Areas of Excellence

The faculty depth in the Myers-Lawson School makes it possible to establish a variety of focus areas or Areas of Excellence for inquiry and discovery. Currently, the faculty has identified three Areas of Excellence Initiatives that cut across teaching, research and outreach activities and provide a common ground for interaction between faculty and students. Over time, additional initiatives are likely as the demands of the industry change.

• The Leadership Initiative - The School will provide research and learning environments that exemplify Values-Based Leadership. These leadership values are founded in the highest ethical standards and behavior that extend across the decisions that we as members of our construction community encounter in every day life.
• The Creative Learning Environments Initiative - The School is dedicated to providing learning environments that promote academic inquiry, pursuit of discovery, and human enlightenment as well as provide maximum learning for our students. Pedagogical methods emphasize active learning modes such as case-based, project-based and studio-based environments as well as classical techniques such lectures and seminars.
• The Integrating and Sustaining the Built Environment Initiative - The School will embrace the elements of the built environment that must come together in a unified and integrated way to provide the best value for owners and our society. These elements include facility integration for livability, safety, performance, energy consumption, sustainability, operation, and salvage. The School will also embrace field operations, production and productivity management as a necessary element of project management, and it will strive to lead the change towards facilities that produce a net contribution to our environment.