DOE Fellows (Serkan Akar, Ramon Colon, Alexander Henao, Melina Idarraga and Leydi Velez), along with other FIU students interning at DOE Headquarters in Washington DC, met with FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg over breakfast on June 23, 2010. After a warm welcome by the president and staff, which included the Director of Federal Relations, Carlos Becerra, President Rosenberg gave a brief speech about the importance of the breakfast and spoke on two main topics. The first topic was the active involvement of FIU in the nation’s concerns and how various experts recently, gathered at the Biscayne Bay Campus to discuss FIU’s contributions to the remedial actions for the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The second topic was the success of FIU’s School of Hospitality and Tourism in Tianjin, China, where bright and talented students are obtaining their Bachelor’s degrees and are planning to continue their Master’s studies at FIU in Miami. The students present at the breakfast had the opportunity to introduce themself to President Rosenberg, speak about their experience as FIU students, and and offered suggestions or recommendations that might help FIU improve the existing education model. DOE Fellows from FIU had the majority of presence interning in Washington, DC and nearby areas among other current FIU interns. Subsequently, President Rosenberg asked the FIU students to tell their story and let FIU be known as a provider of good quality education.
I wanted to let you know about an incredible opportunity made possible to FIU minority students thanks to the sponsorship and funding of the US Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM). In an effort to overcome the challenges of an aging workforce, DOE-EM is actively and aggressively targeting college students across the US to enter DOE’s workforce.