Construction Technology - Carpentry Emphasis

Through lectures, demonstrations, shop exercises, and campus work projects, students are prepared for employment in the residential-commercial carpentry construction industry. The goal of the program is to prepare students eventually to become leaders at many levels in the construction field: journeyman carpenter, job site foreman, construction superintendent, project manager, front office administrator, or owner of a contracting firm.

The program provides thorough instruction and training in house and small commercial building construction through lecture and shop demonstrations, including topics such as job safety, manual tools, hand and stationary power tools, scaffolding, rough framing, roof framing, insulation, stairs, interior and exterior finishes and trim, flooring, and cabinetmaking. Special emphasis is placed on understanding the layout of difficult framing applications, including equally sloped hip roofs and stair construction. Other topics include reading of blueprints and specifications, cost estimating, site layout and development, scheduling, construction quality control, material purchasing, small business management, and accident prevention. The program also covers the processes and procedures necessary for carrying out construction projects from start to finish, including complying with building permit requirements and mandatory site tests. Students in this program also take courses in the technical, business, logistical, and management aspects of the construction industry to prepare them to advance into supervisory or administrative positions or to run their own businesses.

The ability of students to apply theory to hand skills is monitored through shop projects requiring skill levels of increasing difficulty and through serving the college on supervised building maintenance, renovation, and new construction assignments.