Dunwoody Becomes 1st School to Win CSI Award

MINNEAPOLIS-Dunwoody Institute recently became the first educational institution in Minnesota to receive a Principal’s Award from the Minneapolis/St. Paul Chapter of the Construction Specifications Institute. The honor recognizes the school’s architecturaldrafting and estimating program for its outstanding and continuous support of CSI’s principles and standards.

The chapter presents two Principal’s Awards each year.

One usually goes to a construction firm, except this year it was given to Dunwoody. The second award is always presented to a local architectural or engineering firm, which was KKE Architects in Minneapolis.

John Skujins, a program instructor, was also presented with the chapter’s education certificate for his leadership, support and mentoring of the Dunwoody Student Affiliate. He will receive national recognition when he is given the Liaisons Award at the CSI Show in Las Vegas.

Skujins says 105 students are enrolled in Dunwoody’s architectural drafting and estimating program, which takes two years to complete. About a third of thegraduates begin their careers with architectural firms as drafters or computer aided drafting and design specialists, but most become estimators or project managers for construction companies.

The school’s architectural students are members of a student affiliate to the local chapter, and seven Dunwoody students received Student Affiliate Service Awards.

CSI is a 54-year-old organization formed to bring uniformity to construction industry standards and specifications. The national organization has about 143 local chapters and 18,000 individual members from the construction industry and who work with suppliers,general contractors, building owners, and architectural and engineering firms.