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Each month, Texas State University President Dr. Kelly Damphousse sits down with faculty members, staff, students, alumni, and community members for a conversation about all things TXST — the past, the present, and the bright future of the university.
Part of the TXST Podcast Network: https://www.txst.edu/podcast-network.html
President Kelly Damphousse:
They're all getting jobs. They're not working at the local coffee shop. They're all gainfully employed.
Ryan Penlerick:
100% job placement for our graduates in the industry.
President Kelly Damphousse:
And pretty good paying jobs too.
Ryan Penlerick:
Very good paying jobs. We are actually-
President Kelly Damphousse:
Claire is smiling right now. If you're not watching on the video, she's thinking, oh yeah, I can't wait. I'm going to be making the big bucks.
I am really excited about today's topic because we're going to talk about this really great program called The Concrete Industry Management. Glad to have Claire Puckett here and Ryan Penlerick here. Ryan is actually one of the professors at, are you a founder of the program?
Ryan Penlerick:
I am not.
President Kelly Damphousse:
But you're involved in certainly bringing it to the level it is right now. And Claire's one of our students. So Claire, let's start with you. Where'd you grow up?
Claire Puckett:
So I grew up in Tyler, Texas. I lived there my entire life.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Tyler Rose?
Claire Puckett:
Yes, but I graduated high school from Troup, Texas, a little small town, about 30 miles.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Troup?
Claire Puckett:
Troup, Texas. Yes sir.
President Kelly Damphousse:
What's the mascot for Troup?
Claire Puckett:
Troup Tigers. I was actually the mascot.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Were you really?
Claire Puckett:
Yes, sir. Tango the tiger.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Tango the tiger.
Claire Puckett:
Yes.
President Kelly Damphousse:
I learn something every day when I do the podcast.
Claire Puckett:
Yes, sir. In a town that small, you're in everything, you're in nothing. And I chose the everything side. Everything except sports, not sports.
President Kelly Damphousse:
So not in sports, but were in band?
Claire Puckett:
I was head drum major. I was a cheerleader. I was mascot.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Checkers Club.
Claire Puckett:
We actually didn't have one. I did want to learn how to play chess though. Still working on that. Not the best.
President Kelly Damphousse:
It's complicated.
Claire Puckett:
Just like moving things around. Somehow I win.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Legos.
Claire Puckett:
Love, love, yes. But a small town outside of Tyler called Troup. Got to come to school here with my best friend who also joined the CIM program.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Really?
Claire Puckett:
Yes, sir. So I'm just completely blessed.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Now, you and I know each other pretty well. We've talked several times, but I don't know the answer to this question. Did you come here for CIM?
Claire Puckett:
Yes.
President Kelly Damphousse:
I'm blown away by that.
Claire Puckett:
So about eight years ago, Dr. Wilde came and spoke to one of my mother's programs. She works for Texas Mining and Memphis-
President Kelly Damphousse:
Your mom and I go way back by the way. We're very close friends.
Claire Puckett:
And so he came and spoke to one of the teacher workshops and my mom and him started talking and she just goes, "Hey, I've got a kid you can have in eight years." And so that's how I got pushed in the program.
President Kelly Damphousse:
That's crazy.
Claire Puckett:
I wouldn't change it for anything else. I knew I either wanted to be a Bobcat or I wanted to be an Aggie, and A&M does not have a CIM program.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Way better decision. And I'm an Aggie, so I can say that. So that's great. Thanks for sharing that. Do you remember coming onto campus for the first time?
Claire Puckett:
Yes, sir.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Was it as a high school student?
Claire Puckett:
Yes, sir. The first time I came to campus, I think it was on a Bobcat day, I went with my mom and we just had a-
President Kelly Damphousse:
Were you wearing a letterman's jacket and really high school-y?
Claire Puckett:
Actually, I didn't because... Oh, it was a Bobcat Day because it was the day after my senior night. We had won the game in overtime. And so I'm up there on the podium conducting, and so we go home because we live 30 minutes away. We go home, take about a two-hour nap, we get up at 3:00 AM to haul butt to get here. And it was absolutely amazing. I fell in love with the campus. I was a little cloudy that day, so I got the full rainy day Texas State experience, but it was absolutely amazing.
