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Dr.
Maged Malek (seated right), an assistant professor
in the Building Construction Management Program, recently
invited Joe Honeycutt Jr. (seated left), president
of HabiJax, to listen to student presentations on
how best to schedule building activities for the Habitat
for Humanity Jacksonville chapter. The students included
(from left) Travis Hetsler, Daniel Brown, Ryan Rogers,
John Teagle, David Cohill, and William Whitesell.
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It isn’t uncommon to find UNF students volunteering
to help build a HabiJax home. What’s more unusual, however,
is to find UNF students helping HabiJax officials schedule
a major change in emphasis for the organization.
Dr. Maged Malek, an assistant professor in the Building Construction
Management Program, recently invited a top HabiJax official
to a class to listen to presentations by students on how best
to maximize resources and use volunteer labor.
Joe Honeycutt Jr., the president of HabiJax, explained that
the non-profit organization is changing from a focus on “blitz
building” to a year-round schedule. Traditionally HabiJax
has garnered publicity when it launches a drive to build a
large number of homes in a relatively short amount of time.
Earlier this year, for example, HabiJax joined forces with
the Northeast Florida Builders Association to build 40 houses
in 17 days.
While such blitz builds generate news coverage, they often
mean HabiJax must stretch its resources at some times during
the year while at other times resources are under utilized.
“Unfortunately we have been building in spurts. We quickly
build a large number of homes and then we slow down. That’s
not the most efficient way to build homes,” said Honeycutt,
who has a background in residential construction.
The new philosophy has more long-term goals for HabiJax. The
organization hopes to complete 202 homes this year, 303 homes
in 2003, 404 homes in 2004 and finally 505 homes in 2005.
That type of construction activity is unprecedented for HabiJax,
which is already the most prolific Habitat for Humanity affiliate
in the world.
To accomplish those goals, HabiJax officials need a reliable
plan that will allow them to bring resources, sub-contractors
and volunteers together in just the right schedule.
“We aren’t necessarily interested in building
homes quickly as we are in using our resources in the most
efficient manner,” Honeycutt said.
That’s where the UNF students provided assistance. As
a class assignment, Malek asked the students to work with
a building scheduling software to produce a plan that would
allow HabiJax to complete 303 homes next year. The students,
who were separated into three-members teams, looked at everything
from the number of volunteers crews required to building supplies
needed. The resulting proposals gave HabiJax officials an
opportunity to review alternative schedules and consider the
advantages and disadvantages of each plan.
Malek said the Construction Scheduling class worked on schedules
for each of the eight HabiJax models. “The goal is that
HabiJax will use the student work in their day-to-day activities
that will enable them to level the resources and implement
a more efficient and economical approach to their challenging
task,” he said.
HabiJax was founded in1988 as a local affiliate of Habitat
for Humanity International, an organization that builds new
homes for low-income working families with community volunteers.
Applicants must be employed, live in substandard or subsidized
housing, provide a $500 down payment and put 300 working hours
into their own home or another HabiJax home. They then pay
for the home, with an average price of $45,000, under a no-interest
25-year loan.
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