Release Date:
5/26/2016
With a focus on sustainability, MDining student projects teach life skills.
Sometimes, when you focus your time and effort on a greater cause, you get more back than you give.
That’s what University of Michigan MDining students are learning as they immerse themselves in sustainability projects spanning education, research, operations, and community engagement.
As part of the university’s sustainability initiative, students studying everything from engineering to health sciences to business and political science are working on projects that take them to food shelters, community gardens, composting sites and farmers’ markets. Since the initiative began, more than 200 individual sustainability projects have been undertaken by students. With topics such as “The Effectiveness of Fair Trade and Organic Labeling of Coffee on Campus”, “Aquaponics”, and “Nutrition and Cancer Research”, the students’ interests and efforts run the gamut of research and sustainability.
The work, the students say, is helping them develop essential interpersonal, organizational, communications, and social skills.
Joseph Malle, a sophomore studying computer science and engineering, tackled the project of creating a deliverable, coordinated template of all of MDining’s sustainability efforts, and then reconciling those projects to fit the university’s 2025 goals and mission.
“We were researching how we should handle sustainability and I was involved in tracking all of the projects, the goals and the progress while making sure it fit with the overall university initiative,” he explains. “The biggest impact that it had on me is developing my public speaking skills. I became really organized and learned a lot about purchasing sustainable food, following strict guidelines, all the while being a good steward of finances -- it was incredible to learn how to look at the bigger picture.”
Focusing such a large project into an understandable and usable tracking system was daunting, but doable, he says.
“It was eye-opening to get a handle on how this monstrously huge organization manages to do what they accomplish every day,” he says. “These skills will definitely go with me in my career.”
Abby Dolan, a 2016 graduating senior with a degree in psychology, completed an MDining internship as well as was involved in two sustainability projects -- a guide explaining the MDining sustainability projects and a guide for farmers. “The guide was to assist local farmers in understanding how to work with MDining and navigate through the amount of food bought locally as well as the complexity of the amount bought for this large institution.”
Interpersonal and negotiating skills were key.
“One of the best aspects of these projects was I was able to work collaboratively with other departments at the university. And it has helped hone my writing skills. I learned how to effectively tell the sustainability story,” she says. “But also I was able to delve into the psychology of it...of why people want to help the environment, what motivates them and how to get the message across to inspire them.”
Motivating others and collaborating were important to Tom Walkinshaw’s growth experiences, as well. Wilkinson, a junior studying mechanical engineering, worked on a pilot residence hall composting project. The 12-week project consisted of supplying each participating student with a compost bucket for his or her room and detailed instructions on what is compostable. A larger bin was located in the hall’s utility room in which the smaller buckets can be emptied. The purpose of the project was to increase the awareness of how easy it is to make composting a daily routine.
“I learned how important it is to bring awareness to your initiative, to educate your audience about sustainability,” he explains. “But more important I learned teamwork. As a group we needed to delegate tasks, communicate every week, and work as a cohesive team.”
“These are tremendous personal, social and career growth opportunities for students,” says Keith Soster, Director of Student Engagement, who oversees all of the MDining student-led initiatives. “The students create the project, research it, organize it … they make it happen and they learn how life works in the real world along the way. They gain confidence, know-how and an appreciation for how much of a difference their efforts can make in the community.”
The students agree that the hands-on experience will help with the transition from their education to their next steps after graduation.
As Dolan explains, “Working on these projects as a student right alongside professionals in their fields, I was able to bridge that gap between student life and ‘real’ life. Because of the work I did, and everything I’ve learned, I’m ready for that next step.”