President Kelly Damphousse:
We made history today. No one has ever said haul butt on this podcast. That's really good. So thank you, Claire. Ryan, tell us your story. Where'd you grow up?
Ryan Penlerick:
Well, I actually grew up in western Nebraska, so a little town called Alliance. Graduated from Alliance High School.
President Kelly Damphousse:
What was the mascot of Alliance?
Ryan Penlerick:
We were the Bulldogs.
President Kelly Damphousse:
The Bulldogs. Okay, very good. Does it have a name or just the Bulldogs?
Ryan Penlerick:
Just the Bulldogs.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Like Tony the tiger. What is it?
Claire Puckett:
Tango.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Tango the tiger.
Ryan Penlerick:
No, just a generic Bulldog.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Generic Bulldog. And so growing up, what was your plan and what you going to do when you grow up?
Ryan Penlerick:
So I actually thought about and actually majored in architectural engineering to begin with.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Oh, so you're in the same realm.
Ryan Penlerick:
Yep. So I did that for a few years and long story short, needed to find something else.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Did you go to college?
Ryan Penlerick:
I did.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Right out of high school?
Ryan Penlerick:
I did.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Where'd you go?
Ryan Penlerick:
Colorado State.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Okay.
Ryan Penlerick:
I got my construction management degree from Colorado State, moved to Texas, went to work in the industry.
President Kelly Damphousse:
You're building stuff-
Ryan Penlerick:
Throughout that time, I was-
President Kelly Damphousse:
... in the Austin area?
Ryan Penlerick:
Mostly in San Antonio, but my career took me all over Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma.
President Kelly Damphousse:
What kind of things were you building?
Ryan Penlerick:
The first 10, 11 years of my career were multi-family construction.
President Kelly Damphousse:
So apartment complexes.
Ryan Penlerick:
Apartment complexes.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Stick building?
Ryan Penlerick:
Some stick builds, some mid-rise, high rise. So we did a little bit of... Worked my way through a master's program and worked my way through a Ph.D. program.
President Kelly Damphousse:
You just got your Ph.D.?
Ryan Penlerick:
I did. I just got it December.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Congratulations.
Ryan Penlerick:
Newly minted Ph.D.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Does it feel weird to have people call you doctor now?
Ryan Penlerick:
It does. So I joke with my friends in the industry and tell them, I think I maybe lost more respect from them than I gained with getting the Ph.D.
President Kelly Damphousse:
My daughter one time was introducing me to a friend from afar. I could see her talking and I overheard her say, that's my daddy. He's a doctor, but not the kind that can do you any good. So kids are very humbling. Tell us about, Ryan, maybe you're the best one to give this story, the history of the creation of CIM here at Texas State.
Ryan Penlerick:
Sure. So a brief history, the CIM program actually started at Middle Tennessee State University back in the-
President Kelly Damphousse:
I mean, the very first one.
Ryan Penlerick:
The very first one back in the late-1990s. And it was born of-
President Kelly Damphousse:
Way back in the late-1990s.
Ryan Penlerick:
Born of a need for folks to come into the concrete industry specifically and run batch plants and precast plants and things like that. So Texas State gained the program in 2009. Our first graduating class was 2011. So from a historical standpoint, still a fairly young program. We've 15 or 16 years of graduates and alumni out in the industry now.
President Kelly Damphousse:
I love the program of my interest and background and I love concrete. I love watching... Somehow on Instagram now I keep seeing these 3D printer cement thing like they're building houses with these 3D printers, which it got my algorithm now. I'm seeing it all the time. Just fascinating stuff. But I've been going to this conference that it just blows my mind the name of it, World of Concrete in Vegas. And when I go there, I didn't know what to expect when I went there. But the parking lot is just packed with these cranes and these big concrete trucks and it's a huge industry where they all come together and they're selling products, but they're also learning about how to improve concrete.
