FOR EMPLOYERS:
Thank you for your trust and interest in our CM Internship program and for hiring students from one of the nation's most extensive construction management programs.
You must register with eCONNECTION through the Engineering Career Center with the College of Engineering at the University of Houston. will enable you to use our career management system to publish and share your company’s job posts with students and schedule campus and/or virtual interviews.
To participate, please register your company with our CM Internship program at CM Internship Employer Registration.
Connect with students from one of the country's largest and most recognized CM programs. Your efforts will help our Construction Management Department to strengthen the CM Internship program by streamlining communication between our program and your company.
Please contact Professor Eva Lyon with your questions or concerns at elyon [at] uh.edu (elyon[at]uh[dot]edu) or 713-743-5779.
FOR STUDENTS:
Introduction
Successful completion of 1) CNST 2351 Estimating I; 2) an approved internship; and 3) the associated internship course CNST 3185 are all graduation requirements. The internship program complements classroom learning by exposing students to various construction management functions in real-life projects.
Before enrolling in CNST 3185, students must complete at least 400 verifiable hours of internship work experience, as detailed below.
Interim Internship Requirements
The following internship requirements are valid until August 31, 2025. Students will be informed if there are any changes after this date.
Before starting an internship, the student must find work that meets the CM Internship program requirements to obtain pre-approval from the CM program. Working on an internship without proper pre-approval will result in denying the request to enroll in CNST 3185.
- Students’ choice of Employer: The student must work for an established company as a general contractor; subcontractor; architecture/engineering firm; developer; or owner organization/public agency involved in commercial, industrial, heavy civil, or residential construction.
- Job/Intern duty: The student must work on a duty closely related to construction project management, such as supervisory field operations (e.g. field engineer, superintendent, project coordinator, and assistant construction/project manager); project controls (e.g., estimating, cost control, planning and scheduling); or specialist work (e.g. contract, quality, safety management, and surveying).
- Duration: After receiving and submitting pre-approval, the student must complete 400 hours of approved and verified work experience. Hours from previous jobs will not count toward the CM internship.
- Course prerequisite for CNST 3185:
- Before enrolling in CNST 3185, students must complete CNST 2351 Estimating I with a C or better.
- After completion of the internship, students must enroll in CNST 3185. This course requires the creation of a formal technical report based on the student’s internship experience. The report will assess written communication skills within the technical writing field.
- Students can find more details about CNST 3185 and the internship experience report can be found in the course syllabus.
Please see details below in the “INTERNSHIP & ENROLLMENT REQUIREMENTS” section, especially regarding the pre-approval procedure for the internship.
Internship & Enrollment Procedure
- Finding a job offer: With registration on eCONNECTION, the student will conduct a strategic job search, learn about employer job postings and interview schedules, and apply for qualified positions. Be prepared to submit resumes and cover letters. For international students, apply following the International Student and Scholar Services regulations.
- Obtaining pre-approval for the internship: Before starting an internship, the student must submit a Student Enrollment Request (log in with your Cougarnet email address and your Cougarnet password) to have his/her internship employer and job approved by the CM program. (If the student has begun an internship/work experience, they must submit the pre-approval request.) The student will receive an approval communication at the student's Cougarnet email address.
- After receiving pre-approval: The student begins to work their internship and must complete a minimum of 400 hours of qualifying internship work. During the internship, the student shall collect and document necessary information per CNST 3185 course deliverables in the course syllabus.
- Internship evaluation: After the student has completed the approved internship work, the student must also meet all the following requirements:
- Upon completing 400 hours of work, the student must submit the form for the Supervisor Evaluation to initiate an intern performance evaluation by his/her direct supervisor. The student must earn a satisfactory performance evaluation result from their direct supervisor. The student’s direct supervisor cannot be a co-worker, HR employee, friend or relative. The direct supervisor must submit performance results no later than June 1 for summer semester enrollment, July 31 for fall semester enrollment, and December 31 for spring semester enrollment.
- For the students’ enrollment in CNST 3185, their performance results must be submitted by only the direct supervisor no later than:
- June 1 for summer semester enrollment
- July 31 for fall semester enrollment
- December 31 for spring semester enrollment
- Enrolling in CNST 3185: After all the above requirements, the CM program will notify students about how to enroll themselves in CNST 3185.
- CNST 3185 completion: Once enrolled in CNST 3185, the student will prepare, complete, and submit the CM internship report. Again, this report will assess written communication skills in technical writing.
Contact Professor Eva Lyon with your questions or concerns at elyon [at] uh.edu (elyon[at]uh[dot]edu) or 713-743-5779.
Please visit the FAQ page for frequently asked questions and responses.