A Conestoga College graduate is the first Canadian to receive the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) Foundation’s International Student of the Year award.
Alita Jones was recently honoured at World Workplace 2013, the largest learning and networking event for facility management and related professions.
The award is given to a student who best exemplifies the future of facility management through academic achievement, understanding of the profession and sustainability issues, excellence and enthusiasm for the industry.
“As a returning mature student, going back to school felt like a big risk; winning an award of this caliber feels like positive feedback from the industry that I am doing the right thing and going the right way in my new career path,” says Jones.
Jones, who most recently worked in commercial and industrial sales, completed the Ontario college’s Architecture Project and Facility Management (APFM) program this August. APFM is the only IFMA accredited program in Canada. In year two of the four-year program, students are required to choose between specializing in facility management or project management.
“I focused on facility management because I really liked the breadth of the material,” she says. “It encompassed so much from business to projects to troubleshooting as well as the building science, so it had a little bit of everything.”
Jones is particularly passionate about sustainability. In fact, the Journal of Sustainable Real Estate accepted her thesis paper, Deep Retrofits for Commercial Towers in Toronto, for publication consideration and peer review.
This is just one of many of Jones’ accomplishments. She was the recipient of the Zehr Levesque Award for Academic Excellence and an IFMA Foundation annual undergraduate scholarship. She was also recognized as Conestoga’s Co-op Student of the Year in 2012, for her placement at Sun Life Financial. The recent graduate now aspires to work in the corporate commercial sector.
Jones says she considers Jim Bechard and Cindy Heller to have been influential mentors. Bechard defined the facility management program at Conestoga and encouraged students to apply for scholarships. Heller, an IFMA Foundation trustee that Jones met in 2012, has been both a friend and resource.
Jones has been active in IFMA’s Conestoga chapter – the only student chapter in Canada – serving as administrator, and handling sponsorships and outreach. Through the student chapter, she has close ties to IFMA’s Toronto chapter, which sponsored her for the award.
Michelle Ervin is the editor of Canadian Facility Management & Design magazine.
