Bringing roofing to academia

By Emma Peterson. 

Through university-level roofing courses, industry leaders are creating a stronger foundation for future growth. 

Oftentimes, college is thought of as an alternative path than the trades. But that separation, between the trades and academia, is slowly going away, as shown by the partnership between the Roofing Alliance (the National Roofing Contractors Association’s foundation) and Clemson. To learn more about this partnership, Heidi J. Ellsworth hosted Sherri Miles, president of the Roofing Alliance as well as the president of Miles Roofing, on an episode of Roofing Road Trips®. 

Sherri kicked off the episode by sharing some insight into the beginning of the partnership between Roofing Alliance and Clemson, “Our start in academia really was the construction management contest that is held annually at the International Roofing Expo (IRE).” She continued, “The competition invites construction management students from a bunch of different universities to come together to compete.”  

Then, more recently, Roofing Alliance took it a step further and partnered with one of the universities that sends students to this contest, Clemson, to create roofing courses that are offered as part of their construction management program. Sherri added some context, “There are now four classes on roofing available in the program at Clemson and when you complete all four, you can get a minor in roofing!” This is the first minor of its kind in the nation. 

By ensuring that students in academia have access to these roofing resources and education, Sherri and the team at Roofing Alliance are setting the industry up for long-term growth and success, “These courses are educating a group of people about roofing and the more information we can spread out there, even if not every student goes on to be roofer, the better off the industry will be overall as the general population’s understanding of roofing will be better.” 

Listen to the whole episode or Watch the recording to learn more about the Roofing Alliance and how they are bringing roofing to academia.