Nils Gransberg, adjunct instructor of Construction Science, was named as a co-principal investigator on a project for the National Cooperative Highway Research Program. Gransberg and his team received an NCHRP Synthesis Project Award and a $55,000 grant for the project “Open-books Pricing Practices for Construction Manager/General Contractor and Progressive Design-Build Projects.”
The NCRHP conducts research in problem areas that impact highway planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance. The States’ Highway Research Program works to address common transportation needs and solve problems facing administrators and engineers of state departments of transportation.
For this project, Gransberg and his research team will explore the use of open-books price negotiations by State Departments of Transportation (DOTs). Open-books price negotiations allow clients to review all project costs openly and make price-informed decisions. This type of negotiation has become increasingly popular in construction manager/general contractor and progressive design-build projects.
However, there are currently no guidelines on how to configure open-books price negotiations and the effectiveness of the procedures in use. Through this research, Gransberg and his team will document state DOTs’ pricing and negotiation practices utilized in integrated project delivery methods. The researchers hope to provide guidance on effectively configuring procedures in procurement documents and employing them effectively.
A project by University of Oklahoma Architecture lecturer René Peralta, developed through Generica Architecture with co-director Monica Fragoso and collaborators Andrew Stone and Ty Brown-Field, is now on view in Gould Hall as a focused installation drawn from the recent exhibition Is Housing Still Housing? Houston’s Single-Family House.
Gibbs College of Architecture is proud to recognize Petya Stefanoff, who is pursuing her doctorate in the Planning, Design & Construction (PDC) program, has been appointed the new role of Director of Community Development for the City of Shawnee, Oklahoma. She joined the city in 2024.
Gibbs College of Architecture is pleased to announce that Amber N. Wiley, Ph.D., associate professor in the Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture and Design and director of the Institute for Quality Communities, has received national recognition for her book Model Schools in the Model City. The book has been named a finalist for the 2026 the PROSE Awards.
