Where are we in Infrastructure Education?

Abstract

Recent articles in PublicWorks Management& Policy have explained how societal and technological changes are placing new requirements on managers of civil infrastructure systems. One author proposed a curriculum of core courses, primarily for engineering students, and suggested that the market for such courses should be tested. Another author outlined a plan to reexamine the curriculum in infrastructure management. This dialogue reports on experiences with courses in infrastructure management over three decades and on experiments in related programs. The dialogue suggests that real needs in infrastructure education go well beyond these courses, and that the more urgent issue is to integrate skill training in areas such as problem formulation, systems analysis, and public involvement into ongoing educational programs.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Gordon, C. (1999). Educational requirements for civil infrastructure managers: What should they know and when should they know it? Public Works Management & Policy, 4, 81-88.

Grigg, N. S. (1988). Infrastructure engineering and management. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Grigg, N. S. (1996). Education and research for infrastructure and publicworks. PublicWorks Management& Policy, 1, 120-128.

Grigg, N. S. , Andersen, C. F. , Daniels, J. Z. , Gesslere, J. ,& Levine, A. (1997). Women in publicworks: The engineering pipeline. Public Works Management & Policy, 2, 121-128.

Little, R. G. (1999). Educating the infrastructure professional: A new curriculum for a new discipline. Public Works Management & Policy, 4, 93-99.

Stone, D. C. (1974). Professional education in public works/environmental engineering and administration. Chicago: American Public Works Association.