Internship Series: Sustainability@BU

Victoria Chaney
CAS’18 | Architectural Studies
STARS Survey Coordinator

CCD: Tell us about your internship experience. What were your responsibilities?

Victoria: At sustainability@BU, I coordinated the FY16 Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) survey.This report allows BU to provide information to other reporting systems including the Sierra Cool Schools survey, Princeton Review, the UI Green Metric international ranking tool, etc. It encompasses questions that target 18 sustainable issue areas such as transportation, operations, planning & administration, campus & public engagement, academics, research, etc. On a daily basis, I interacted with representatives of various departments on campus. I requested data about institutional aspects ranging from Academic Administration, Dining Services, and Sourcing & Procurement to Facilities Management & Planning.

I used the Center for Career Development as a resource to help me improve the quality of my resume and my interviewing skills.

CCD: What was the best thing about the experience?

Victoria: I enjoyed being able to fully immerse myself in my work between the hours of 9-5, rather than being limited to a short time in the office because of academic commitments during the school year. Summer is the ideal time to experiment with a full-time job and your fit within the office environment. I also learned how to kindly nudge people to stay on top of their deadlines without being overbearing. It is important to continue to drive the progress of a major task like this, but sending forceful emails gets you less far than kind, well-scheduled reminders.

CCD: What have you learned from the experience?

Victoria: This opportunity was a great networking experience for me. It has promoted my interest in practicing sustainable design. My supervisors are constantly receiving information on new courses related to Urban Planning and other areas, and they have been wonderful resources to look to for direction. I am currently continuing my internship for the rest of the academic year as the STARS Coordinator, and will hopefully become more involved in other office projects involving LEED, climate action planning, etc.