For the last five-plus years, Webcorians have been actively involved with City College of San Francisco’s (CCSF) Construction Management (CM) program as guest lecturers and members of the department’s advisory board to help influence the curriculum and build a pipeline of local talent for Webcor. Various Webcor leaders have spearheaded Webcor-led site tours, presentations, and more to educate the students through real-world exposure and hands-on learning.

“I strongly believe in the significance of the community college system—four-year universities aren’t for everyone,” says Webcor Sr. VP Greg Chauhan. “Working directly with CCSF’s CM program is an effective way to support our community and get involved. I’d like to see Webcorians routinely partner with CCSF as guest lecturers and project walk leaders to help tie together every aspect of construction for these promising students.”

Last year, Webcor re-launched our partnership with CCSF after a two-year hiatus due to COVID. To kick off this year’s activities, Webcor project leaders organized a series of project tours and insightful presentations with field leaders at San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Biosolids Digester Facilities Project (SFPUC BDFP) and Mission Rock Parcel F. Each tour began with a detailed presentation from field leaders, who explained the project’s scope, background, delivery, challenges, community outreach initiatives, and more. Presenters wrapped up each session with Q&A between themselves and the students before transitioning to the site tour.

The site visits gave students an opportunity to connect the lessons they’ve learned in the classroom to the activities Webcorians—from project engineers to directors and construction managers—are doing on our projects. The site tours gave the students a chance to ask Webcor's field leaders questions about what they were seeing and learning, which in turn shed light on ways involved Webcorians can help improve CCSF's CM program curriculum.

Biosolids Digester Facilities Project (BDFP)

Superintendents Lili Fang and Juan Ramos kicked off the BDFP presentation with a high-level project overview—including its unique community impact—followed by a detailed discussion of the planning and coordination that go into preparing for project delivery. Topics included trade coordination and those involved (all project stakeholders), incorporation into a P6 construction schedule, and VDC coordination tools and processes—past, current, and future.

‍

‍

“We hope the students left the job site with a better of idea of the software systems/skills required to execute work on a complex construction project like BDFP, all the cool things we get to help build, and our work’s influence on the greater San Francisco population at large,” says Construction Manager Chase Corcorran, who helped coordinate BDFP’s site tour and presentation. “The work we do is challenging, significant to the community, really cool, and pays damn well. A lot of high school and college students dismiss construction as simply a so-so blue-collar industry until they get a real glimpse of it and realize that commercial construction is a thought-provoking, complicated, technologically advanced, and fun/dynamic way to earn a living.”

‍

‍

‍

Mission Rock Parcel F

Project Managers Hugh Tan and Prayas Goyal led the final tour of Webcor’s spring job walk series at Mission Rock Parcel F, where they kicked off with a tour of a recently poured top deck and a few ongoing activities. As they descended from the tower’s 16^th level (the building's top level at the time) to the second, where framing/MEPS was already complete, the students voiced their admiration of the project’s progress. It was an exciting opportunity for them to see how high-rises are built up-close, Prayas says.

“They were very thankful for this chance to witness the work they’re learning in theory in real life,” he continues. “It was great to see such an engaged, diverse group of construction management students.”

‍

‍

The tour group consisted of CCSF students ranging from experienced professionals pursuing a more thorough CM education to young adults who hadn’t yet established their careers and wanted to absorb as much construction knowledge as they could. Their passion for the industry was palpable, and Hugh and Prayas appreciated the group’s genuine curiosity about the skills required to become a project manager and the work involved with delivering a complex residential high-rise such as Parcel F.

“We were surrounded by some great questions asking the specifics of our project and what we do on a daily basis,” Hugh says. “We explained how we do things at Webcor and how the construction industry works in the U.S., as several students were new to the country but had an existing AEC background. Knowing we were helping them just by sharing our experiences and shedding light on how the industry works was extremely rewarding.”

‍

‍

Hugh adds that he appreciates Webcor continuing to invest its time and resources in these types of local workforce development efforts as a substantial way to support our communities and those living within them.

“The students were so eager to learn and make connections so they could prepare for their next job interview,” he says. “When a local GC supports its community members in their quest to achieve their career goals like this, it sends a powerful message.”

‍