What is Co-Op?

COOPERATIVE EDUCATION = paid, career-related, credit-bearing. Co-op is a job and it is a college course. It's both!

Table of Contents:

What is Co-Op?

Getting A Co-Op Placement

Academic Credit

Typical Co-Op Work Schedules

Employers' Point of View

Co-Op Student's Status At Work

The Role of the Co-Op Office

Student-Arranged Co-Op Placements

What is Cooperative Education?

Cooperative education is a nationally recognized educational plan that integrates academic study and paid, real world work experience. More than 1,000 educational institutions have cooperated with business, industry, government, and other private and public agencies to offer work assignments related to students' educational programs and career objectives.

The University of Michigan-Dearborn established its Arts, Sciences, & Letters Cooperative Education Program in 1973. Co-op students who have participated in the program report that co-op gave them a rare opportunity to achieve personal and professional growth.

The co-op student is a candidate for degree, generally working a minimum of two co-op work terms.

Thus, cooperative education is not work/study, nor merely work experience. Although many students may hold jobs while going to school, only students in officially recognized and college-monitored programs are cooperative education students.

Further, co-op (by definition) is not an internship, which is generally a one-time only experience and which is unpaid and often one semester in length.

An eligible student must:

be admitted to a degree program in CASL.
have completed 30 credit hours (sophomore status).
transfer students must have completed 12 credit hours at U of M-Dearborn.
maintain a minimum cumulative G.P.A. of 2.25.

To apply:

complete a co-op application, available at the Co-op Office, Room 1038 CASL Building.
complete a typewritten resume. (Get help and advice if you need it. The resume is a screening tool for employers.)
interview with the co-op director to review:
- career opportunities
- program requirements
- possible job opportunities

Upon placement:

Student accepts offer of full-time or part-time co-op position from employer.
Student continues to progress toward attaining his/her degree. (Full-time co-op positions alternate with semesters of full-time school. Part-time co-ops occur concurrently with other courses).
Student registers for Liberal Studies 300 and Liberal Studies 395 (see section on Academic Credit).

Getting A Co-Op Placement

Applying for co-op does not guarantee placement.

Students compete for co-op positions as in the normal hiring process. Several factors influence selection including job availability, grade point average, interviewing skills, acceptance by an employer, and limited prospects in some non-technical areas of employment.

Liberal arts students are advised to use curriculum electives to acquire the technical skills needed to improve their marketability. A student who makes use of career planning strategies, and who remains flexible to take advantage of job opportunities, even including relocating, will have the most success at landing a placement.

Placement Procedure:

Students with clearly defined career-placement objectives will be presented to employers who may be able to offer co-op positions specifically for the student. Your initiative helps you!
Co-op employers may list openings with the co-op office. Periodically co-op jobs are posted on the co-op website -- http://casl.umd.umich.edu/caslco-op.html. Watch for these!
The co-op director reviews student files and contacts those qualified. You can let the co-op office know if a particular opening is of interest to you.
A dossier, including your resume and transcript, is sent to the employer for review.
Employers decide whom to invite for interview.
Before you interview, contact the co-op office to get information on the employer, the job description, etc., which will help you prepare for the interview.
The employer decides whom to hire and makes the job offer. The student accepts the employer's offer of the co-op position under the conditions established by the employer.
Once a student is hired by a co-op employer, contact the co-op office. A Co-op Work agreement will be signed, registration for co-op courses completed, and a work packet of objectives/dates/procedures issued. All University co-op program requirements outlined now must be met by the student.Continued co-op employment mandates good standing with the University co-op program.
Students who are not yet hired should register for classes on schedule. After hiring, the drop/add procedure is used to adjust co-op schedules, if necessary.

Academic Credit

Co-op students in CASL may earn a maximum of ten elective credits toward their degree programs by completing the equivalent of three full-time (40 hr/wk) work terms for three credits each. A one credit-hour seminar is required in conjunction with the first term the student is on work assignment. Students hired into co-op positions register and pay tuition for the co-op whether or not the credits are applicable or additive

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS:

I. LIBERAL STUDIES 395 (LIBS 395): Co-op work.

1-3 hours credit

The job assignment is a course in itself. The basis for co-op credit is a statement of Learning Objectives for each co-op work term, a mid-term site visit report by the faculty director or co-op coordinator, a final student paper, and a final employer evaluation. The grade for LIBS 395 is S/E.

When enrolled in this course, the student:

must read and comply with instructions on writing learning objectives, and obtaining approval of them from the Faculty Director.
must comply with key date deadlines for objectives approval, employer and student evaluations.

II. LIBERAL STUDIES 300 (LIBS 300): Co-op Seminar.

1 hour credit

This 1 credit hour seminar is required of all co-op students whether or not the unit grants credit toward degree for it. Students in LIBS 395 for the first time must also elect the seminar, LIBS 300 concurrently. Students may not receive a passing grade for LIBS 395 until LIBS 300, Co-op Seminar, is satisfactorily completed. The grade for LIBS 300 is S/E.

Upon acceptance of a co-op position, the student is electing to participate in the co-op program. The student then:

gets permission to register for LIBS 395 and LIBS 300 from the co-op office.
registers and pays tuition for LIBS 395 and LIBS 300 on the basis of University credit policies.