Ryan Penlerick:
Innovations that are happening there.
President Kelly Damphousse:
And you take students there?
Ryan Penlerick:
We do. Every year we take... This year we took 16 students. That number's grown over time, but we have meetings with the industry. We have meetings with our national steering committee who coordinates the five programs and we talk about curriculum and we have a student competition that Claire participated in this year and trying to win a scholarship. So a lot of great things for the students out there in addition to learning about the new technologies of the industry.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Claire, what is your expectation? When are you graduating?
Claire Puckett:
Should be May of 2028.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Oh, so you're just getting started.
Claire Puckett:
Yes, sir.
President Kelly Damphousse:
May of '28. Man, that's a long time from now. So between now and then, how are you going to prepare yourself for life after Texas State? Are you going to be, I'm sure you'll go to a World of Concrete and you're going to be taking classes, but are you going to do anything else to prepare yourself?
Claire Puckett:
I already have an internship for this summer. I get to intern with Cemex, which is just down the street, New Braunfels. We actually get to go on a tour of Cemex tomorrow, so very excited for that one. But every summer I want to try a different internship to dip my toe into different areas in the industry. That way when I do graduate, I'll definitely be ready to go delve into what I want to do specifically. But just even being on campus, the teachers here, they're here to help you succeed and we've got phenomenal staff, and so just being able to take these classes and learn more about an industry that I so dearly love is absolutely amazing.
President Kelly Damphousse:
I'm just fascinated by the fact that eight years ago you had this thing in mind and it's all happening for you now.
Claire Puckett:
Yes, sir.
President Kelly Damphousse:
We always think about these value-added experiences for our students or research experience or a study abroad experience or an internship experience. We think that those things really make a student's experiences add value to just getting the degree and going to class and so on. So I'm excited about the fact that you're going to do some internships because you'll learn a lot in the classroom, but I think you'll learn even more in the internship because now you see how it gets applied and how the classes you're taking are actually applicable to the work.
Claire Puckett:
Yes, sir.
President Kelly Damphousse:
I'm excited about that.
Claire Puckett:
Absolutely.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Are you going to get paid for doing it too?
Claire Puckett:
Yes, sir.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Oh, even better. I didn't get paid for my internship. I got ripped off.
Ryan Penlerick:
We don't work for free.
President Kelly Damphousse:
So Ryan, you didn't start off in concrete. How'd you get into concrete?
Ryan Penlerick:
Concrete's an integral part of the construction industry. So I can't name a project that I built in 25 years that didn't involve concrete in some way. And at one point for the last 11 years of my industry career, from '11 to '22, I owned my own company and one of those companies was a concrete contracting company. So it's always an integral part of construction.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Concrete itself has been around for a long time. And remind me the statistic. Is it the biggest man-made material in the world or something like that? What is the statistic on that?
Ryan Penlerick:
It is the most utilized product on earth.
President Kelly Damphousse:
On earth.
Ryan Penlerick:
After water, but it includes water in the mix.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Wow. I mean-
Ryan Penlerick:
It's highly utilized.
President Kelly Damphousse:
And it's used in almost everything now, including art, by the way. But the ultimate structure hasn't changed too much. So how do you make concrete?
Ryan Penlerick:
Basic four ingredients are Portland cement, which is changing scientifically every day, aggregate, sand and water. That's going to give you a basic concrete. Now, there's different proportioning and things to it, and now we've got an entire sub-industry of concrete admixtures and another sub-industry of fiber reinforcement that's mixed into the concrete. So there's a lot of things happening and a lot of sustainability initiatives and changing cement chemistries, a lot going on in the research space and a lot for the students to participate in with our faculty and research.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Now what is cement though?
Ryan Penlerick:
Cement is the flour of the cake. If concrete's the cake, cement is the flour.
President Kelly Damphousse:
So where does it come from?
Ryan Penlerick:
It comes from limestone. So all those plants that you see as you drive down-
President Kelly Damphousse:
Crushing limestone.
