For more than 30 years, construction management programs in Louisiana have benefited from the generosity of the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors and its Contractors Educational Trust Fund, or CETF.
Established in 1991, the CETF has been committed to supporting public higher education. Its mission is to promote programs used for contractor educational purposes at Louisiana universities—particularly LSU, the University of Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana Tech, and Grambling University.
“We are blessed to have people who care about education in the great state of Louisiana and willing to assist us in providing the state with quality instruction and research,” said Charles Berryman, chair of the LSU Bert S. Turner Department of Construction Management. “Funds from the Licensing Board and CETF are prime examples of this, as [millions] have been provided to programs across the state for lab equipment, renovations, scholarships, and professorships, just to name a few.”
Indeed, over the last three decades, CETF has funded the CETF Chair, three professorships, and curriculum enhancements for the Department of Construction Management and the LSU College of Engineering. And as recently as September, during the contractors board’s monthly meeting, it presented LSU President William Tate IV and other university officials with a check for $802,000.
It’s been a relationship that has been beneficial to both sides, according to Vic Weston, member of the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors and an instrumental figure in establishing the CETF.
“The construction industry is the recipient of a product from these universities,” Weston said. “That product is workforce-ready workers, managers, and leaders. Educated and ready to contribute. Our donations to these universities have opened the doors and created a working relationship. They have increased the construction industry’s access to courses taught and even guest speakers on industry issues. The universities, on the other hand, get some dollars for help with professor quality and recruitment…and can acquire cutting-edge units and technology.”
The Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors was created through the Louisiana Legislature in 1956 for the purpose of safety and protection of Louisiana residents. It began with 450 registered contractors and has grown to include more than 24,500. In 1991, due to good management Weston noted, the board had a surplus of funds and decided that $2.9 million of it would go to a foundation created for distributing the funds to institutions that had schools of construction management and schools of engineering and architecture.
Funding for the CETF received another boost when the legislature put the board in charge of regulating home builders in Louisiana. With that move came the institution of fines, which were directed to the CETF. Since 1991, $9.2 million in fines and miscellaneous funds have been directed to the CETF. In addition, the board established a voluntary donation of $100 on license renewals. Those donations have generated $7.5 million since 2005. All of these funds have been distributed to higher education, with LSU receiving roughly $7 million.
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