The West Texas A&M University Experiential Education
Faculty Information

The West Texas A&M University Experiential Education Program

Helping prepare students who are professionally competitive and contributing members of society through work-learning experiences

VHAC 210, Phone: 651-2345; Fax: 651-2925

http://wtcareer.wtamu.edu/coop/coop.htm

Spring 2008 Executive Summary
Internship Historical Data

What Is Experiential Education?     Why Have Your Students Involved the Experiential Education Program?     The Process of Granting Credit    What Our Office Can Do For You    Resources To Share With Students

Contact: Steve Sellars: ssellars@mail.wtamu.edu

What Is Experiential Education?

Experiential Education can take many forms- co-ops, internships, volunteer assignments, service learning, etc.  The most common type of experience for our students seem to be co-ops or internships.  We define these experiences as follows:

Co-ops, or cooperative education placements, are progressive, multi-semester, relevant learning experiences. Co-ops are paid positions and are faculty-approved for academic credit.

Internships are designed to be a one-semester experience relating to the student's educational area of study. Internships may or may not be paid and are usually not eligible for academic credit.

Why Have Your Students Involved in Experiential Education?

Student participation in structured experiential education experiences yield tremendous dividends. Some of these include:

• A proven method to help students apply and deepen classroom learning (contact our office for supporting documentation).

• Paid positions that provide students with an income source to help finance their education.
• Student connection with the Career and Counseling Services Office. Here they can access career guidance resources, resume and interviewing assistance, and full-time placement services as they near graduation.
• Increasing the employability of graduates from your department.
• More success in recruiting students to the university and your department because of increased marketability at graduation.
• Stronger ties with the local business community. The potential for scholarships and other beneficial arrangements increase through strengthening these relationships.

The Process of Granting Credit

By working with our office, the time and effort required to monitor placements can be reduced while maintaining a high quality structure. We can assist with establishing learning objectives, coordinating on-site visits and collecting end-of-semester evaluations. By partnering with us, your department will also be able to effectively manage a greater number of placements.

The departments currently working with us usually follow one of two models. The Two-Semester Format is for departments who are comfortable granting credit for students who work at least two semesters in a co-op/ intern position. Others are comfortable granting credit for a one-semester experience. These faculty members prefer the One-Semester Format.

Both formats have some basic assumptions. These include:

• No more than three hours of academic credit will be given.
• Academic credit will not be given retroactively.
• For individuals currently working within an organization, no academic credit will be given for an existing functional area experience.
• Semesters are defined as Fall, Spring, and Summer (consisting of Summer I and Summer II).

Two-Semester Format

• The Co-op/Intern Office will send job descriptions along with preliminary student goals for your approval. By approving a position, faculty acknowledge the possibility of academic credit for the student. The ultimate decision to grant credit, however, depends on the student’s academic background, number of hours worked on the job, etc.
• The Co-op/Intern Office will post the job, distribute flyers across campus and call and email students to let them know about the opportunity. Faculty will refer interested students to the Co-op/Intern Office. Here they develop a resume, polish their interviewing skills and start a placement file.
• The Co-op/Intern Office distributes resumes to the employer.
• Employers will interview and offer the position to the student of their choice.
• At the end of the first full semester, an assessment will be performed to determine if preliminary goals and objectives have been met. This assessment will be documented.
• Before the second semester begins, the student will bring the faculty his/her first semester evaluation, an approval form, and goals and objectives for the second semester. Faculty may decline to give credit if in their judgement the formalized goals and objectives are not consistent with the traditional granting of academic credit. However, if everything looks OK, the faculty will enroll the student in the appropriate course.
• Midway through the semester, the Co-op/Intern Office will coordinate an on-site visit so that both a faculty member and a representative from the Co-op/Intern Office can visit the student and the employer at the work site. An on-site visit report will be on file in the Co-o/Intern Office.
• At the end of the second semester, employer and student evaluations will be sent out and turned in at the Co-op/Intern office. Copies will be sent to the faculty.
• Students will be required to turn in a report and other academic material faculty may need to assign a grade. Typical assignments are work journals, end of semester reports, oral presentations or a combination of any or all of these.
• Faculty assign a grade and turn it into the registrar at the appropriate time.

One-Semester Format

• The Co-op/Intern Office will send job descriptions along with preliminary student goals for your approval. By approving a position, faculty acknowledge the possibility of academic credit for the student. The ultimate decision to grant credit, however, depends on the student’s academic background, number of hours worked on the job, etc.
• The Co-op/Intern Office will post the job, distribute flyers across campus and call and email students to let them know about the opportunity. Faculty will refer interested students to the Co-op/Intern Office. Here they develop a resume, polish their interviewing skills and start a placement file.
• The Co-op/Intern Office distributes resumes to the employer.
• Employers will interview and offer the position to the student of their choice.
• Before the next full semester begins, the student will bring the faculty an approval form along with goals and objectives for the semester. Faculty may decline to give credit if in their judgement the formalized goals and objectives are not consistent with the traditional granting of academic credit. However, if everything looks OK, faculty will enroll the student in the appropriate course.
• Midway through the semester, the Co-op/Intern Office will coordinate an on-site visit so that both a faculty member and a representative from the Co-op/Intern Office can visit the student and the employer at the work site. An on-site visit report will be on file in the Co-o/Intern Office.
• At the end of the semester, employer and student evaluations will be sent out and turned in at the Co-op/Intern office. Copies will be sent to the faculty.
• Students will be required to turn in a report and other academic material faculty may need to assign a grade. Typical assignments are work journals, end of semester reports, oral presentations or a combination of any or all of these.
• Faculty assign a grade and turn it into the registrar at the appropriate time.

What Our Office Can Do For You

In keeping with the mission of our university, we are committed to helping your students develop strong critical thinking and problem solving skills and making them professionally competitive. We believe co-op and internship positions help students achieve these goals. Our office can help you make quality co-op and internship experiences happen in your department by:

• Contacting employers and developing opportunities for students
• Following up on employer leads you may provide our office
• Publicizing co-op/internship opportunities across campus
• Making career or experiential education presentations to your class
• Helping students prepare resumes and develop interviewing skills
• Assisting students who are receiving credit develop learning objectives
• Sending out and collecting end of semester evaluations
• Coordinating on-site visits

We are also available to help any of your students with career counseling issues. Our trained counselors are excellent at assisting students conduct career exploration and define their career goals. Refer students to our office, VHAC 210, or have them call us @ 651-2345 to schedule an appointment with a counselor.

Resources To Share With Students

Whether or not you use our office to help coordinate your co-op and internship placements, we have some outstanding resources you will want to inform your students about. These include:

• Resume Workshops
• Career Counseling
• Career Resource Library
• Mock Interviewing Service
• Placement Portfolios for Graduating Seniors
• On-campus Interviews for Seniors and Alumni
• Resume Referral Database for Graduating Seniors and Alumni
• Job Fairs
• Personal Counseling

Don’t hesitate to contact us if we can assist you or your students in any way.