Mackie Consulting's CWSP Partnership: A Mutually Beneficial Experience

Mackie Consulting has been a CTK Corporate Work Study Program (CWSP) partner for 10 years. According to Kelsey Dollens, Mackie’s Controller, “It’s something we love to be involved in. To be able to provide a unique opportunity to these students who might not otherwise have the opportunity to work in a professional setting is extremely valuable to our company. It’s also a great opportunity for our staff – to be challenged and gain leadership experience.” We learned more about the mutual benefits of the CWSP partnership from speaking with two current Mackie supervisors, as well as the CTK student interns they work with. 

Jerry ’26 is completing his third year as a Mackie intern. The soft-spoken senior went into the job without knowing much about the company or engineering. He acknowledges that his comfort level and confidence have grown over time, helping him to overcome his initial hesitancy to communicate and ask questions of his co-workers. “There’s always someone willing to help me or answer my questions, especially my supervisor, Jeri. I’ve needed to put myself out there and be more social. Every day, I try to say good morning and how are you doing to other people in the office.” He values his experience working there and believes skills like communication, getting work done, and being on time will help him in the future. Jerry was accepted at Morgan State University, Jackson State University, and SIU Edwardsville, but is leaning toward taking the trade school route at Lincoln Tech. For Jerry, the best part of working at Mackie has been learning something new and building relationships with the people there.

Student Jerry’s assigned supervisor is Civil Engineer, Jerri Delgado. She has embraced her first managerial role and wants to have a positive impact on her student intern, similar to what her early supervisors had on her. Over time, she has made an effort to learn what Jerry likes and doesn’t like to do. Since Jerry does not aspire to be an engineer, she has focused on general administrative tasks and professional office experiences, like being able to have face-to-face interactions with others in the office. She checks in with Jerry throughout the day and values his help with non-technical tasks like comment responses, letters, and correspondence. “Seeing his growth and accomplishments makes me feel good about myself. It’s not just giving back, but helping a person learn to grow and to open up. My experience with Jerry helps me to learn the type of supervisor/manager I want to be.  I would definitely do it again.”

Since CTK sophomore Zion has shown an interest in engineering, his supervisor, Design Engineer, Ross Burke, has taken a different approach to his training and assignments. Ross sought out the opportunity to supervise a CTK student. He said, “I was fortunate to have good mentors when I was coming up, so I wanted to give back and provide that for a CTK student. I know a first internship or job isn’t easy, so it was important to me to share insight and help.” Ross started Zion with more basic engineering tasks so as not to overwhelm the new intern. As he picked them up, Ross gave him more challenging assignments. “Zion is extremely bright. I can’t say enough good things about him. He has been a tremendous help with projects I’m working on.”

When he started, Zion ’28 admitted he was not familiar with engineering.  “It was really hard at first, but I’m now more confident, and things I was doing at the beginning of the year are easier, and I’m able to do them faster.  I’m up for the challenge of new tasks.” One of the office skills he needed to learn was to ask questions and interact with his co-workers. Zion was initially reluctant to bother others at work and would try to figure things out on his own. “Some of the questions I ask may seem self-explanatory, but Ross is still willing to help me. He makes it easier to ask questions and try new tasks. I know I’m supported even if I do it wrong at first.” Having a supportive and accessible boss has helped fuel Zion’s confidence and growth at Mackie. “I feel like I’m contributing. He told me I have been a big help on a few projects with deadlines. It makes me feel good and want to go into engineering.”

Like his co-worker Jerri, Ross expressed an interest in supervising CTK students in the future. Ross said, “It’s been such a great opportunity for people like me to learn how to supervise and teach the next generation.”

Kelsey Dollens sums up a key benefit of the CTK Corporate Work Study Program from Mackie’s leadership perspective: “It’s a two-way street; not only are the interns learning and growing, but the program gives our younger engineers the opportunity for leadership experience to help them to progress in their careers, too.”

Thank you to Mackie Consulting for your partnership and support of our students.