The Architecture and Sustainability and Facility Management programs’ reputations for developing high-caliber graduates has resulted in a nearly 100% placement rate. Your future employers know you have been well prepared for professional life and that you will make valuable contributions to the organizations that are in your future.
Kion Gibbs, who graduated in 2016 with a dual degree in Facility Management and Architecture and Sustainability, chose Ferris because it was a smaller school that offered a four-year degree in Architecture and Sustainability.
“With Ferris being a smaller school and the BS program being a newer offering, I was reassured that I would have a less generic college experience with professors who cared about my education. I didn’t know what facility management was, and I had no idea that it was a career option. My professors encouraged me to consider FM and to pursue the dual-degree; after one class and meeting some of the professionals, I knew that this was the direction I wanted to take my career.”
Kion is working as a facility management consultant with a Fairfax, VA, facility engineering firm. He balances a variety of projects on any given day, from use of facility management technology at a group of higher education institutions to writing standard operating procedures for a major service provider. Kion has also authored an article for Facility Maintenance Decisions, a prominent magazine in the facilities/engineering fields.
Kion’s experiences at Ferris prepared him well for his work and accomplishments. “Business and report writing are probably the most valuable things I learned in school. Being able to clearly and concisely deliver a message through writing is important because a day doesn’t pass where I don’t send an email to a client or coworker or work on some sort of writing project.”
Like many other FM/ARST alumni, the out-of-class experiences rank highly on Kion’s list of school highlights. “My greatest memories would have to include all the time spent with my classmates and professors on trips to conferences, such as IFMA’s World Workplace in Denver, CO; trips to famous architecture sites, such as Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water; and various facility tours in Grand Rapids. These experiences helped me to develop a greater appreciation of my chosen fields of study and deeper respect for practicing professionals.”
