2024-2025 Student Chapter of the Year Winner – Pittsburg State University

At the MCAA25 Awards of Excellence Breakfast on March 5^th, Pittsburg State University was awarded the 2024-2025 MCAA Student Chapter of the Year award for their continued achievement and overall focus on offering career opportunities in mechanical contracting to their student membership.

They received a trophy and a $10,000 award underwritten by the John R. Gentille Foundation (JRGF). MCAA thanks JRGF for their generous support of this award and the student chapter program as a whole.

ABOUT THE WINNER

Sponsoring Local Affiliate: MCA of Kansas City

• Stacy Zerr – Executive Director
• Jacki Conn – Deputy Executive Director
• Jamie Mikelson – Office Manager
• Kathleen Livingston – Outreach Manager 

Faculty Advisor

• Shannon Nicklaus

Career Development

Pittsburg State University is heavily involved with their local mechanical contractors and the chapter is supported by the MCA of Kansas City (MCAKC). Student chapter members participated in the following local events this past year:

• MCAKC Golf Tournament
• MCAKC Intern Kick-Off Meeting
• MCAKC Industry Orientation
• MCAKC Summer Celebration
• MCAKC Mastering Professional Etiquette
• MCAKC Sand Volleyball Team
• MCAKC Kansas City Night Dinner
• MCAKC Manpower and Scheduling Workshop
• MCAKC Prefab Workshop
• MCAKC Safety Workshop
• MCAKC Project Management Workshop

The chapter also participated in a site visit to the Kansas City Technology Center. Students got to see the mechanical systems inside the 30,000-square-foot facility. The size and setup of the systems stood out to chapter members and gave them a better understanding of how everything works together on a larger scale.

Recruitment

The chapter used several methods to recruit new members this year. One successful method had members focus on talking with freshman on campus, sharing the basic differences between general contracting and mechanical, as well as sharing personal experiences from their mechanical internships. The chapter works with MCA of KC to secure guest speakers at chapter meetings as well. Some classes, such as HVAC and Plumbing, have even signed off to offer extra credit to students who attend chapter meetings!

In addition, the chapter set up a booth at the Construction Program BBQ. Nineteen current members were available to help recruit underclassmen and those interested in learning more about what the chapter has to offer. 

Student Chapter Fundraising

This year, the chapter focused its fundraising efforts on T-shirt sponsorship sales. Mechanical contractors could make a donation and have their logo printed on the back of chapter shirts.

Community Service

One especially notable opportunity for the Pittsburg State chapter was a service project with “Walkin’ and Rollin”.  Chapter members designed an excavator Halloween costume for a young child who uses a walker and who otherwise wouldn’t be able to utilize the traditional store-bought Halloween costumes. The students spent over 20 hours constructing the costume and, although the recipient couldn’t speak on his own, his mother exclaimed with gratitude, “He loved it!” Learn more about their efforts here.

Congratulations to Pittsburg State University on this well-deserved recognition!