Ryan Penlerick:
They're crushing limestone. They're running it through a kiln to about 2,700 degrees, making a molten material that hardens and it's called clinker. And then basically we grind that up.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Grind that up in a powder. The technology is changing so much on how you do it. We had, we call cement trucks, but I guess they're technically concrete trucks, and it was a drum that was spinning and then we'd fill it up with... Fill the wheelbarrow off, and then I carry the wheelbarrow off and dump it somewhere and someone spread it out and we had the trowel it and so on. But now you've got these big pumpers and it's unbelievable how the technology has changed, but also the composition of the cement has changed over time.
Ryan Penlerick:
It has.
President Kelly Damphousse:
In what way? What are some advances?
Ryan Penlerick:
There's a big push for sustainability initiatives and decarbonization within the industry. So Portland cement is one of those things. As we talked about, you heat it to 2,700 degrees to make it, that takes an awfully lot of combustible materials to burn to heat a kiln that high. So we have a new type of cement, fairly new in the last 10 or 15 years called Portland limestone cement. So we are grinding limestone and mixing it in a proportion of eight to percent of the limestone powder in the cement to try and reduce that carbon footprint. That's just one little thing.
President Kelly Damphousse:
One way you're doing it. I was visiting the construction site for our new residence hall, Castro Hall, and it's actually pretty interesting. They're building, I think it's seven or eight stories, and when they finish the first story, they go to the second story, but they start finishing out the first story. And so they're building it as you go. So it's actually the first floor is done and the second floor isn't even hardly started yet, so you get to see every phase of construction.
But what was really fascinating was they've got the concrete floor on the sixth or seventh floor, and in the olden days when I was involved in construction, you'd have the boss would be out there with a tape measure and a snap line and you'd be drawing out where all the walls would go. And they actually have a robot that goes around and it draws lines where all the studs and the footers and the headers will go and they just let this thing go and it's perfectly engineered about where those lines go and there's no more boss with a snap line and a tape measure anymore. Just another technological change.
Ryan Penlerick:
Just a boss programming the robot.
President Kelly Damphousse:
It's still got a boss, but doing different things now.
Ryan Penlerick:
I don't know if you saw it, but at World of Concrete, there was another robot on display that was actually out there climbing rebar cages and tying the steel.
President Kelly Damphousse:
So I had to carry the rebar, and then we had these little swivel sticks here. You had a little piece of wire with a little loop on two ends and you twist it around.
Ryan Penlerick:
Little whirly bird.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Yeah, whirly. Yeah. Yeah, that brings back a lot of memories. So thank you for reminding me. I wish I had the same shoulders and back that I had back in the day. So Claire, what do you think you'll be actually doing when you graduate?
Claire Puckett:
There's so many different avenues that you can do within this industry. Right now, I'm keeping my mind open. I used to think that I wanted to do own my own concrete business. I always said that I wanted to own my own concrete business, and then I wanted to hire my mom so I could be her boss.
President Kelly Damphousse:
It still could happen.
Claire Puckett:
Still could happen, things could change, but like I said, there's so many different avenues. So throughout the internships that I'll do, I'll get more of an in-depth experience and I'll be able to truly decide what I want to do. Right now, I think I want to do something in sales. I've got a friend of mine that's in the industry and I told him that I was coming on the podcast yesterday and he said that I could somehow create a podcast for a major company, and so maybe I could do that, but somehow doing public outreach to get the concrete industry out there.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Was there an organization you were part of in high school that really influenced or inspired how you are as a student now?
Claire Puckett:
I would definitely say FFA inspired me to be who I am today. I started my FFA career late. I say late. All of my friends started when they were four or five years old. I started in eighth grade. My freshman year I became Greenham president and then sophomore year I bumped up to chapter vice president, and then my junior year I became district reporter treasurer. I can't remember. I became a district officer. And being able to lead all of those different schools, I believe I led 46 different schools within the Mineola district, definitely helped me become the person I am today.
