Contact: Christy McNeill

STARKVILLE, Mississippi—The longtime faculty member will take over this year as Interim Vice President of the Mississippi Department of Building and Construction Sciences, as George Ford, who has led BCS for the past four years, transitions to a full-time teaching position.

Associate Professor Michele Herrmann, a JD from New York Law School who has been teaching seniors at the BCS studio since fall 2011, said she was excited to learn about the management side and see things from that perspective. I was. He also holds a BA in Design from Clemson University.

“Michele Herrmann brings a deep understanding and wealth of knowledge of history, curriculum and scholarship to this interim role,” said Ange Elsie Bourgeois, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Art and Design. “We appreciate her willingness to step in and lend her skills and strengths to the college and department as we move forward this year.”

Herrmann has taught seniors in all BCS graduating classes except the first one, which he graduated in Spring 2011 before arriving at MSU. She said she enjoys receiving emails and updates from her former students about promotions, careers, and the growth of her family.

“Seeing them as students and seeing them succeed in their careers eight to 10 years down the road is a very rewarding process,” she said. rice field.

One of the major focuses of the BCS Senior Studio is contract law, and Herrmann said a law degree has proven to be a great advantage.

“Having students tie what they learned in studio pre-estimating and scheduling to contract requirements is critical for students to understand their careers,” she said. “Construction studio teaching and law share more in common than some might think. Both require critical thinking, which is essential to solving real-world problems.”

The sector has seen a lot of growth and change since Herrmann started, including accreditation by the American Council on Construction Education in 2020.

“Some of the biggest changes have been adding two studios to the curriculum so that we can have a joint semester with architecture,” she said.

Herrmann said the department plans to resume some activities this year that were put on hold during the pandemic, including Associated Builders and Contractors student chapter events and studio excursions.

For more information on MSU’s Division of Architecture and Construction Science, please visit www.caad.msstate.edu/bcs.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university and is available online at www.msstate.edu.