The ICE is pursuing a goal of ensuring that as many as half of civil engineering university lecturers on accredited degree programmes will be chartered by 2015.
2015 target
A 2015 target for when 50% of civils lecturers should be chartered has also been set but the ICE has said this will be kept under review.
The move to increase the number of chartered civils academics has been prompted by concerns that lecturers lack the practical experience of the subjects they are teaching.
As a result there is concern that they are failing to respond to industry needs.
Current chartership rates among university civil engineering department staff are believed to be around 10%.
ICE vice president Richard Coackley revealed the measure at this week’s formal launch of the Construction Industry Research & Information Association’s (Ciria’s) Preventing Catastrophic Events in Construction guidance supported by the Health & Safety Executive, Loughborough University and NCE.
“It’s very important that to teach a practical subject you must have practical experience in it”
Andy Hughes
“I agree very firmly with that decision,” said Atkins dams and water director Andy Hughes, also a professor in Dam Engineering at the University of Bristol.
“It’s very important that to teach a practical subject you must have practical experience in it.”
Hughes said that while he does not believe the education standards of graduates have fallen in recent years they could benefit from employing lecturers with project experience.
“There’s nothing better than passing on real life experience,” he said.
“It’s very evident the difference between the lecturers who have worked in industry and then academia.”
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