Senior construction management major Giana Testa had the opportunity to work on Â鶹´«Ă˝â€™s newest state-of-the-art facility – Crawford Hall, home to the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship – during an internship with Gilbane Building Co.
Testa began as an intern with , a global leader in construction, in the summer of 2022, following the groundbreaking of Crawford Hall. After completing her third summer with Gilbane, she saw the completion of the building.
Testa credits the Construction Management program in the College of Architecture and Environmental Design and the nationally recognized , for opening the doors to internships.
During her internship with Gilbane, Testa had the opportunity to engage with the full-time employees who mentored her.
“I would say one of the special things was the relationships I got to make with the [Gilbane] team because I had the same team for two years and we spent a lot of time together,” said Testa, a Kent resident.
Giana Testa“I was lucky with my experience because I had managers who supported me and encouraged me. They pushed me to be the best that I could. The experience transferred to other areas in my life.”
Testa will graduate in May with two full years of experience at Gilbane, which was founded in 1870 and is a privately held, family-owned company with more than 45 office locations worldwide. After graduation, she will begin a full-time position as a field engineer at Gilbane.
The Construction Management Student Organization gave Testa the opportunity to connect with employers such as Gilbane.
“The Construction Management Student Organization has been so huge in building the foundation of my career,” Testa said. “They’re the ones who did the career fair where I originally met Gilbane Building Co., where I did my first internship the summer after my freshman year. This was early on. A lot of people don’t usually get an internship until sophomore or junior year.”
Learning Construction Management
Kent State’s Bachelor of Science in construction management prepares students for professional careers in the management of construction projects. The program provides a management-oriented technical curriculum that is built upon a balanced program of studies drawn from a variety of disciplines related to construction management. Kent State’s Undergraduate Construction Management Program ranked ninth in the nation by in 2025.
Developing Leadership Skills
Senior Tessa Gabriel is another construction management major who will walk right into a job upon graduation in May 2025. Gabriel, of Ravenna, said she is an ambassador for the college and speaks to potential students about enrolling in Kent State’s construction management program.
Tessa Gabriel“My favorite part about the program specifically are the professors, because most of the professors who work for the CM program work their jobs during the day and then teach their classes at night or they've had experience in the field. They are aware of everything going on in the field and they are very good at what they do."
Gabriel has done three internships with , the first one after her first year at Kent State. She will begin a full-time job with the company in June 2025.
Gabriel is a member of the Construction Management Student Organization, the National Society of Leadership and Success and participated in Kent State’s Provost Academy.
These experiences have helped her develop leadership skills and given her an abundance of opportunities to network with professionals and her peers.
“In construction management, you have to have those leadership qualities just because you are training to become a project manager on a job site where you are going be in charge of people,” she said.