Being able to run Greenham Camp for all of those incoming freshmen and eighth graders, just being able to be that kind of person that I needed when I was in eighth grade, I can still remember her name, Jacqueline Rand, she became a state officer. She actually just finished her state officer year. She's at Baylor right now. Just becoming one of those mentors for those young kids in the industry and the FFA industry just helped me realize that one day I want to lead and definitely being in the CIM program is going to help me accomplish that goal.
President Kelly Damphousse:
You have a level of confidence and maturity that a lot of freshmen don't have. In fact, I think the first time we talked, I assumed you were like a graduate student or something like that. And so I think it's really interesting is how for you to look back introspectively and say, how did I end up how I am? And a large part of it was being inspired by teachers and sponsors and FFA and band directors in your mascot trainer and mentor and so on. All those things have led you to get here. But then tell me a little bit about the experience you're having here now because you're not just learning in the classroom, you're learning outside of the classroom as well. How's that going?
Claire Puckett:
Absolutely amazing. My favorite spot to study on campus is fourth floor of Alkek. I'm a very loud person.
President Kelly Damphousse:
No.
Claire Puckett:
Yes. I'm a very loud person, so being on that floor of Alkek helps me study of having other people talk too. I'm on the smallest dorm on campus, little old Mesquite Hall. I absolutely adore it. We can house 89 people, but we don't have 89 people. And I got to meet some of my closest friends. We're actually moving into Bellagio Apartments in August. And so being able to study in that one, when you walk into Mesquite Hall, it's like a little Mexican restaurant. It's so small, but it's such a compact and tight-knit group. My RA is one of my favorite people on planet Earth. Shout out Maddie, I know you're watching this. Just being able to find different spots to go study. It's such a beautiful campus. The first time I came here, it was still cloudy, yet it was gorgeous. Flowers were blooming and I fell in love. I saw the arch, saw through the arch and I said, yeah, this is where I'm going to school.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Ryan, tell me a little bit more about the CIM program and how it compares to the other CIM programs. Are you all doing the same or do you have different curriculum and different specialties?
Ryan Penlerick:
Our curriculum is guided by a national steering committee. So there's a 10 core course sequence in the CIM program that we work together and we collaborate among those five programs and we want that to largely be the same. So if you hire a CIM graduate from MTSU or Texas State or Cal State Chico, you know what you're going to get.
President Kelly Damphousse:
It's one of the really unusual things about CIM is that it's really industry-based and tied and they're telling you what, this is what I need someone from your program to be able to do, which is universities traditionally have not done that. Professors design curriculum based on what they thought was important, and sometimes the business people are going like, oh, I need them to have this other skill. But you're really intimately involved with the steering committee, which is made up of the professionals and business owners that are out there.
Ryan Penlerick:
It is. It's a great thing and allows us to adapt the curriculum very quickly as new technologies emerge and we're getting them in the classroom right away and a lot of industry support for getting that done.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Do we do things that other people don't do?
Ryan Penlerick:
We all have our own coursework. That varies a little differently. So outside of those 10 core courses, we're doing some different things. We've got a course that we've developed. It's going to be new for this fall related entirely to sustainability management in the concrete industry. So all of the new things that are happening, how do we manage those processes and how do we communicate that to the general contractors and architects and owners there? There's a lot happening.
President Kelly Damphousse:
I was visiting some faculty members, and I don't think they're part of CIM, but maybe correct me if I'm wrong, they're doing research on building structures on the moon using moon dust. So basically making cement and using 3D printing using moon dust. Are you familiar with that?
Ryan Penlerick:
I am. Some of our faculty were involved with that. So it's related to that 3D printing of concrete that you were talking to.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Because moon dust has a different kind of consistency and there's no Portland cement up there. It's like, how can you make something that you can actually... Instead of taking a building up there, how can you build with the product that is up there already? And so I mean, there are people who are thinking about life on Mars and life on the moon and so on as a reality, and the principles of concrete industry will actually be, I think will be integral to that. And it won't be wooden structures and it won't be steel. So it's got to be something.
Ryan Penlerick:
I think you and I won't be around, but Claire might be going to the moon.
