UT
’s College of Law recently announced that beginning in fall 2016, it will offer a graduate certificate in contractual and legal affairs in engineering and construction, in conjunction with the College of Engineering. The 15-hour graduate certificate coursework will be taught by faculty in the CEE’s Construction Engineering Management program as well as faculty in the college of law. The purpose of this certificate is to provide lawyers with a background in construction and engineering as well as to give engineers and construction professionals a background in law, specifically contract law.
Dr. Islam El-adaway, UT CEE Associate Professor of Civil Engineering and Construction Engineering Management (CEM) Program Coordinator, proposed the certificate program, which gained support from both the CEE department and the College of Law.
“The most exciting part is the capstone course that will be co-taught by faculty from both disciplines and will center on mocking the procedures, discussions, and arguments related to construction disputes,” says Dr. El-adaway. “Thus, this certificate will bridge the gap between engineering and legal professionals.”
Upon joining UTK in 2014, Dr. El-adaway thought to utilize UTK’s unique educational and positional qualities to better help the construction industry and its associated stakeholders be better prepared to tackle negative impacts of conflicts, claims and disputes.
”To my knowledge, this novel certificate program in construction law is the first of its kind,” said CEE Department Head Dr. Chris Cox. “We anticipate that graduates from this program will be exceptionally well prepared to navigate the complexities of contracts, claims, and dispute resolution in the engineering and construction industries. We are pleased to be able to offer this certificate to our students.”
The University of Tennessee not only has both colleges of engineering and law on the same campus but both colleges are well known for their academic excellence. From a location perspective, UT is at reasonable distance from areas with a high construction industry presence, which makes it an attractive certificate for those already in careers to pursue.
Read more about the joint certificate here.