{"id":2181,"date":"2018-11-26T05:56:38","date_gmt":"2018-11-26T05:56:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/?p=2181"},"modified":"2025-02-06T16:53:53","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T21:53:53","slug":"working-the-work-integrated-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/2018\/11\/26\/working-the-work-integrated-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Working the Work-Integrated Program"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.kadence-column2181_7731fb-88 > .kt-inside-inner-col{padding-right:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-left:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);}.kadence-column2181_7731fb-88 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column2181_7731fb-88 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column2181_7731fb-88 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column2181_7731fb-88 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column2181_7731fb-88 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column2181_7731fb-88 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column2181_7731fb-88{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column2181_7731fb-88 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 991px){.kadence-column2181_7731fb-88 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column2181_7731fb-88 dynamic-main-col\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\"><style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading2181_11971f-c6, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading2181_11971f-c6[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading2181_11971f-c6\"]{font-size:1.5rem;line-height:30px;font-weight:500;font-style:italic;font-family:proxima-nova;color:#808080;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading2181_11971f-c6 mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading2181_11971f-c6[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading2181_11971f-c6\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading2181_11971f-c6 img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading2181_11971f-c6[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading2181_11971f-c6\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<p class=\"kt-adv-heading2181_11971f-c6 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading2181_11971f-c6\">WilmU\u2019s Environmental Science and Policy program was the right fit. Ray\u2019s state benefits included some tuition reimbursement and she\u2019s earning college credit on the job while learning more about HazMat procedures and policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft is-resized wp-image-6354\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.test.wilmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Christie-Ray-26.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6354\" style=\"width:350px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Christie Ray<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Marjorie Crofts, the Division of Waste &amp; Hazardous Substances director for the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), was concerned that some of her colleagues would retire in five years. So she asked colleague Christie Ray if she\u2019d consider going back to school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI was like, \u2018financially, not really,\u2019\u201d says Ray, who, after doing some research, found WilmU and realized it was an affordable option. \u201cSo Marjorie asked if I\u2019d go back to school and consider something environmental, and that\u2019s what I did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ray, who works as an Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act support specialist at DNREC\u2019s HazMat Response Dover office, was already equipped with an associate degree in Emergency Management and Homeland Defense from Delaware Technical Community College. She had years of experience as an EMT and possessed significant knowledge in environmental compliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Which is why WilmU\u2019s Environmental Science and Policy program was the right fit. Ray\u2019s state benefits included some tuition reimbursement and she\u2019s earning college credit on the job while learning more about HazMat procedures and policies. She can reflect on that experience through WilmU\u2019s Work-Integrated Learning program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI think Marjorie saw something in me; that want, that go-go-go, because I don\u2019t stop ever,\u201d says Ray. \u201cI get very upset when I get a B.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She chose an environmental career, she says, because \u201cI wanted to get a state job so I would have retirement. I didn\u2019t care who I worked for, whether it was DNREC or DelDOT. I wanted a state job. I\u2019ve been an EMT for 15 years. I paid big money for insurance and it didn\u2019t cover anything. So, I just got to this point where I wanted to get a state job. The timing was right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ray is an administrative specialist, yet she can operate a forklift, drive the Emergency Response trucks, and confirm that her division\u2019s HazMat-certified employees have everything they need. The division responds to emergencies and oversees more than 2,000 Delaware businesses that use and\/or store hazardous substances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s so much more than just computer and paper for us,\u201d says Ray. \u201cYou\u2019ll never find any admins like us in any other department \u2014 and we are proud of that experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u2014Chris Knauss<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Chris Knauss is a co-op coordinator and Communications instructor for WilmU\u2019s College of Arts &amp; Sciences.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WilmU\u2019s Environmental Science and Policy program was the right fit. Ray\u2019s state benefits included some tuition reimbursement and she\u2019s earning college credit on the job&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2121,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[163,135],"tags":[652],"class_list":["post-2181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifewilmu","category-magazine","tag-magazine-fall-2018"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":163,"label":"LIFE@WILMU"},{"value":135,"label":"MAGAZINE"}],"post_tag":[{"value":652,"label":"Magazine Fall 2018"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Christie-Ray-26-394x480.jpg",394,480,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Eric Mumford","author_link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/author\/eric\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":163,"name":"LIFE@WILMU","slug":"lifewilmu","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":720,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":90,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":163,"category_count":90,"category_description":"","cat_name":"LIFE@WILMU","category_nicename":"lifewilmu","category_parent":0},{"term_id":135,"name":"MAGAZINE","slug":"magazine","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":692,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":431,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":135,"category_count":431,"category_description":"","cat_name":"MAGAZINE","category_nicename":"magazine","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":652,"name":"Magazine Fall 2018","slug":"magazine-fall-2018","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1209,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":20,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2181"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14764,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2181\/revisions\/14764"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}