President Kelly Damphousse:
She might be be. She might be. Tell me about students who are coming through the program. Some of them like Claire, she knew what she was doing when she got here, but are some of your students kind of discovering CIM when they get here?
Ryan Penlerick:
They are. We spend a lot of time recruiting in high school. So the industry is gracious enough to fund a full-time recruiter for our program. So we go out and we learn a lot about what students are looking for and what they know and what they don't know about what they want to do. So this is one of those programs where we get to spend a lot of time in the lab. We get to spend a lot of time in the field, a lot of time with the industry, working with our hands, getting our boots dirty. So there's an appeal to that to a lot of students around the state of Texas and beyond, whether it's in FFA programs or construction and engineering programs or athletics programs. Students want to get into a program where they can be outside and be proud of the work that they're doing. And this is one of those programs that gives them the opportunity to do that.
President Kelly Damphousse:
And they're not going to be driving the truck. They're going to be telling the driver where to go and they're going to be designing what kind of mixture to, because the temperature you're paying attention to, so if it's colder or hotter, you got to have a different mix and so on. And so there's the science that these people like Claire will be having to do to make sure that the concrete pours right when it gets there and it survives and cures the right way. So it actually is structurally sound.
Ryan Penlerick:
Quality control is a huge part of our industry. So understanding how the material behaves so that we can make sure that we're providing a quality product on time, on budget, that's the basics of what we do.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Students are graduating, where are they going to work?
Ryan Penlerick:
Claire's going to do her internship at Cemex this summer, and I laugh a little bit. She says, Cemex just down here in New Braunfels. Well, we're talking about a-
President Kelly Damphousse:
A multinational-
Ryan Penlerick:
... multi-billion dollar corporation. And it's interesting to see when they start to grasp that. So some of the large cement producers, Holcim, Ash Grove Cement, which is a part of CRH. We've got a lot of large multinational... Knife River Corporation is a materials and contracting company. And so there's a little bit of everything from the large multinationals to the small local, regional. Of course, the Ingram family is very gracious with Texas State and very gracious with the CIM program.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Well, and I was going to mention that you actually read my mind. I was going to think about that. The School of Engineering is named after the Ingram family, which really that's their main business is concrete and their business is right down there in the same area you'll be going to. So they got a big operation down there and they're all getting jobs. They're not working at the local coffee shop. They're all gainfully employed.
Ryan Penlerick:
100% job placement for our graduates in the industry.
President Kelly Damphousse:
And pretty good paying jobs too.
Ryan Penlerick:
Very good paying jobs. We are actually-
President Kelly Damphousse:
Claire's smiling right now. If you're not watching on the video, she's thinking, oh yeah, I can't wait. I'm going to be making the big bucks.
Ryan Penlerick:
We are actually tied for first place of all of the degree programs on this campus for starting salaries for our graduates.
President Kelly Damphousse:
And it's not big. How many students do you have?
Ryan Penlerick:
So we are around 160, 165 students in the program right now. Probably be around 200 in the fall.
President Kelly Damphousse:
And actually we're in a bit of a competition with the other four schools trying to... We would love to be the number one school.
Ryan Penlerick:
We are the number one school.
President Kelly Damphousse:
There we go.
Ryan Penlerick:
We just need to be number one by enrollment.
President Kelly Damphousse:
By enrollment. And so what is the biggest school?
Ryan Penlerick:
Middle Tennessee is still the biggest.
President Kelly Damphousse:
How many students about?
Ryan Penlerick:
They're just slightly larger than us. I think last fall's enrollment was 190.
President Kelly Damphousse:
Okay, well, that's easy. Claire, we need to get you on the road and start recruiting out here.
Claire Puckett:
Yes, sir.
President Kelly Damphousse:
We'll send this podcast to everybody.
Ryan Penlerick:
That's right. And we would be remiss if we didn't talk about the scholarship opportunities in this program. So we've mentioned World of Concrete. Every year at World of Concrete, our national steering committee hosts a auction, and this year that auction raised over $2.3 million.
