Been in construction management for nearly 20 years. Started during my senior year in high school and was taught the ropes by internal staff and have elevated myself to a mid-level manager. I do have about 30 hours of college credit I completed shortly after high school, and I have talked to this college and it's still active and I can use to finish up an associates degree or to simply transfer to another school. I am not certain what degree I want to pursue. Many people in my career path have BS of Construction Management or Civil Engineering degrees. Given my work experience I am NOT interested in a CM degree. And working around engineers (and their problems) my entire professional life, I am pretty sure I don't want to do engineering either, and if I did I would NOT go after my PE stamp as I don't want to sit in an office and do design work and calculations all day. Instead I would like to add depth to my work experience. I THINK a good solution might be a business degree. I am not certain the major, but possibly something in management, finance or economics. Maybe accounting if I can learn enough to satisfy my fear that it isn't as boring as I think. Also, I have to consider I still work full time and the work load can be demanding. And I have a family as well. So probably an online or distance learning program would best suit my needs. A few suggestions the local community college made when I visited with them is University of Oklahoma (OU). They have a BA in Administrative Leadership(?) program. Also they suggested Southern Nazarene University which has a BS, Organizational Leadership(?) program. I am not familar with either of those majors. Assuming they are equal, and that is probably a hazardous assumption, I do feel OU would look better on the resume than SNU. At least OU is within the top 120 universities according to US News. FYI, I have thought about coupling one of these degrees with an MBA but am not 100% certain yet. Very open to ideas, suggestions and guidance. Just don't want to lose my momentum to go back. And certainly don't want to waste my time and efforts on a useless degree. Hope to hear from several of you.
Here is a link to the 2 programs I mentioned above: Bachelor of Arts in Administrative Leadership - College of Liberal Studies - The University of Oklahoma Organizational Leadership | Southern Nazarene University Also looks like SNU has a business admin degree I didn't see before. Business Administration | Southern Nazarene University
In that it’s been 20-years since completing your thirty credit hours; do the college /university have a transfer cut-off as regards credit age (e.g., statute of limitations on when the credits were earned)? Some will. Nonetheless, that issue could possibly be negotiated in that you want to complete a first bachelor degree. E.g., Charter Oak State, Thomas Edison State, Excelsior, and SUNY-Empire State College are much more liberal in transfer credit acceptance. Also, College Level Examination Program (CLEP) subject and general exams and/or challenging courses via exam are further options for acquiring postsecondary credit hours. Moreover with your 20-years professional experience, academic credit could be awarded (e.g., Credit by Evaluation /portfolio credit) via the academic portfolio option. Side note: Between University of Oklahoma and Southern Nazarene – I’d go with OU! However, there are MANY distance /Web based baccalaureate degree completion college /university programs available to you. As far as going back to school … the time will pass either way.
I think the reason my local CC suggested the A.S. through them was to avoid the expiration date of old classes. They still recognize them internally, but I do think a different university may frown on them or reject them altogether, due strictly to age. Thinking about this some more, perhaps getting a BS in Construction Management (CM) wouldn't be so horrible if I could use my professional experience as college course credit. Is that really legal? Having been subjected to everything in CM, I can't imagine my experience wouldn't wipe out most, if not all, the courses required for the major. Not sure if there is a maximum they can apply for this type of application though. If I could get them all, that would only leave about a year of "intermediate basics" I'd have to take. Definitely attractive from the standpoint, I could breeze through and get my BS giving me near immediate results. Then I could focus on an MBA, or other masters degree, that would add my depth I want. I did look at the above schools mentioned, but didn't see any CM programs. Any suggestions for those types of programs? Obviously I want someone reputable. First preference is a real school offering online classes, so there isn't a difference. Cost isn't the limiting factor here. Management has agreed to pay for all the degree if I stick around 2 years after completing; otherwise, just half.
It’s great that you are considering adding depth to your work experience and have began researching a new career. In your case because you have a family, are working full-time and have a demanding schedule, relocating or trying traditional schooling seems unreasonable so online schooling may be your best bet. Good luck with your new endeavors!
I assume your age is near 40. If so changing careers at this stage of life can be difficult. One way you could leverage your experience in CM would be to move into the insurance industry - many insurance companies cover construction companies. Excelsior has this business degree with an insurance & risk concentration. Excelsior College | Program Details Excelsior's criteria on acceptance of old credits is documented here: Time Limit on transfer credits - excelsior.edu
