Michigan Journal

Issue date: 10/28/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Mike Hicks

Media Credit: Mike Hicks

In light of Campus Sustainability Day, the University of Michigan - Dearborn hosted a day of events projected towards students becoming more knowledgeable about sustainable enterprises and preserving the campus environment.

This is the second year in which Kate Pepin, the director of Facilities Planning at UM-D has organized the event.

"I have a personal interest in sustainability, and our office wanted to showcase our campus for this event, because I know there is a lot more we can do toward making our campus more environmentally safe," said Pepin.

During Sustainability Day, which took place Oct. 22 in Kochoff Hall, representatives from firms came and talked to students about their role in sustainability and about attaining internships with their companies.

Engineering, communications, environmental science and architecture were just a few of the career fields that representatives were looking to recruit students for.

UM-D alumnus, Korina Kasperek, who is a senior client relations consultant for DTE Energy says that there is a large number of UM-D students who are doing co-ops and internships with DTE.

"Every summer we have about 300 interns from UM-D, and we have about 170 co-op students across multiple locations year round," said Kasperek.

Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr, and Huber (FTCH), an architectural and civil engineering firm, was another one of the companies that came to speak with students about possible careers in sustainability. Shannon Filarecki, a senior civil engineer for FTCH in Farmington Hills, said that her company has never had a UM-D student intern there before, but they were looking for students who were interested in doing environmental and civil work.

"On thing that Fishbeck really strives for is innovation in design and we are looking to recruit students who can think for themselves and be able to think outside the box," Filarecki stated.

The internship office, which has helped students like Jennifer McNalley acquire internships with companies related to their major, was also there to let students know about the different opportunities that the sustainable companies had to offer.

"All of the supporters are here to meet the students and help them, because many of them may not think there is any match with engineering, but there is, because the companies have many departments where students would be beneficial," said McNalley, who is an intern with the Engineering Society of Detroit.

A Web cast also took place after the recruitment session where students were able to participate in a panel discussion with professionals in the environmental field, and submit questions for the panelists to answer.

"Climate Realities, Challenges and Progress in Higher Education" was the title of the Web cast and was provided by the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP), which sponsors Campus Sustainability Day for secondary facilities.

This is the fifth year that SCUP has supported Campus Sustainability Day, and its focus is to celebrate sustainability by hosting events throughout colleges and universities in the U.S.

The Office of Facility Planning is continuing to promote sustainability by having a follow-up meeting on Nov. 12 to discuss ways to utilize more natural resources within the campus.

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