For my first cooperative education experience during the Summer of 2018 at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, I had the opportunity to work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Specifically, I worked with the facilities and maintenance department of the Sidney Pacific(SP) graduate building – NW86. MIT is a private university that was established in April of 1861 with a main focus on science and engineering. It began with just two buildings known as the Rogers and Walker Memorial in Boston, Massachusetts. They would quickly grow and need to change locations over to Cambridge, MA in 1916. The campus now stretches 13 million square feet across the city of Cambridge and includes 190 different buildings. There are 18 student residences and more than 20 green areas that stretch across 166 acres. The Institution sits between Kendall and Central Square while stretching alongside the Charles River. Notorious for their involvement with bettering the surrounding community, MIT has around 11,000 enrolled students and just over 12,000 employees. Their website is https://web.mit.edu.
B. Worksite Description
The Sidney Pacific graduate building was built in 2002 and is the home to 749 of MIT’s graduate students. Located at 70 Pacific Street, Cambridge MA, the building reaches nine stories, is 346,000 square-feet, and sits at just under 8 acres. Comprised of a full gymnasium, lounges, kitchens, multiple offices, and dormitories, SP is different than an average institution’s residence. The dormitories are similar to rooms in a hotel with full bathrooms, stovetops, garbage disposals, and refrigerators. Each floor has its own study lounge with computer and television access as well as full kitchens to provide the students with a larger space to cook. The building is equipped with the most up to date facilities equipment and systems that I was able to learn from and work extensively on throughout the summer. Below this section is a map of the MIT campus and I have circled my specific location. The website for the SP graduate building is https://s-p.mit.edu.
C. Job Setting Description
Working as an intern in MIT’s maintenance department, I woke up and commuted from my home in Braintree, MA to the Sidney Pacific graduate building. I arrived to work every morning at 7am and reported to the building’s mechanic, John Gravito, in his shop. John is a native of Portugal and has been not only a role model, but a true inspiration. He graduated trades school at thirteen years old and would soon after leave Portugal when he was just twenty years old. John arrived to the United States with only woodwork skill, he would build cabinets for a living before learning both the mechanic and carpentry trades. He is in the Service Employees’ International Union, 32BJ, District 615, which works with the Facilities, Dormitories, Medical, and Athletic employees at MIT. Throughout my experience this Summer I worked with different members of the maintenance team involving HVAC mechanics, electricians, plumbers, and carpenters. A few of these workers included John Gallagher, the Ashdown House mechanic, and Mike Ayers, the Warehouse mechanic who are also in District 615. I was learning alongside Ben Burke, a Mass Maritime marine engineering student, and Liam Sage, a Wentworth construction management student. Some of the tasks and everyday responsibilities I had were anything from plumbing issues with sinks, toilets, showers etc. to shadowing the electricians, HVAC mechanics, and carpenters. I was granted a coffee break at 9am and a lunch break at 12pm unless work came up or the other interns and I were needed, those times would be adjusted. After the end of each day around 3pm, I returned to my home in Braintree, wrote down my daily log, and prepared for the next day.
D. Company Structure
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the person who is in charge of the entire Facilities and Maintenance department is the Executive Vice President and Treasurer, Israel Ruiz. Although Vice President Ruiz oversees the department, he does not get involved with maintenance operation unless there is a major issue. Having just over 24,000 combined students and employees at MIT requires other workers to play important roles. These include but are not limited to managers, directors, and supervisors. The maintenance department is led by Manager, Ed Rita and Senior Administrative Assistant, Jani Findlay. The campus is divided into four sections and for each location there are plumbers, electricians, carpenters, corrective maintenance mechanics, fire protection operators, and where I spent the majority of my co-op, preventative maintenance mechanics. My supervisor was Brian Ward, the Sidney Pacific operations manager, and I reported to John Gravito, the building’s maintenance mechanic, each day. All of the employees that I encountered during my time at MIT were hard working, knowledgeable, and very loyal to the Institution. They were very understanding with the many questions and concerns I had and I was able to learn a tremendous amount of new information about the facilities engineering field. The organizational structure for my department at MIT is attached below.
Section 2: Human Resources
CO-OP Discovery/Acquisition
The search for a CO-OP began even before attending the Massachusetts Maritime Academy(MMA). Although uneducated, I constantly browsed possible future job opportunities and the different career paths cadets from MMA have followed. Once my Sophomore year had came around I was familiar, but not set on the path I would like to follow. I made my way to the career fair in the Spring and interacted with a few companies. Nothing really stuck out or was particularly interesting, but I provided my resume to stay in touch. The cooperative education search engine was the most helpful tool in this process. I reached out to companies such as Massport, Harvard, and the MBTA. After time went on and the Spring semester was coming toward an end I began to panic, wondering whether or not a company would ever get back to me. With just about a month left in the year, I was suggested from a fellow engineering student to contact Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT). My parents had friends with different positions over there whom I could contact. I spoke over the phone with Brian Ward, one of the operations managers in the Sidney Pacific building, and soon after went in to discuss the position. I was thrilled to discover that I had earned the CO-OP for the 2018 Summer. I filled out all the mandatory paperwork, received a brief tour, and was issued my identification/access card on my first day of work, June 26th. I was brought to the human resources building later that day where I spoke with Kelly McDonough to set up my payroll and acknowledge all of the company’s policies. Everything went very smooth, all the staff that I dealt with were very friendly and helpful throughout the process.
B. Equal Employment Policy
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is comprised of over one hundred buildings and has a little over twelve thousand employees. Everyone follows the same equal employment policy with the exception of members of the ROTC program whom are under specific Department of Defense policies. The equal employment policy used by the Institute states that discrimination against anyone based on their identity, color, race, sex, ethnicity, religion etc. is prohibited. Lorraine Goffe, the Vice President of Human Resources, is responsible for MIT’s equal employment. It is a top priority of the Institute and is made extremely clear that they do not tolerate or support any sort of prejudice or unequal employment. Below the official equal employment policy(1.1/9.2) used by MIT is attached.