Faculty involvement is vital to the success of the program.   As scholar-practitioners in their fields you are well positioned to assess the relevance and value of a possible co-op experience, and are often the best source of employer contacts.  You coach students in the specific tasks of their position, and ensure that the co-op is a learning experience rather than just a part-time job.  For the program to be effective, you must fulfill an administrative role as well as a mentoring one.

Administrative Tasks

Each academic department decides how best to administer its work-integrated learning experiences, but there are several tasks that are common to all.

• Syllabus.  Every department must have a syllabus for its experiential education courses.  This should describe the learning objectives, the duration of the experience, grading policy, and requirements for papers, outside readings, and/or presentations.
• CORR Forms.  If a department anticipates that a student will apply for a co-op in the upcoming semester then they need to submit a Course Offering Room Request (CORR) form through their respective deans to the records office.
• Position Approval.  Before a job can be considered a co-op it must pass an academic review.  All potential co-op jobs should be submitted for approval through the Co-op Office to the appropriate academic department chair.  150 clock hours per semester equates to 3 credit hours.  300 hours equates to 6 credit hours.
• Student Approval.  The Co-op Office will notify the appropriate academic departments of all students applying for participation in the Co-op Program.  The academic department is responsible for ensuring that the student is qualified to participate.
• Registration.  The Records Office will not register students for a Co-op without a completed contract.  Once the contract is complete, the faculty supervisor or academic advisor approves the student’s registration.
• Supervision.  The department chair assigns a faculty supervisor for each student.  It is the supervisor’s responsibility to assess student learning, communicate with the employer, and submit a grade at the end of the semester.

Mentoring Tasks

The dean, department chair, academic advisor, faculty supervisor, and Co-op Coordinator all must work as a team to coach and guide the student.  Faculty members are uniquely qualified to do this in several ways.

• ·        Advising.    Faculty Advisors know their students the best.  The can assess a particular student’s strengths and areas of challenge and help identify the right experience for them.
• ·        Job Coaching.  In many cases a student may be exposed to new situations on the job.  The faculty supervisor can be a great resource to help the student work through tasks that they are doing for the first time.
• ·        Supervision.  Over the course of the semester the faculty supervisor meets with the student to check their learning and offer assistance.  They also communicate with the employer to monitor student performance.