From Forest to Classroom: SLB Faculty Workshops Drive Wood Education Nationwide

From Forest to Classroom: SLB Faculty Workshops Drive Wood Education Nationwide

Incorporating more lumber into our built environment may end on construction sites, but it begins with the students who will become the future innovators in design and construction.

Unfortunately, wood education is underrepresented in many post-secondary architecture, engineering, and construction management programs across the nation. An audit by the Softwood Lumber Board (SLB) found that 59% of schools provide little to no exposure to wood design, mainly because of a scarcity of faculty capable of teaching the subject. This lack of foundational knowledge among students often leads to them either avoiding the specification of wood systems or underutilizing them when they enter professional practice as architects, engineers, and contractors.

To significantly advance wood education, and recently with additional funding from the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, the SLB has been conducting a series of wood-focused faculty development workshops. Building on a successful series of three workshops in 2023 that included 52 faculty from 42 architecture and engineering programs, the SLB has held five workshops in 2024: at Oregon State University, Clemson University, Auburn University, Michigan State University, and a fifth planned at Cal Poly Pomona in October.

So far this year, 80 faculty members from 60 schools nationwide have participated in these workshops, greatly enhancing their knowledge and enthusiasm for wood solutions. This newfound expertise enables educators to integrate wood design fundamentals into their curricula, familiarizing students with wood systems they can specify and utilize in their future careers.

“The [SLB workshop] was very well planned, crafted, and executed, with all the information that any educator needs to know about mass timber in architecture,” said Carlos A. Reimers, Associate Professor at Morgan State University, who attended the Auburn workshop. “It was packed with material, broad in scope, dense in content, and focused on the relevant issues.”

A Generational Approach to Growth

By introducing more wood education into academic programs, the faculty workshop initiative fosters an AEC workforce proficient in wood solutions, driving long-term, systemic change in the construction industry. It’s an approach the SLB is uniquely capable of leading by uniting the lumber industry’s investments through targeted initiatives that enable a generational approach to growth.

“In three days, I went from having studied but never seen CLT to fabricating a full-scale CLT pavilion,” says Hannibal Newsom, Professor of Architecture at Syracuse University. “The [SLB] workshop was a dynamic, challenging, and rewarding experience.”

The three-day workshops offer faculty immersive, hands-on experiences in forestry, wood design, and construction processes, bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and real-world application. This enhances the faculty’s ability to teach these skills effectively. Additionally, the workshops have allowed participants to connect and collaborate with colleagues from other institutions, facilitating the exchange of ideas and resources. This collaboration further enhances the quality of teaching and research, leading to the further expansion of wood topics in architecture and engineering programs.

A consistent theme throughout the workshops is the emphasis on the connection between sustainable forestry and wood construction, highlighting the full lifecycle from tree to built environment. By fostering a well-rounded understanding of sustainable forestry practices, the funding empowers faculty members to become more sophisticated advocates for building with wood. This enables them to transfer their newfound knowledge and enthusiasm to a new cohort of students each semester and deepen the expertise of their schools.

At the current pace of investment, by the end of 2025, SLB Education will have equipped nearly 300 new faculty members with cutting-edge knowledge, up-to-date resources, and practical skills, enabling them to incorporate wood design into their curricula to influence future architects, engineers, and contractors. Given that there are 2,765 full-time architecture faculty and approximately 2,500 full-time engineering faculty at U.S. universities, this initiative will directly affect nearly 6% of the total faculty, significantly enhancing the presence of wood design education across the country. A post-workshop survey indicated that each faculty member will influence an average of 50 students in just the following academic year, demonstrating the exponential impact of this program.

Seven architecture faculty and seven engineering faculty from schools nationwide assemble a CLT pavilion they designed and fabricated as part of workshop hosted at Oregon State University.

Education Amplifies the SLB’s Impact

Investing in the development of early-career architecture, engineering, and construction management faculty is a strategic initiative that amplifies the SLB’s immediate impact. Faculty equipped with the latest knowledge and practical skills in wood design and construction are catalysts for growth, shaping the next generation of architects and engineers and fostering a future workforce that is proficient in the economic and environmental advantages of wood construction. SLB workshops expose younger faculty to the very leading edge of wood construction, strengthening their CVs and elevating their careers toward tenured positions—creating a multiplier effect as their influence can further ingrain wood curriculums into programs across the country. We encourage industry leaders who currently serve as advisors or educators at post-secondary institutions to contact the SLB’s Reed Kelterborn, Director of Education, at info@softwoodlumberboard.org to coordinate our efforts.