President Kelly Damphousse:
And they're auctioning off cement trucks and things like that.
Ryan Penlerick:
Huge.
President Kelly Damphousse:
It's not like a glassware or something like that.
Ryan Penlerick:
Well, it's everything from glassware up to ready-mix trucks and pump trucks and laser screeds. So $2.3 million raised to divide among five CIM programs. And a lot of that money goes to scholarships. And a lot of that money goes for us to have the option and opportunity to take students to all of these conferences that we go to around the country. So the industry putting their money where their mouth is and saying, we need students, we need graduates, and we're willing to pay for them.
President Kelly Damphousse:
I get a chance to interact with the steering committee and the president of the steering committee and so on. They come to campus pretty regularly. You can see the pride they have in what they've created because it's unusual for an industry to come in and say, we need this. Let's put our money where our mouth is and let's create scholarships. And I can see them looking at their students going, I can't believe we're doing this. And look at this future student who will be... This current student who will be a future employer for us, employee for us, that they're partnering with us to make this happen for something that's really going to benefit them, which then benefits the country.
Ryan Penlerick:
Absolutely.
President Kelly Damphousse:
So Claire, you get to be the host of the podcast now and get to ask me a question that a listener has sent in. So what do you got? Fire away.
Claire Puckett:
Okay. So it says, what have you read recently that has changed the way you think?
President Kelly Damphousse:
Oh, that's changed the way I think. That's a really tough question. So I think actually I'm going to say I listen to a lot of podcasts now, and I recently have listened to one that was talking about, it was really about thinking about how people think differently about the world. You always think that people think like you think. And it really opened my eyes to think about, to be more empathetic about, that people don't think, I think, and I have to really be introspective enough to think this is why I think the way I think, but the person on the other side may not be seeing it the same way I am or may not see the same situation the way I do.
And I think empathy is a superpower. And I think people who read as a young person, they gain empathy because they can actually, they can put themselves in the place of the characters in their book as opposed to people who are just playing on their iPhone or watching a movie. You actually have to use your imagination more. And so this podcast was talking about how you have to work to understand the other person's perspective, and it's overcoming the narcissism that we all have, that everyone should think the way I think. And so it was really good podcast. So what about you?
Claire Puckett:
So mine's not something that I read recently. It's something that I heard, and it's actually from my uncle. You are who you are when you are. So where you are right now might not be where you were 20 minutes ago or 20 years in the future. So live in the moment, bask in the glory and just you are who you are when you are.
President Kelly Damphousse:
I went to a concert recently, it was Garth Brooks. Yeah, it was great. And it was in Vegas. We were at the concrete industry. So we went to the concert and they made us put our phones in a little envelope that was sealed and you couldn't take your phone out. And it was the first time in a long time where I wasn't videotaping the thing. I don't know why I feel compelled to videotape. I don't go back and watch it later. Like, oh, that was a really good song and it forced me to be in the moment. So Ryan, what about you?
Ryan Penlerick:
I'm going to nerd out a little bit here because I've got to try and find better ways to teach these students. So it's a book that I'm reading right now as we're working to, again, nationally with the five programs, how do we teach better business acumen related to our programs and our industry? So I'm reading one right now called "Profitable Project Profitable Business," and it's one of those really well-written from a construction accounting type firm in the industry, and it's something that we're probably going to start implementing into the curriculum just to try and help them learn how... If you're profitable on the project, that's the basis for being profitable as a business.
President Kelly Damphousse:
I don't think people realize how much work professors put into their class. They think they show up and they teach a class and go home, and then they're teaching the same thing they taught 30 years ago. Professors are always —good professors — are always renewing and rethinking about how can I present this better? How can I add to the curriculum, how can I better prepare students for where they're going? So thank you Ryan for doing that. Thank you both for sharing about your insight onto what's happening here at Texas State through our CIM program. And thank you for joining us with The Current, there's always so much going on here at Texas State, and I love sharing that story from the perspective of the people who are making it happen, students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends at university, all them making this a better place. Thank you for watching and listening and until next time, States Up everyone.