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.
Derek J. Bacigal, FMP, SFP, graduated in 2013 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Facility Management. He chose Ferris State’s program because it was one of the oldest Facility Management programs in the country accredited by the International Facility Management Association. The program also offered Derek a transfer scholarship from Lansing Community College, where he had studied architecture, residential design, and building trades. Since gradation, Derek has also earned a Master Certificate in Systems Design and Project Leadership from Cornell University.
Derek is employed by the U.S. Army’s Hale Koa Hotel, located in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is the hotel’s assistant chief engineer, managing an in-house engineering team of 30 staff members and an extended team of contracted services personnel. Derek’s team is involved in nearly every aspect of the hotel’s management, from HVAC, telecommunication, and energy-efficiency projects to renovations of the bar and pool area, 415 guestrooms, and food and beverage offering.
Management of a facility such as the Hale Koa Hotel is complex and requires Derek to possess both leadership and technical skills. “Ferris State’s Facility Management Program taught me the fundamentals of how people, place, process and technology interact within the build environment.”
