News Detail

Ideas Matter—Guest Author Frances Griffith

1/4/2016

The Educational Activities Committee (EAC) has been on a 2-year whirlwind of activity. The introduction of ACI University and the new Certificate program has been a major undertaking. The awards that EAC bestows have been revised. These activities could only be accomplished with the ideas, contributions, and dedication of both members and staff.

Hopefully by now, everyone has had an opportunity to take a look at ACI University and experience some of its educational products. The idea to totally revamp ACI education was inspired by the recent strategic planning update process. After approval by the Board, there was a solid group effort by EAC to launch ACI University at the 2015 World of Concrete. It has been exciting to see the way confidence in an idea and hard work can bring remarkable results in such a short time.

The educational material contained within ACI University represents a knowledge bank of our concrete community. There is an overwhelming amount of expertise among the ACI membership and EAC works very hard to capture this information and share it with those who are interested. There are two ways to access ACI University: through the Education link on the ACI website or by downloading the app. The app makes concrete information mobile and available anywhere and at any time.

The new Certificate program available through ACI University was envisioned as a way to encourage concrete professionals to take a course of study that provides a more in-depth look at a particular concrete or concrete-related topic. To earn a certificate, a participant must complete a number of required courses about the particular concrete topic. With the new learning management system put in place by ACI, a student's progress through a Certificate program will be accurately tracked. Once the course of study has been completed, a certificate acknowledging completion is awarded.

The first two Certificate programs launched through ACI University were Concrete Fundamentals and Anchorage Design. Two new Certificate programs, Concrete Repair and Concrete Construction Basics, will soon be provided, and three more programs are expected to be introduced in the near future. Universities have expressed interest in the Concrete Fundamentals Certificate program as a way for professors to provide quality information to their students, while also introducing them to ACI and what it has to offer. A Certificate program app under development will ensure the mobility of this new program. For more information, please visit www.concrete.org.

EAC recently established a new educational award—the ACI Education Award—which combines the two former awards of the committee. The EAC Committee Member of the Year and EAC Speaker of the Year have been awarded by EAC since 1992 and 2000, respectively. The idea behind the new award is to broaden the criteria so that anyone who contributes to the advancement of ACI education or educational support activities can be recognized. Recipients of the ACI Education Award will be recognized along with all of the other personal awards on the ACI website. This will give greater recognition to all the excellent educational work that is happening. Further details of this new award can be found on the ACI website on the personal awards page.

Many new ideas are in the works to bring the best and most current education to concrete professionals. In addition, there is also an effort to inspire ACI members to continue contributing to these endeavors. I encourage everyone to visit an educational committee meeting the next time you attend The Concrete Convention and Exposition. Your participation in ACI educational programs can help turn great ideas into reality.

Frances Griffith is the Associate Director of the Center for Training Transportation Professionals, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR