Featured Colleague – Winsome Bennett
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By Stephanie McMillen
Winsome Bennett, the college’s energy conservation manager, has spent the last five years initiating and overseeing an assortment of energy-related projects. Her dedication has played a key role in cutting energy costs and helping the college become more environmentally friendly.
Prior to this position, she served as a facilities project coordinator for two years, and is currently looking forward to retirement in late June.
In her time with the sustainability team, Winsome has managed contracts that have saved the college over $1 million a year in electricity costs, carried out lighting and chiller plant retrofits, and managed the greenhouse gas reporting for the college and Climate Action Plan. This included a survey of the more than 21,000 trees that grow on our campuses.
“This position has offered me the opportunity to be creative in achieving the energy savings goal of the college,” Winsome said. “In my position I feel appreciated and enjoy a sense of value when success is achieved.”
Prior to joining Valencia, Winsome held a number of senior level management positions in the construction field and has served as a facilitator for quality management projects. Her dissertation topic, “An Exploration of the Experiences of Women in the Non-Traditional Skilled Construction Trades,” focused on the positive and negative influences encountered by women who navigate historically male dominated occupations.
“My desire to succeed at what I do has propelled me so far,” Winsome said when recounting what has inspired her throughout her career.
In addition to her position at Valencia, Winsome is also employed by Barry University and Webster University as an adjunct business professor. She holds a doctorate in applied management and decision sciences from Walden University in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and completed her graduate work in quality management from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.
“I think she really enjoys working with people,” said Deborah Green, director of sustainability and Winsome’s supervisor. “A lot of what she has done as energy manager involves compiling information from others, and her love of interaction and ready laugh have taken her far. All of us in facilities will miss her very much when she retires.”
Know someone doing great work at the college? Send your recommendation to us at The_Grove@valenciacollege.edu and he or she may be one of our featured colleagues.
Allen Dunn said:
I really enjoyed reading his article. To think that one person could do so much to save the college this amount of money and energy makes me wonder what could happen if everyone made an effort like this. Again, this was a very informative and entertaining article.
PMSun, 13 May 2012 20:37:12 +0000Sun, 13 May 2012 20:37:12 +0000pm12,8:37 pm