MSU Denver students learn construction by building their own campus

At a construction site on the Metropolitan State University of Denver campus, the lessons are being taught in hard hats rather than lecture halls.

Project Superintendent Garrett Vidal is working with the site's only intern River Jackson, a construction project management senior at MSU Denver who also plays second base for the school's baseball team.

The building rising on campus is a new nursing and hospitality facility, called the Gina and Frank Day Health Institute. It's about 70,000 square feet and five stories, with a number of nursing skills labs, classrooms and a hospitality demonstration kitchen on level one. Its slated to be done in July of next year, with plans to open for the fall 2027 semester.

Vidal said student athletes like Jackson bring a built-in work ethic to the job.

"At the beginning of the project, we gave River a bunch of tasks and kind of held his feet to the fire a little bit, and he's done a great job with that," Vidal said.

Jackson has thrived on that approach.

"The best way for me to learn, I've learned, is just kind of get thrown in the deep end, you know, and then just learn to swim from there," Jackson said.

Jackson's days are packed. He's on site from 6:30 to 11:30 every day before heading to class or the ball field, while juggling baseball and a full course load. He says the lessons from the diamond carry over to the job site.

"Being able to just kind of come out here and work hard the same way I would do on a baseball field, and understand if I mess up here, it's not the end of the world. It's just a big learning opportunity," Jackson said.

The convenience helps too. The internship is only a 10-minute walk from where Jackson lives on campus, allowing students to blend work and school seamlessly.

"They can go to classes and then go work part time on campus, go back, pick up another class, come back," said Carolyn McGary, program director for MSU Denver's construction project management program.

The timing lines up with a strong job market. According to the Associated General Contractors of America, Colorado added 1,900 construction jobs in September, the second-largest increase in the nation.

McGary said construction is cyclical, but there will always be demand for it.

"Office space right now is not very big. Apartment buildings are doing their own thing. We're really increasing in say affordable housing, but like here on campus, we're definitely in demand right now with the number of projects," McGary said.

Over the summer, Jackson earned more responsibility and took charge of inspection scheduling, walking inspectors through the site and confirming what needed to be reviewed.

"That was a lot of fun for me, just kind of having the team trust me and in being able to get the job done," Jackson said.

Next fall, the project will be a new nursing and hospitality building and a small legacy for the students who helped construct it.

"Just being able to say like I was a part of this, helping build this building that's gonna be on campus for years, its kind of a big deal, Jackson said.

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