the academic and professional community. Service activities include contributions to the administration of the university (department, college and campus), service to professional societies, review and editorial work for professional journals and conferences, and outreach to the community at large.
Outstanding Staff: Michael Kallsen, Academic Success Coordinator
The Staff Award recognizes a member of the CM staff for outstanding contributions to the operation of the department. The award winner is selected based on contributions in the previous calendar year.
Outstanding Graduate Student: Shantanu Kumar, Ph.D.
Doctorate student from the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering with a focus on Construction Engineering Management
The outstanding graduate student award recognizes a graduate student for outstanding success in teaching and/or research. The award winner is selected based on teaching and/or research performance in the previous calendar year. Metrics include publications of scholarly works, evaluations of teaching performance by faculty and students, and research and/or teaching awards.
Associated Schools of Construction
Nicole Dufalla, Instructor, received the Associated Schools of Construction Regional Teaching
Award, which recognizes the faculty member’s contribution to construction education, excellence in teaching, service to the ASC, and dedication to the construction profession.
Since her teaching career began at CSU, Dufalla has made a substantial impact both inside and outside the classroom. Her commitment to supporting students, curriculum development, and promoting industry partnerships demonstrates why she is a valuable member of the CM department.
First among these is her commitment to the students. It is clear to those who knows Dufalla that the student learning experience is her top priority. She goes out of her way to give students every opportunity to be successful. In the classroom, she leads the students beyond simple memorization of terms or content and forces them to think critically about the process to gain a better understanding of the topic.
Dufalla is also the faculty advisor for the CSU chapter of Sigma Lambda Chi honor society, as well as the faculty advisor for EMPOWER, a mentoring program for women in construction.
ASC 2023 Best Paper Award: John Killingsworth and Mohammed Mehany for the International Journal of Construction and Research,“Pathuri, Ravi T., Killingsworth, John, Mehany, Mohammed H., (2020), “Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities for Senior-Level Construction Managers: A U.S. Industry-Based Delphi Study”, ASC International Journal of Construction Education and Research (accepted December 4, 2020) DOI: 10.1080/15578771.2020.1861136 – 2023 Best Paper IJCER”
The research focused on the industry’s priorities for knowledge, skills, and abilities for construction managers – particularly those who want to advance into senior-level positions in their careers. The intent of the research was to inform graduate degree development and place a higher emphasis on those knowledge, skills, and abilities, which are deemed a higher priority.
ASC Papers Co-authored by CM Graduate Students
- How the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected the U.S. Residential Construction Industry’s Labor Workforce: An Analysis of Interior vs. Exterior Trades in Three Metropolitan Areas. Authors: Ellis, Shannon; Valdes-Vasquez, Rodolfo; and Arneson, Erin.
- Wildfire Smoke Exposure and Health Impacts for Outdoor Building Construction Workers in California. Authors: Pradhan, Srijesh & Arneson, Erin.
- A Review of Social Sustainability Studies Involving Multiple Criteria within the Construction Industry. Authors: Passos Neto, George; Valdes-Vasquez, Rodolfo; Alencar, Luciana; and Ozbek, Mehmet.
ASC is an organization of educators and industry practitioners working together for the development and advancement of construction education. It promotes the sharing of ideas and knowledge; it inspires, guides, and promotes excellence in curricula, teaching, research, and service.
Recognitions
Mehmet E. Ozbek – 2022, Best Presentation Award, The Sixth Australia and South-East Asia Structural Engineering and Construction Conference. The title of the presentation was, “An International Multi-site Course for Construction and Engineering Students.” The summary: In Spring 2022, faculty from Colorado State University, USA, and Yildiz Technical University, Turkey, collaborated to develop and offer a graduate level course aimed at teaching multi-criteria decision-making methods to construction and engineering students from both institutions. This course was developed as a result of the international partnership, specifically between the Department of Construction Management at CSU and the Civil Engineering Department at YTU. The purpose of this paper was to present this international multi-site course as a case study to examine successful strategies and barriers to implementing international multi-site classes.
Additionally, Ozbek received a Best Paper, 3rd Place Award, at the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building Construction at the W070 Conference on Facility Management and Maintenance 2023. The paper, entitled, “Choosing by Advantages Application Areas in Facilities Management: A Literature Review,” presented a comprehensive literature review on Choosing by Advantages (CBA), a new generation multi-criteria decision-making method, revealing the areas for improvement in the method, while also investigating the possible application areas of CBA in facility management practices.
Mahmoud Shakouri, Assistant Professor, was awarded funding from American Concrete Institute for his project, “The Role of Testing Conditions and Concrete Durability Issues in Chloride Binding and Desorption of Cementitious Systems.” With this grant, Shakouri will be able to make significant progress in understanding chemical damages in concrete structures. The goal is to help extend the service life of our infrastructure.
Fawzi Khalife and Srijesh Pradhan, two doctoral students from CM’s collaborative program with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, were selected for the
SoGES Sustainability Leadership Fellows program:
- https://sustainability.colostate.edu/people/khalife-fawzi/
- https://sustainability.colostate.edu/people/pradhan-srijesh/
Doctoral student, Mohammed TeymouriMoogooee and CM Assistant Professor, Mahmoud Shakouri’s project, “Effect of pH reduction on Desorption of Bound Chlorides in Cement Pastes Containing Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag Exposed to De-icing and Anti-icing Salts,” received the Slag Cement in Sustainable Concrete Project of the Year award in the research category.
University service milestones
CM celebrates employees achieving milestone years of service this past 2022-2023 academic year, and thanks them for their commitment to the department and Colorado State University.
Dottie Cartrite, Front Office and Communications Coordinator – 5 years
Chad Olivier, Instructor – 5 years
Heather Krout, Business Officer – 10 years
Rodolfo Valdes-Vasquez, Associate Professor – 10 years
Jeff Wilkes, Senior Instructor – 10 years
Jon Elliott, Associate Professor – 15 years
Anna Fontana, Senior Instructor & Career Services & Employer Relations Coordinator –15 years
Kristin Haller, Manager of Operations & Assistant to the Department Head – 20 years
Charles Smith, Master Instructor and Assistant Professor Emeritus – 40 years
The Department of Construction Management is part of CSU’s College of Health and Human Sciences.