Any deviation from the features of the co-op plan and/or credit definitions as stated in this handbook require a student petition to the Co-op Faculty Director.

Typical Co-op Work Schedules

Types of assignments:

Co-op students may be hired under any of three options as determined by the employer:

Alternating full-time.
A paid, full time (40 hrs/wk) workterm (four months) is followed by a full-time on-campus study-term; the student alternates work/study for three, four or more terms (as mutually beneficial).
Parallel part-time.
A paid, part-time (20+hrs/wk) work assignment which extends over two or more consecutive terms (eight months or more). Campus studies are concurrent with the work term(s).
Summer only.
full-time work, for the four-month spring/summer term. Ideally, students extend over consecutive summers, and/or merge to a parallel part-time arrangement during the fall and winter terms to emulate the development concept of co-op.

At UM-D the academic and placement terms are on a four-month trimester schedule as follows:

Fall:

September - December

Winter:

January - April

Summer:

May - August

Employers' Point of View

Employers are asked to evaluate the student each term and to allow the co-op director to make a mid-term site visit. During the mid-term visit, the co-op director and site supervisor will discuss the progress made by the student.

Employers expect co-op employee commitment to training and development goals. Employers are reluctant to maintain a cooperative education program in which a frequent turnover of students results in high recruiting costs, low productivity, and low student retention. Therefore, under normal circumstances students remain with the same employer for the length of their co-op program.

Employers' evaluations reflect employer assessment of the co-op student's performance and progress. Standard forms are used by the University, but employers may supplement these with company evaluation instruments.

Co-Op Student's Status at Work

The co-op student is an employee of the business, industry, or agency that hired the student and, therefore, is subject to all regular employment and personnel policies of the employer. Students must expect to receive no more consideration in their positions than do other regular employees.

Still, as a co-op student, one's actions reflect on the University's co-op program. The University and its programs will be judged by the actions of the representative co-op student. Therefore, co-op students need to keep in mind the unique responsibility which their position puts upon them.

Some tips to successful co-oping include:

have a good attendance record.
act quickly to orient yourself to the new environment.
survey the terrain and learn how the system works.
adapt to communications style, as required.
learn safety rules and obey them.
learn names; know positions and duties.
clarify and observe the rules of confidentiality as required.
adapt to internal politics: to be "politic" means to be artful or worldly wise in address and/or procedure.
establish good work habits:
- keep records of the assignments you are given.
- give special attention to details.
- a job done well gives evidence of your ability and readiness for a more complex task.
excellence and enthusiasm, balanced with the ability to learn through constructive criticism, usually results in assignments with increased responsibility.
be tactful and courteous, always.
be realistic -- consider what skills and background you bring to the job, reflect on what has been done by the placement for you, and what you have done for yourself! Are you self-critical? Are you self-directive? Do you know how to ask the right questions?
learn to cope with the realities of the work world.
learn to build upon what you learn.

The Role of the Co-Op Office

The CASL Cooperative Education office, which is a staff function of CASL administration, headed by the dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters, administers the co-op program according to policies established by the faculty of the college.

The faculty director's role is:

to advise on policy.
to approve placements.
to award credit.
to advise students as to learning objectives and placement evaluations.
to serve as liaison between CASL faculty and the co-op program.
to teach the co-op seminar.

The co-op director:

advises students as to co-op opportunities and strategies for success.
seeks out and develops placements with employers to match students' interests and abilities.
recruits students who will benefit from enhanced career opportunities.
refers students to co-op opportunities and markets CASL students and CASL programs to employers.
facilitates the placement process and advises students and employers.
makes mid-term visits and consults with students and supervisors at the job site.
tracks student compliance with program requirements.
represents CASL and the University to the business community and to the co-op community.
serves as liaison between the University and employers.

Student-Arranged Co-op Placements

A student may find a job on his/her own, or through personal contacts.

The student and the job may come under the co-op program for credit if the student completes a review procedure with the co-op office and faculty director.

Inquiries about this procedure should be directed to the co-op office.

The faculty director awards academic credit on the basis of learning achievement and requirements met.

Conclusion

The details presented in this webpage are but a general outline of the interaction between employers, students, faculty director, and co-op staff.

Every attempt is made to view policies and procedures as the means to an end, and not an end in themselves.

A student who understands the structure of co-op, and who appreciates the value of the cooperative education experience, will view this information as a guide for success in co-op, and will follow through by making co-op work for him/herself.

The co-op office is happy to assist the student at any time during the process.

The University of Michigan, as an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer, complies with applicable federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination, including Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. It is the policy of The University of Michigan that no person, on the basis of race, sex, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, age, marital status, handicap, or Vietnam-era veteran status shall be discriminated against in employment, educational programs and activities, or admissions. Inquiries or complaints may be addressed to the University's Director of Affirmative Action, Title IX and Section 504 Compliance, 5072 Administration Building, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, (313) 763-0235. University of Michigan-Dearborn inquiries may be addressed to the Dearborn Affirmative Action Coordinator, Office of the Chancellor, 4901 Evergreen, Dearborn, Michigan, 48128, (313) 593-5252.