Jim Scott
Founder of
Scotty's Contracting
The SCCE was created through a generous gift from Mr. Jim Scott
in order to create a unique educational opportunity for
undergraduate Civil Engineering students. The SCCE works in
partnership with local construction and engineering firms to give
students hands on engineering experiences and to provide
opportunities for faculty to "Practice What They Preach", and be
practicing engineers and share their experiences with their students.The Concept
The primary mission of The Scott Center is to combine the
resources of Scotty's Technology Center (STC) and Western
Kentucky University to create a flow of technical knowledge,
professional training, consultancies, and technical support
from the University to the engineering and construction community.
The Faculty
Through the Scott Center, Civil Engineering faculty will provide engineering expertise on projects with local engineering firms, construction firms, and public agencies. This will allow the engineering faculty to Practice What They Preach and remain active in the engineering profession and truly allow their students to learn from a practicing engineer.
The Students
The students will be actively involved in these projects with their faculty members. In their educational career, the student will be taken through a process of being a learner, an observer, an assistant, and a practitioner.
- Learner: They are just getting started. They first must learn
how to learn through fundamental courses and interaction
with their professors and more experienced students. - Observer: As their education progresses, they become an
observer. The Scott Center projects will frequently involve
field trips and case history presentations in the classroom.
At this
point they begin to see what it is to be an engineer. - Assistant: As their knowledge of what an engineer does
grows, they can begin to be actively involved in the projects
by assisting the engineer (their professor) on projects
through hands on work. - Practitioner: Late in their baccalaureate program, students will
have developed the background where they can be involved
in projects as practitioners. At this point, they could undertake
projects and perform most of the activities on their own under
the direction of the engineer. They would meet with the project
sponsor, they would develop budgets for the work, and they
would perform the work.
