What is a co-op?

A co-op offers students the opportunity to integrate career, social and personal development in to the educational process. It allows students to integrate classroom study with a paid work experience related to their field of study. It is recommended that a student has successfully completed one year of academic study within their program prior to completing a co-op.

Benefits to an employer

• A co-op student can help fill peak work times or temporary positions
• A co-op student works as a member of your team to assist you with achieving goals
• Employers can use co-op experiences as a recruiting tool to hire and train prospective employees
• Students will bring energy, innovation and enthusiasm to the work place

What does the employer do?

• Provide a practical work experience for the student
• Supervise and evaluate the work performance of the student
• At the end of each term, the employer completes an online evaluation of the student’s performance
• Register with NDSCS Career Services online job posting site to post available co-op experiences or career employment opportunities

NDSCS Career Services helps by offering:

• Assistance in posting available co-op experiences or career employment opportunities
• Facilitates the registration process to ensure student and employer are a good match
• Responds to questions from the student and employer
• Works as a liaison between student, employer and faculty to create policies that maintain a quality program for all participants
• Issues grade to the student once the student has completed necessary paperwork