The AGC of America would like to thank the AGC members from two dozen firms who participated in workshops in Dallas and Phoenix in February to help determine the knowledge, skills and abilities that graduates of construction management and construction technology programs accredited by the American Council on Construction Education (ACCE) should have.

AGC’s 93rd Annual Convention was held March 13-17 in Honolulu, HI and featured four education tracks: Financial Management,Process, Technology and Innovation, Executive Management and Risk Management. All sessions were eligible for industry-related continuing education credits in a range of fields. Top sessions were held in Executive Management where many of the sessions standing room only.

Nearly50 students from such diverse institutions of higher education as the University of Alaska at Anchorage; Auburn University; Northeast Mississippi Community College; Purdue University; University of Nebraska; and California State University at Fresno; attended the annual AGC Student Chapters meeting, held March 13 in Honolulu, Hawaii, in conjunction with the 93rd AGC of America Convention.

In honor of this year’s 75th anniversary of the passage of the National Apprenticeship Act, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), in partnership with the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship, is launching a search to identify the trailblazers and innovators of 21st Century Registered Apprenticeship.

AGC’s Oregon-Columbia Chapter recently took the time to interview Student Chapter leaders from each of the four schools it sponsors – Oregon Institute of Technology, Oregon State University, Rogue Community College, and Portland Community College.

Applications are currently being accepted for the AGC Outstanding Student Chapter Contest, designed to recognize and reward AGC Student Chapters for their dedication to community and public service projects. All AGC Student Chapters are encouraged to submit an application to showcase their work in the community during the 2011-12 academic year.

To develop the tools needed to build lean, the AGC has developed the Lean Construction Education Program. Construction professionals at all experience levels will learn the building blocks necessary to transform their projects and companies into a lean operating system.

AGC of America is accepting proposals for a limited number of speaking opportunities for its 6th Annual Training, Education & Development (TED) Conference. The  TED Conference being held Oct. 15-16, 2012, at the St. Anthony Riverwalk Hotel in San Antonio, Texas. AGC is seeking presentations from industry professionals on a variety of topics, including: conducting  evaluating return-on-investment for non-training interventions; motivation in adult learning; learning via social media, and more.

Since the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) began stepping up enforcement of training funds last year, there has been much confusion about what are deemed “allowable” expenses for a Registered Apprenticeship training fund. In particular, the EBSA has ruled that some aspects of apprenticeship graduation parties are not allowable expenses. As the level of scrutiny has increased, so has confusion as local officials have given different answers to the question: Can the apprenticeship training fund pay for an apprenticeship graduation party?

With today’s challenging climate, training is more important than ever. Sign up by Wednesday, Feb. 15th for the Construction Project Manager Course and receive $500 off per registration fee.